got first Cisplatin last Thursday, its been a tough road since. In twice to get IV fluids and anti nausea. I warned them I was a puker and now they believe me. Haven't really had been able to eat solid food since Saturday. We are working on a plan for next infusion where I get IV before and after.

Keeping up on the daily Rad treatments though and those are going fine.

Mark,

My neighbor had a terrible time with Cisplatin and lost 14 pounds in the first week. Sounds like you are having similar issues. Do you have a PEG tube?

Good for you for keeping up with the daily rad treatments...I'm sure that's really challenging.

I hope the infusion before helps. Are you getting weekly doses or 3 big doses of Cisplatin?

Mark,
I had the same problem. They gave me the wonderful medicine, I threw that up too! I have heard that if you have a problem with motion sickness chemo's gonna be bad. In my case it was. I hope for you some of the nausea meds work for you! I have also read that high protein diet before infusion helps. Of course I read that after my chemo was over so I didn't have a chance to try it. I want to say in was in Good House Keeping believe it or not. Can't remember, I'll have to look.
Good luck too ya,
Amy

Keep a close eye on your blood pressure. I take blood pressure meds and as soon as I started Cisplatin my b.p. dropped like a stone. That in itself caused me huge problems as I fainted several times (had the shiner to show for it) and felt weak and dizzy. Had we gotten that under control, I think I would have felt better.

What anti nausea meds are they giving you? Mine worked well. They are expensive, but well worth it. There are several options - make sure you ask if any of them cause "agitation". I took one for awhile (can't remember the name) that made it impossible for me to sit still. I had to be constantly moving or rocking - drove me and everyone around me nuts.

Good luck. You can get through this - stick with it.

Donna

Cisplatin is some nasty stuff. I puked a LOT during treatment and they had to cut the last infusion so I only had 2 instead of the planned 3 but I am a six+ year survivor. None of the anti-emetics worked for me all that well. I ended up using Compazine suppositories because I couldn't puke them up. Make sure that you are on a strong antiacid as well because Cisplatin does a number on the stomach.

It is essential to take in 2-3 liters of fluids a day to protect your kidneys.

Cisplatin knocked me for a loop too. I remember sleeping for 4 days after each infusion. The meds they gave me worked great as I never puked one time. It also did a number on my hearing. I now wear hearing aids behind both ears. Its some nasty stuff but it works. I am over 2 years out of treatment.

Billy

Steve has just finished his 3 x Cisplatin with his last one being done last wednesday. So far he hasn't puked with any of them but he has had really bad nausea and the medication provided hasn't helped much at all. Just wondering if they do the cisplatin infusion the same in the U.S as they do here in Australia. Steve had 2 litres of fluid via IV before the infusion of nausea meds, then cisplatin. Cisplatin was then followed by 2 more litres of fluids via IV. Since he's been home we've been making sure he gets at least 2 litres of fluid a day.

I am not sure of the exact volumes of fluids before and after the cisplatin treatments but I do remember that there was much preparation with IV fluids before the Cisplatin was administered. If I remember correctly there was a lag time of about four to six hours from the first administration of IV fluids to the introduction of the cisplatin. The cisplatin dripped for approximately three to four hours and then another three to four hours were used for further fluid infusion.

One of Earl's chemotherapy nurses was a lovely woman name Mali who hailed from Australia. She told us a little bit about her life in Melbourne and, when we all discovered that Greg Norman had married recently Chris Evert, she gave us some entertaining stories about "The Shark." Needless to say, she was not impressed.:-)

Here they seem to do the Cisplatin 2 different ways. The old school like I had is given in 3 "larger" doses, the first the first day of rad; the 2nd halfway through and the last bag the last day of rad. With each bag we usually get IV's of fluids and anti nausea meds as well. Nothing seemed to work nausea wise for me and I suffered all the way through beginning with the 2nd bag.

The newest way is the break the 3 large doses up into smaller weekly doses that is given throughout the rad which they hope decreases the nausea without affecting it's overall toxicity to the cancer. The only "test" of that was a small poorly planned sample that didn't provide any useful conclusions.

So how is MarkInOregon doing, haven't heard anything from him since this first posting after his initial Cisplatin treatment. Hope he is doing well and weathering the treatments.

Bonnie