Chemotherapy Treatment

Question: chemotherapy treatment? did you or do you know of someone that went through chemotherapy and lost or gained weight, stop or continue working, lost hair and eyebrows? any extra info is appreciated.

Answer: I had chemotherapy last summer for breast cancer. I lost all my hair, eye lashes, eyebrows. I lost weight in the very beginning, but gained some with the steroids they had me on. I was a stay-at-home mom, but couldn't imagine trying to work during that time. I was on alot of medication for naseau and was still naseaus, but the most pain came from the neulesta shot I receieved after every chemo for the white blood cells....that caused severe bone pain and I was on pain meds for that.

Question: When can one start seeing chemotherapy treatment work? Its been 2 cycles already and the lump in my dads leg grew in size, from an M&M shape, to a 2cmX3cm spherical shape growing deeper. Sometimes he cant feel it in the morning, then at night he feels it. Its more prominant when my dads blood sugar is high. I read that tumors feed off of blood sugar. Shouldnt the chemotherapy stop the growth already? His doc said it was just scar tissue. Isnt there a test to figure out if the chemos working? Its diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the thigh, and the doc said theres an indolent type of lymphoma in the bone. She didnt say what the second was. Hes on R-CHOP right now, every 3 weeks.

Answer: The idea that cancer feeds off of sugar is based on a misconception of cancer biology and an incomplete understanding of how PET scans work. When you have a PET scan done you quit eating any sugar or carbs prior to the test because most tumors consume more glucose than normal body organs. Tumors have an increased blood supply and this increased vascular supply helps feed the glucose into the tumor. Having no excess glucose in the bloodstream makes the tumors light up much better on PET scans. All aspects of metabolism in the human body are dependent on glucose for fuel. You can not stop consuming enough glucose to make any difference in the growth of a tumor because the tumor always gets first dibs on any glucose that becomes available. In other words, you would starve to death before your reducing your glucose intake would have any affect on the growth of the tumor. Your father could have a PET scan and this would tell if the tumor is still active or not. If your dad has medicare for his insurance you should know that medicare does not like to pay for PET scans but if they are medically necessary and he has his Dr's support it is possible to get a PET scan approved by and paid for by medicare. all the best to you both

Question: In FolFox IV chemotherapy treatment what r the precautions one should take?Whether drinking more water is good? How long the treatment should be continued?

Answer: There's no precautions one should take with this treatment for colorectal cancer, which is the 2nd leading most cause of cancer death. It has very few side effects and has been proven to extend life moreso than other treatments. It would be up to your onco dr, as to how long the treatments take. Obviously, drinking mor water is always a good thing. My chemo meds dried my mouth and throat out so I was always chugging water, which I otherwise hate drinking.

Question: Anyone experienced with Chemotherapy treatment? My dad has his first cycle of chemotherapy and it ended on Saturday. He is a little nausious but he's eating. He has esophageal cancer and is also getting radiation treatment - but he can't make it to his radiation treatments this week because he's still weak from the chemo. When do you think he will get some of his strength back so he can continue treatment. I know everyone's case is different, so that's why I am interested in finding out different experiences with the treatment. Thanks!

Answer: I am going thru it right now for testicular cancer. I take chemo 7 hours a day 5 days a week so mine is a little more then most people. I can tell you that 2-3 days after the first cycle is bad, it was VERY bad for me and I ended up in the hospital. What I had to do was go to the hospital everyday and get IV fluids so it would flush the chemo out of my system. If he ends up getting very sick, ask the hospital if he can do this because it helps alottttttttttttt and it also helps you to recover from being sick much faster. I am hoping they gave him nausea medication to take at home? I take zofran. It desolves under your tongue. If he is doing ok right now though, he just might make it thru without being sick!

Question: For anyone here who has taken chemotherapy treatment, did it cause twitching in your hands and body? I had finished taken chemo treatment last year in September and now all of a sudden i am having a lot of twitching in my hands, arms, and legs. The only thing i can think that this has come from is chemo. I may be wrong. It may can be something else. But i just wanted to know has anyone here who has taken chemo experience this?

Answer: My husband went through 7 different chemotherapy's over the last 2yrs and 7 months. He would get twitches in his arms, legs, face and hands...however it was not related to the therapy. They were mini seizures, and sometimes they were just muscle spasms. He had brain cancer stage IV, and for the twitching he was put on Klonopin 0.5mg three times a day, and it helped tremendously. I'm sad to say that on 7/14/09, my husband passed away from his cancer after a 2 yr and 7 month battle. Total of 18 brain surgeries in that time...he makes me so proud . I wish you all the best.

Question: PLEASE HELP-does SMOKING affect ABVD CHEMOTHERAPY treatment for HODGKIN LYMPHOMA? i know smoking is bad for the health and what it causes but for the time being , does it affect the ABVD chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkins lymphoma .....thx a lot

Answer: YES. Smoking weakens even further an immune system compromised from the disease and the chemo. You would need to be a complete idiot to smoke during ABVD or any chemo treatment.

