Carboplatin Diary MG

[mgman]

I will be having 2x Carboplatin. The first was today 6/3 and the second will be 6/24.

Day minus 1:
Blood work- all normal. I was concerned after a week on Levaquin for bronchitis that my blood levels might be messed up (they were all fine). Got go ahead for tomorrow

Day 0:
Arrived at 1pm- Watched video on chemo, Got IV hooked up, had a bag of saline, a bag of anti-naseau meds and a bag of steroids. By the time I started the Carboplatin it was about 3. That lasted for about an hour. I had a dose of 1000ml's (AUC7). I am writing this at about 8pm and right now I can not even tell I got anything. No impact. The nurse did say that the IV anti-naseau meds will last until tomorrow so maybe that has something to do with it. I do have an RX for Zofran which he said to take as needed. Also, as many of you have advised, I'm drinking ridiculous amounts of fluid to help the poor kidneys. I'm sure this feeling of "did I actually get a placebo" will change, but so far so good!

[Andyman]

I had my carboplatin a week ago. Drink plenty of water and take the Zofran before you feel sick. I had the hiccups for the first day and then just felt pretty tired. Take things easy and don't fight it, let the meds do their work.

You'll do great! Wishing you the best for a speedy recovery!

-Andy

[mgman]

Thanks andy. I have been monitoring your posts and the are very helpful. It really is great to know what to expect and while my docs are great, In many ways I trust the experiences of total strangers. Our experiences are just so similar and new.

Also- major question, did anyone have the bejeeesuuus scared our od them on the infection issue? And has anyone had infection to low blood count? I may post separately but would love stories.

[MRMRSU]

That totally was quite the ramble, but no apologies needed. Best wishes on your treatment!

[detaildevil]

Just had my 1-year post-surgery CT-scan and no sign of problems (well, no cancer problems, anyway). Good luck with your treatment!

[mgman]

Thanks and Congrats to you! That is great news and I look forward to being where you are in a year!

[Andyman]

We're all in this together. :)

Honestly infection was my biggest concern. I was sure I was going to get some crazy infection from dirty dishes or something equally silly. After the first day, I stopped taking my temperature every few hours and relaxed.

From my conversations with my doc, it's best to maintain good hygene i.e. showering daily, use a hand sanitizer and don't pet stray animals.. :) I've stayed at home, moreso because I've been so tired but it probably helps to avoid any sick people. Infection is a possibility, but the risk can probably be minimized to almost zero if you are careful.

Since you are having two rounds of carbo, I would hope that they will check your levels before the second round. I was told that the one round would probably drop my levels around 30% and they should rebound in about two weeks.

[mgman]

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement. Here's the update:

Day 1:
Slept poorly but woke up feeling fine. Sudden bought of naseau made me finally take Zofran. No problems the rest of the day. Went to work. Full day- no problems. Drinking lots of liquids.

Day 2:
Still on Zofran. Went to work, full day. Just got tired in the afternoon, and maybe a little naseau. To be honest, so far, I'm stretching to find ANY real impact. I feel pretty good- hope it lasts!

[mgman]

Day 3 and 4
More of the same- slightly naseaus, tired but nothing to horrible. As many of have said, I've had worse hangovers.

Day 5
Turned the corner and heading for home! Felt fine today other than a little residual naseau. I've worked throughout, but today I didn't feel exhausted coming home. Now just need to avoid getting sick and I'm headed for round 2 in just over 2 weeks. I get blood work done to see how much of an immune system I still have. Thank you to everyone who kept the diary before- it really helped to know what I'd be going through!

[detaildevil]

Glad to see you are doing so well.

During my first round I read somewhere that you should avoid eating in-store samples because of the infection risk. It changed my life forever. I still hesitate every time I grab a piece of cheese from one of those displays...

Keep the updates coming.

[mgman]

Day 6-9

Basically feel 100% except that I have been getting headaches for the past few days. Has anyone else experienced this? What would be causing this?

Also, my bloodwork on day 7 was down, but not out of the normal ranges for any of the components. Doc said it could drop a few more days, so I need to be careful still.

[K&R]

The low point in your blood counts can be as far out as 21 days or so from treatment. They check at the 7-10 day range, just to make sure they aren't dropping more than expected indicating a bigger problem. You'll do fine, just be careful about washing hands and avoiding obviously sick people as much as you can.

Kevin

[mgman]

Well the rest of the first round was pretty easy. Just got weekly blood counts, which did show declines, but only my platelets got below the normal range (and not too far out).

I got the second treatment last week:

Day 0- no effects
Day 1-2 - naseau sets in, controlled well with Zofran. Worked normal hours
Day 3-4 - the "mild" hangover feeling of the first round became "moderate" hangover. Just felt exhausted, massively constipated, and naseaus. Actually took the first daytime nap I've had in years. (it was the weekend these days)
Day 5 - Back at work. Just worn out. But probably over the hump.