Cisplatin (and radiation) hit me hard. I had to have my second round of cisplatin a week after the ideal schedule because my neutrophil count was too low at first. As for the third one, I was neutropenic and just was not getting any better for a couple of weeks so they just skipped it. There's research that actually shows no diff. in the effectiveness of concurrent chemo and rad. if you get two vs. three rounds of chemo. How hard these things hit you don't necessarily have a lot to do with how fit you are.

Nelie

Thanks Nelie, that's good info.

GeorgeH,
Brian is, as usual, right on the mark. Always discuss problems and possible solutions with your Docs. What worked and was acceptable for one individual may not be good for you.
I hope all is going well with your treatment.
Cheers,
Mike

Also be careful of Cisplatin and hearing loss. If you hear any ringing in your ears tell your MO immediately. I didn't recognize "ringing in my ear" and now I have permanent high frequency loss in both ears.

Also CIB VHC has tons of protein.

I did use Aquaphor on my skin before they gave me Biafine and the Aquaphor was much, much less effective than the Biafine which they gave me late in the process. I even have an Aloe product called Aloe Relief that I have used for years that seemed to work better than the Aquaphor. Biafine cannot be used on open wounds so if your skin has now cracked, you would have to wait for that to heal before using. Ask your doc about it.

Take care,
Eileen

We thought the aloe vera gel worked better than the prescribed aquaphor...healed better and was way less greasy.

Deb

George

The BC Cancer Agency suggested I use WellSkin Glaxal Base. It's obviously available in Canada. It worked great for my skin, apart from some minor itching I didn't have any skin problems with 35 radiation sessions.

Best of luck,

Sam

I was also given someting called "Radiagel" to try by the radiation oncology nurse. If I am recalling right, that helped somewhat but the Biafine worked better.

Nelie