He is soooo sick!

[Spanky2]

Today is the first day of week 2, round one.

The first 5 days, he had terrible hiccups and extreme fatigue. After his last treatment on Friday, they told him to stop the Zofran and the Dexamethasone. Saturday morning, he had about 30 minutes of energy, then slept until the evening. Then in the later evening, through the night, and all day Sunday - he vomited. I finally called the on-call service and the doctor said he could start the Zofran and Dex again. He continued to vomit all Sunday night and into Monday morning. Went in today for the Bleo push and he was feeling better. His actual oncologist said he could take two more days of Zofran/Dex combo, but that he should feel better.

He has also blurred vision. He can't read or watch TV.

Also, his chemo nurse thought we'd seen the worst. Round 2 should be easier?

I've poured over all your posts about how you guys went places and felt OK during chemo, and it's just not been that way for us. I just wish he had some level of energy or could stop fighting the nausea/vomiting. He won't sit outside, won't go for a walk. Nothing.

What do you guys think? Any advice?

[dadmo]

Our oncologist gave no restrictions on taking the anti-nausea meds. If I remember right my son took them until the monday after the chemo week. My son tried to stop to soon once and he was sick for almost a whole day even after he started talking the meds again. Once you fall behind it's real tough to get on top of the neasea. I'd speak to your oncologist about this. The hiccups are something they should be giving him something to help prevent/stop.

[dmann999]

My son had no restrictions on chemo meds except no zofran orally on week one, Tues and Thurs as they gave it to him IV.....

You might want to check with IU. They will usually answer your emails or you can ask your oncologist to consult with them. Good Luck, Dawn

[cjjones]

After my husbands first week of round 1, all weekend he was out of it. Sunday he couldn't get out of bed. Alot of nausea but it seem to help to eat saltin crackers to keep from getting sick. At least the trick for him was to carry around the crackers when he felt sick. Week two was better by Wednesday he felt more energy. Week three his WBC dropped to 1.5 and he had no energy again. He had to take these shots all week to help rebuild the count up. He just started 2 round and he is very tired. This chemo really kicks their butts.
I hope he feels better. Good luck!
Huggs!

[suns_mum]

My son just finished second long week of BEP. the first week he had little energy and some nausea. Had a hard time focusing on things and also didnt want to go anywhere or do anything. His first BLEO was okay -felt kind of lousy that night but was able to play a little golf a couple of days later. Second Bleo he was really sick-chills vomiting and fever. This long week kicked his butt--he barely got out of bed all weekend. went and sat on the porch for about 5 minutes then back in to lie down. Tried going to the driving range yesterday but took too much out of him. As for the BLEO days he now takes tylenol before he goes and benedryl after. worked during the long week but he was sick again today after a couple hours of being home. No chills or fever though. He has no restrictions on the nausea meds at all. He was even give a Rx for ativan if needed. Others on here have used that in severe cases of nauseousness. Honeslty, I think we- the observer and caregiver want them to be okay so bad that if they would just get up and do something it would make us feel better. It just sucks to see them go through this! i hope his second week goes better and remember everyone reacts differently to the treatment. All the Best to you both--Eileen

[chemo boy]

I was told to keep takibng my anti-nausea meds through out my entire 3 rounds! The chemo nurses warned me that if I didn't keep ahead then I would probably get very sick. I allways carried my anti-barf bag with me which contained Zofran, Marinol, Ativan, Compazine (pills as well as suppositories), Peppermint Altoids as well as some Saltines! This was all stuffed into a fanny pack and never left my side. I only had one episode where I got very sick and that was when I opted to not take the Zofran and Decadron (Dexamethasone) for my first Bleo alone infusion. I ended up having a Bleo reaction which was unstopable shaking/chills and very severe nausea. The nurse told me to just keep taking one anti-nausea med after another until I either felt better or passed out:rolleyes: It worked! I never let the nausea get ahead of me again. I felt like crap and was constantly nauseated for the entire 3 rounds but I never vomited;)

Keep your husbands chemo nurse updated and don't let that nause get ahead of him!!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery:D

Rich

[chemo boy]

Sorry. I meant your son's chemo nurse:o

[Another Mom]

My son was not restricted on his nausea meds. Please get this clarified. He needs those meds.

[TC Destroyer]

At IU they give me Ativan or Phenergan or both. Zophran really didn't work for me either. I would take 12.5mg of phenergen(half of a pill) as soon as I woke up and then 1\2 hour before every meal. If I still didn't feel to good I would take some Ativan as a back up. The IV version of these medicine are much faster and more effective, but stronger and will stop the naseau immediately and put you to sleep *sometimes that is all I wanted*. If you use IV make sure he starts out with about 5mg of phenergen (12.5mg will put him out, or atleast it did me) the pill form @ 12.5mg didn't cause any problem other than dizzyness while showering standing up(heat??) I think I was on 10mg of Ativan. there are other medicines out there, but they just get stronger and stronger.

