John could not have taxol and carboplatin if his white cell count is below 1.5, which has happened. He had to wait until the white cells rebounded. Now he is on a reduced dose so that he can keep to the schedule of once every three weeks. I need to add, though, that John's treatment is palliative.

I had two bags of cisplatin, horrible tinnitus with each one, and they decided to skip the 3rd bag completely, which I am told is not uncommon. I asked about Carboplatin, but they said they needed to set up for that, which I took to mean they needed to plan it somehow, and being so close to the dose date and so close to the end of the radiotherapy, they said it wasn't an option.

Hi everyone, he did carboplatin yesterday and today he feels awful and is throwing up. I told him lets go to the ER but he is against it and just wants to stay home. I hope he stops throwing up soon! PS 1 more radiation to go on Monday!!

Hope your brother is feeling a little better than he was earlier. It's good he has only one more Rad to go on Monday! Yay! Before my son's last treatment, he was feeling so awful I thought for sure he would have to skip it, but I think just the thought that it was the last one got him going. If your brother is still throwing up, maybe there are some nausea meds the doctor could recommend? I know my son was on nausea meds during his treatment and had tried more than one before finding something that worked for him. Let us know how he's doing.

Make sure your brother is staying hydrated, too, especially with the vomiting.

I'm really glad to hear your brother is nearly done with treatment. I'm sure it hasn't been an easy road, and the next few weeks will be rough also, but ilittle by little he will start feeling better.

If he continues to vomit, contact his doctor. Maybe he can prescribe something to help with that. And as others have said, he needs to stay hydrated.

Hi everyone my brother completed his last radiation on November 4th. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks. He is still on his feeding tube. He just took Zofran through his feeding tube and then threw up. He threw up on Saturday night too. Did anyone experience throwing up even two weeks after completion of radition?

This is pretty normal but if it continues frequently then he should get checked out. Tube feedings can be hard to tolerate and can cause nausea. Just remember whatever comes out must get put back in. Since he just finished rads only 2 weeks ago he probably is still feeling pretty lousy. His intake daily must hit the minimums of 2500 calories and 48-64 oz of water to help him with his recovery. If you can get him to push more and hit 3000 or even 3500 calories it can only help his body to recover faster.

Usually feedings that are too fast or thick will cause the throwing up and nausea. If he is doing pump feedings then slow down the rate. If doing gravity or the push methods, slow them down and add more water. Have him sit still and upright for at least 30 minutes (preferably an hour) after a feeding. This should help his stomach to settle and help ease the nausea.

Hang in there, the worst is almost behind you. Only about another week or so and he will slowly begin to feel a little better. Dont be surprised if the recovery takes many months, its a long road but Im sure with you helping he will do great.

Best wishes!

ak123, it seems like most of the males were going through extended periods of vomiting during and after our treatment when I went through treatment. One member used to describe it as "polishing our teeth from the back side", even. Just hearing a side effect of nausea made me vomit. Zofran and Emend weren't used often and were my lifesavers.

Even with the PEG, I vomitted often. Saturday and yesterday would have been a welcomed relief. I eventually was fed intravenously for months (TPN). Try not to worry too much but stay on top of the hydration. I had an enteral bag and had pedialyte gravity fed while I slept. That gave me back some electrolytes plus it wasn't as bad as far as the nausea. Put as much effort into the hydration as you would anything. That will impact quality of life as much as anything n

You can see the finish line fo pr treatment, stay the course. Best wishes for smooth sailing.

Thank you so much Christine and uptown!!!

Ok everyone my brother typed this up lol (and told me to send it to you guys)

Hello my helping friends,
So my brother finished his 33x Rads to the head and neck area on November 4th. He lost all of the hair on his beard and on the back of his neck where his actual head hair was. Now the hair line has exceeded all the way up to where his ear lobes start. He is concerned to when/how his beard hair + his head hair on the back of his neck will grow. Also a second concern is on the surgical side of his tongue, right after he was finished with radiation... The white coating peeled off on it's own to become an all pink tongue.. Now two weeks after, it's half pink (non-surgical side) and half white (surgical side). Does anyone know if the white coating will become pink again? Thank you all for helping my younger brother by taking time out of your day to cope with his concerns!