Question: Number of Cycles in chemotherapy treatment for leukemia? I understand the whole induction, consolidation, maintenance thing but what does it mean if someone is in cycle 11? Is that longer than normal as in it kept coming back? A friend of a friend is in cycle 11 but in maintenance treatment.

Answer: Stating questions clearly helps us a great deal. What type of leukemia? It must be an acute leukemia, but is it lymphocytic or myelocytic? Even if you know the precise type, it would depend on the treatment regimen being used - these vary greatly. There is no one single regimen for the treatment of acute leukemias. Cycle "11" would probably be in "maintenance." What you really want to know is if there has been a consistent remission gained or whether there has been persisting disease. Your friend should know this. It is up to the friend to share private medical information. The doctors cannot give this information out to all friends. That would violate patient confidentiality restrictions currently in place - at the request of patients.

Question: How much does a single carboplatin chemotherapy treatment cost? Just a rough estimate or guess, I know it probablly varies.

Answer: approximately $8800

Question: can i have gastric sleeve surgery when i finish my chemotherapy treatment? i am going through chemo treatment for hodgkins lymphoma..but i had plans before i found out i had cancer to get a gastric sleeve surgery since i have always been overweight...now how long do i have to wait before i can get it done?

Answer: i dont know, but ask ur doctor or someone who knows all of that, they should be ur first place 2 go 2

Question: How long after your first chemotherapy treatment could your hair start falling out? I start Wednesday.

Answer: It might start about one week after the first cycle of chemotherapy. It will be gradual and the nuisance is it falls out all over your clothes, chair and pillows. Eventually all body hair is lost including eyelashes. With some chemos you do NOT lose your hair. Try not to worry about it because really it is the least of your problems. Best of luck.

Question: how does a person feel 2 days after their first chemotherapy treatment? I'm going to call and check on her later, I just want to know what to expect. Thanks

Answer: It depends on the type of chemotherapy, the dosage, and how many days the patient has the therapy. Not all chemo is the same and not all patients respond the same way. Some patients feel no after effects at all and some become really ill. My son was an inpatient for his first chemotherapy treatment. He had Vincristine, Doxirbucin and Cytoxan over a 5 day period. During the treatment he felt nauseous but once the treatment stopped he felt okay within a few days. His protocol called for high dose chemotherapy over a 9 month period and he spent each cycle as an inpatient. He would than have 21 days off in between the treatment. He reached his life time limit of Doxirubicin and can no longer use that chemo. Go ahead and call your friend and go on over to visit. That will be the best medicine for her. best to you

Question: Can I draw disability while undergoing Chemotherapy and Radiation treatment.? I was diagnosed with lymphoma of the brain and have to have chemotherapy and radiation as my treatment will I be able to work, or can I draw disability I live in Missouri. My employer does not have disability so I'm talking about state or ssi. I'm only 21 and work fast food.

Answer: Are you talking social security or state or private disability? For Social Security, you have to prove that you will be disabled for a year from working any job or that you are likely to die within I think it was six months. Hopefully that's not your case. Usually for state or private disability, you just have to show you can't work your regular job, but you would have to check the specific rules. Often they have a waiting period of a week or two.

Question: Is there a chemotherapy treatment with no hair loss side effects.? To prevent metastasis to the breasts, after ovary removal due to cancer.

Answer: There are chemotherapy drugs that don't cause hair loss, and some that cause hair thinning but not hair loss, but patients will be prescribed a regime appropriate for their particular cancer. The chemo combination prescribed for you may or may not be one that causes hair loss, but that will not be the basis on which your doctors select it. I know it sounds hard to do, but try not to worry about hair loss. It isn't pleasant but it soon grows back I promise. Your health is more important. Some people have some success with the cold cap, but many find it too uncomfortable or painful, and some hair is usually lost.

Question: Is it possible to naturally conceive after chemotherapy treatment?

Answer: Yes, it is possible, depending on what you were treated for. My cousin's daughter had kidney cancer as a young child and was treated with very heavy doses of chemo and radiation. The doctors weren't sure if she would ever be able to have children. She recently gave birth to her first child, who is healty and thriving.

Question: When cancer starts to spread throughout the body, one course of treatment is chemotherapy? One very obvious effect of chemotherapy is that people generally lose all of their hair a few weeks after the drugs enter their system. Why do you think chemotherapy drugs cause a person's hair to fall out?

Answer: Not all people treated with chemo will lose their hair. It all depends on the patient, the drugs, and the doses. Cancer is caused by your own cells becoming mutated and abnormal. Chemotherapy attempts to target cancerous cells, but it also harms many other healthy cells. Cancerous cells multiply rapidly, and chemotherapy affects that rapid growth. Unfortunately, the normal cells in your hair follicles also divide rapidly in their normal, healthy condition, and chemotherapy interrupts that process, sometimes leading to hair loss.

Question: Aside from cancer, are there any other diseases or ailments that require chemotherapy as treatment? My friend is not telling me everything, one of my closest friend say that she's undergoing chemotherapy. When I asked her about it, she says that it's not cancer. Either she's lying to me because the side effect she's having is nausea and vomiting, which I know is a side effect of cancer chemotherapy.

Answer: sle, rheumatoid arthritis and so many to mention