dee
Member
Member # 2212
posted September 20, 2005 11:08 PM
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sr,
I can only tell you the harsh side effects through what I'm seeing with my Mom (67).
Due to her advanced stage of her cancer *first called tongue cancer then oral cancer now head and neck cancer.. not quite figured out if these all mean the same thing or every test just took it a new level" Surgery is not an option...at least not at this time.
However, going in to the radiation was very difficult for Mom due to the mask she has to wear due to enclosed phobias. The mask is pretty tight fitting. She has a great deal of pain from a device they place in her mouth also during rad. mainly due to the tumor on the tongue. She takes ativan 1/2 hour prior to tx to help relax her.
The cruel harsh side effects you asked about is (in Moms case) developing one of the most severe sunburns you could imagine that leaves the treated area completly raw and itches alot. Some bleeding may happen if it is scrathched in the sleep. Please be sure to be extremly proactive and insist on the gels/creams BEFORE the skin gets bad. Then there is the extreme worn out phase. And lets not forget to mention the odor the mouth develops from nothing being tolerated in the mouth but there ARE many oral rinses available.
PLEASE keep in mind that She is also going through chemo and the combination of both is just down right taking its toll. I have read MANY posts that have more positive info and hope you continue to read /search for other input.
To those of you that have reponded to my plee for help..THANK YOU.
Steve, I had inquired about procrit 2 weeks ago when they gave Mom blood infusion, the chemo doc. said he didn't feel that procrit would be a benifit!? What are they really tring to tell me? Her counts did come up some after the blood but not enough to do the cisplantin, only the
Erbitux.
We tried the less medication route..pain became intolerable.
We had a cbc on Mon. They saw how weak she was and still did rad tx & suggested more hydration. She missed both rad and chemo tx today due to just not being able to get out of bed. Fluid has been ordered after rad tomorrow. Said test they did in neck was inconclusive due to pain she was in and couldn't get a good reading. URGH
I'm REALLY trying to stay positive. They (docs) told us this was going to be an extreme hard road and they WERE NOT KIDDING!!
Dee
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Caretaker of Mom with Unresectable stage IV SCCHN, T1-3,T4..No,N1,N2-3. IMRT daily treatment starting 8/24/05.
Erbitux every week starting 8/10/05 and Cisplantin every 3 weeks times 3.
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Posts: 19 | From: In. | Registered: Jul 2005 | IP: Logged
Moved here so that it is easier to find.