My husband in on Chemo 3, Radiation 16. He has had a terrible week with nausea and vomiting, needing IV hydration 3x this week. He is also having ringing in his ears, 7-8 x day, for about 5 min. His MO said he is taking him off Cisplatin (low-dose by the way) and switching to Carboplatin. Also, he has lost 20 lbs already, so we have him set-up for a PEG this Thursday. Of course, this doesn't take the nausea away, but he is so weak from no calories, I'm, hoping if we can get some nutrition, he'll be able to fight.

As we sit and chat about how to approach this week, we were wondering if he just needs a week off from chemo? Have any of you done this? benefit? I know the chemo helps sensitize the cells to help the radiation works better, but he is so low that I would think getting him on track with nutrition will help. He gets infusion on Mondays, and daily radiation. His bad days are Tuesday - Fri. but this weekend has been terrible too. No break and he is faltering emotionally. Aren't we all?!

Anyway, any advice on how we should approach this week would be great. Week off? OK to move forward with Carboplatin? Has anyone been switched and found better side effects, and still good long term effects with cancer? Of course, we all hate to make these decisions and wonder if making this choice will affect the re-occurrance of cancer? I am good at wondering about regrets....

Hope everyone is going into a good week ahead...
Beth

Beth

for what it's worth: When my aggressive cancer came back, my MO used Carboplatin for the recurrence. He thought it would work just as well as Cisplatin for head and neck cancers. I had had Erbitux the first round. So far so good. Big plus, the Carboplatin was a breeze compared to Erbitux.
It's tough but you are in the thick of the battle. There truly is light at the end of the tunnel.
Keep the Faith
Charm

Thanks Charm! Knowing that my husband is uber sensitive to nausea and vomiting, I was skeptical of starting Cisplatin in the 1st place. I wonder how the switch will go... going from 3 weeks of Cisplatin to a new drug. Thanks for the kindness....

Beth

Hi there! Well my regime was different but in answer to your question, carbo is an older drug but as far as I know works just as effectively. He should be switched if for no other reason than the ear issues! They do this commonly if there is concern about his hearing being affected. With regards to taking a week off. I was set up for cis x 3 - full dose. They started me a week late - I had one week where my white cells were too low so the put my second dose off for another week, and then gave me # 2 - by number three's time I'd run out of radiation! So they didn't give it to me even though I actually wanted it. She told me this happens a lot, and people are ok. Sometimes they fail to get the 3rd full dose in. So ultimately that's about 2 of the small doses! I don't think it's a bad thing however, see how he does on the carbo, first. They'll stop him if they feel he needs a break. Good luck! And hugs!