I would suggest your father eat everything he can now as his sense of taste will change for a while. Swallowing probably will become difficult too. He will need to have a full blood count done with thyroid and testosterone counts done. He should have already visited his dentist and had and questionable teeth removed and flouride trays made. Anyone who offers to help make sure you tell them when the time comes you will call them and write down their name and number. He will need a hearing test as well as cisplatin can cause high frequency hearing loss which is permanent.

Unfortunately yes, the side effect can be absolutely awful for some patients while others sail right thru. The main thing to watch is intake. His calories must be a minimum of 2500 and 48 oz of water every single day, no exceptions. Skimping one day and thinking the next day can play catch up wont work.

Talk with the doctor about alternatives to cisplatin if you have concerns. Others here have had carboplatin, 5-fu and Erbitux. As far as I know, cisplatin is the drug of choice. Many of us have it every 3 weeks in a large dose, it can also be given weekly a smaller more easily tolerated dose. Ask your fathers doc about this alternative.



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