Rollwithit
Registered User

Julian,
I finished my third cycle on December 9th. I was fortunate to not have experienced any of the bad side effects about which they are obliged to tell you before treatment. Everyone's experience will be different, but there are probably a few things common to everyone. I did not use a port. If you do not have a port, do not leave the IV in the same place on your arm longer than two days. Doing so can permanently damage the vein. Also, if your arms are hairy like mine, go ahead and shave the hair off now. It will save you a lot of pain each time the adhesive tape is removed. Each of my three cycles was like this:
Day 1 - etoposide and cisplatin
Day 2 - etoposide, cisplatin, and bleomycin
Day 3 - etoposide and cisplatin
Day 4 - etoposide and cisplatin
Day 5 - etoposide and cisplatin
Day 9 - bleomycin
Day 16 - bleomycin

Each full week (days 1-5) will take the greatest toll. Each day, I took two drugs prior to treatment, emend and dexamethasone. I think one was for nausea and the other was a steroid. After my first dose of cisplatin, I developed hiccups and reflux. My doctor prescribed baclofen for the hiccups and prevacid for the reflux. You may want to ask about taking a daily low dose (81mg) aspirin. It seemed to help the damage caused by frequent IV sticks. My doctor also prescribed phenergan for nausea, but I didn't need it. It was good to have it just in case, though. I was given an hour of IV fluids before and after chemo. The cisplatin can cause kidney damage, so the extra fluids are to help you flush the drug from your body as soon as possible. In addition to this, you should drink as much as possible during treatment. If your urine output is not enough, they may give you a fluid pill to help you along. My output was always 2-3 liters, so I didn't require the pill. At the end of day one, I was a little tired, but otherwise felt fine. Because of my high amount of intake, each night I was up several times to empty my bladder.

Day two was my first dose of bleomycin. I was observed closely to make sure I did not have a bad reaction to the drug. Fortunately, I did not. Prior to each dose of bleomycin, I was given acetaminophen tablets and an IV injection of benadryl. The benadryl may burn a little as it travels through your veins and will probably make you sleepy. By the end of day five, I felt very tired. I also had some numbness in my fingertips, tongue, lips, and face. I also had a little trouble with any tasks requiring motor coordination. All of these short term side effects got better with time.

By day 14, the chemo was beginning to do what it does. My hair began to fall out, and my immune system began to crash. I was given neupogen injections for five days to keep my white blood cell count up. The drug works on the bone marrow to stimulate white blood cell production, so I had some intense bone pain, especially in my hips, spine, and femurs. I also ran a low grade fever with the neupogen. My doctor prescribed lortab for the pain, and it helped tremendously.

Each cycle yielded about the same results. After each full week, the tiredness and neuropathy was a little more intense. It never became critical, but it was noticeable. Sometimes after a bleomycin treatment, I would run a fever. After a visit to the hospital after hours, my doctor determined that it was the drug and not an infection causing the fever. In my first cycle, I was supposed to start my neupogen injections on day 17. My blood work earlier that week showed that my white blood cell count was dangerously low, so I had to start earlier. In cycle two and three, I started my injections on day 10 to prevent it from becoming so low.

Overall, I feel that my chemo experience was not nearly as bad as it could have been. Reading about all of the possible side effects from the drugs can be a little intimidating. To my great relief, I tolerated the bleomycin very well. I think most people do, but the possible side effects can be very serious. I was given a pulmonary function test at the end of each cycle to make sure. I had no nausea, but I did experience some minor side effects: hiccups, heartburn, hair loss, tiredness, temporary numbness and loss of coordination, fever, and bone pain. At the present, I am slightly anemic and am taking iron capsules to remedy that. I am feeling much healthier now that I am nearly two weeks removed from my last treatment.

Julian, I do not know if you are a person of faith, but I found it to be the most important part of my treatment. The encouragement and support I received from my family, friends, and church gave me the strength I needed to face each day with a positive attitude. I highly recommend it. I hope you find some of this helpful. This was my experience, and yours may be different, but no matter how hard it becomes, just remember that it will not last forever. You can do anything for nine weeks that you have to do. In the end, it will all be worth it. If I can answer any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Best of luck,
Bryan

hello, I start 3 cycles of chemo next month and wanted to know the physical effects you have faced and it's effect on your work and family life while the chemo has been going on. I don't really know what to expect and wanted to get an idea off a few people who had either gone through it or were going through it. Anything would be appreciated, cheers, Julian.