Scott,here
My Dad is a week into his chemo and radiation, was on ethyol (amifostine) for 3 days, had severe nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure with resulting fatigue and fluid in his lungs. He was not able to keep any food down for a week. He had a PEG (feeding tube)put in Wednesday and is getting a slow feed of Jevity (liquid nutrients). All the side effects I mentioned above have dimnished or are gone 2 days after having stopped the ethyol injections, except for the fluid in the lungs; he is getting a nebuliser every 4 hours and antibiotics and is almost back to normal.
Dr. Cisneros, our oncoligist, says these are common side effects of ethyol.
We thought that being a patient advocate was an option , not a requirement! After keeping an eye on our father when he was not able to make decisions for himself we discovered that the doctors and nurses ARE NOT GOD and make mistakes.
We found ourselves having to sit on these people
and make sure his needs were being addressed.
One thing we found helpful was keeping journal of the details of his treatment. A written account was much easier to follow than an oral account as we took turns staying with our father.
Once again, thanks for all your insights and experinces! They have been an invaluable source of information for my father and ouselves as we face new challenges in our cancer battle!