Another thing to ask your doctor about is dremamine patches for motion sickness. these kinda helped with movement and preventing any problems with siting up or turning to quick and getting sick that way. It is a patch you stick behind your ear and chenge every three days. With the patch though he would need to make sure he washes his hands after touching it because it has some bizzare effect if you touch your eyes afterwards.

I was only restricted on frequency of the pills, no less than 4 hours in between doses. I continued the regimen until two weeks or so after treatment. I tested the waters to soon once and regreted it.

Another note I seemed to have more sickness as the rounds stacked up, not everyone is effected the same or gets as sick as others it is really an individual experience.

I hope this helps, good luck!

[Spanky2]

Thanks everyone! It becomes very clear that the WRONG thing to do for him was to stop the anti-nausea meds.

After a TERRIBLE weekend of vomiting, I convinced him to take the Zofran and dexamethasone on Tuesday night. We spoke to the doctor's office on Wednesday. She said he could stay on the Zofran, but not the dex. She also suggested he come in for fluids because it was unlikely he was getting all he should. He had 5 hours of fluids and gravol IV yesterday and felt and looked so much better.

He also just a terrible patient. He felt so good last night he probably ate something that irritated his stomach and got sick, but I think that was his own doing!:;)

Today the hiccups were back and he took meds for that. What causes those hiccups anyway? Is it the anti-nausea or the chemo?

His chemo nurse also told us that Round 2 should be easier than Round 1. The theory is that your body should remember that the chemo meds didn't kill it, so it won't react as harshly to them....any thoughts on that?

[isitnaptime]

His chemo nurse also told us that Round 2 should be easier than Round 1. The theory is that your body should remember that the chemo meds didn't kill it, so it won't react as harshly to them....any thoughts on that?

Hmmm, that's an interesting theory that I wish were true for Reese! ;) The nausea for him in round 2 has definitely been worse (not hugely, but significantly with a much earlier start in the week).

His doctor just added Emend to his anti-nausea routine, so we'll see if that helps. He also gets Zofran and Dex by IV, as well as Zofran dissolvable tablets as needed.

I bought a boatload of ginger candy and lozenges too, but he doesn't really like them. I LOVE them and will be sticking a bunch in my purse for spur of the moment fresh breath, but they're of no help to him.

It's so hard to see them so sick. Hugs!

[boyce]

Sometimes I think I ws the only person here that got Kytril for nausea...and it was Magical!

May be worth asking about, OK?

[Manny]

I was initially getting Zofran and Dexamethasone but that was not enough. They added Ativan and Campazine and that controlled it very well.

[jgsmith]

Try not to worry so much, I felt horrible during chemotherapy. I was layed up in the bed practically the whole time. Although I never threw up, I felt like I had a massive hangover everyday, I passed out twice, and I was hospitalized twice due to being neutropenic. It is normal to feel bad, the chemo is essentially poison to our bodies. Try to hang in there and be strong, I know it is hard. The biggest thing I can advise it to drink PLENTY of fluids. After he drinks what he thinks is enough, drink more. Cisplatin will dry you out. I also had blurred vision and ringing of the ears. What helped me get through it was knowing that although I felt like sh*t, I knew that the chemo was destroying the invasive cancer cells in my body. Livestrong, and god bless.

[kfo9494]

I will say that I was sick! after each round of chemo. In fact, I would have to be placed in my bed on Friday and I could not even hold my head up till sometimes monday. I wanted at times just to give up. My doc gave me all the regular meds like Ativan, reglan(sp) which is cheap- and Phenergan. He told me to take up to 16 reglans, if needed per day And when I went to get a refill they balked on giving me anymore meds till the doctor called them.
I never vomited during my chemo, but I felt worse than vomit right after each round of chemo.
For me the days before the last week was the worst. I literally cried not wanting to take anymore chemo. But I found out that after the Zofrin I got before the chemo, if I took two or three Phenergans then I could get by the chemo by sleeping the entire time.
My last round of chemo didn't make me as sick -maybe it was the sweet relief knowin that it was over.

[Itsadeepbluesea]

look at it as you have 1 down after the next cycle there is only one left. My chemo went very rough as well, after a certain point the nausea meds stopped working for me what kept me going was knowing that it would be done soon. It seems like it takes for ever while going through it but when he'll look back it will seem like it went by fast. The best advice I could give would be for him to listen to his body and then after his last cycle slowly re introduce himself to normal activity. What I found to help was to slowly increase exercise after my last cycle. It would wipe me out for the day but the next day I was a "ball of energy" (well in comparison to what I had been like).

Matt