Hi. John will be starting treatments this week. His first radiation treatment will be this Thursday. He will be receiving Cisplatin every Friday (starting this Friday) along with radiation (IMRT) every day for 7 weeks. My question is, will the effects of the chemo be immediate? He seems to think he will be able to drive himself back and forth to his treatments. I have read a lot of information about the side effects of the radiation but haven't seen to much about the chemo. Thank you again for your help. Wanda

Wanda,
Everybody reacts differently, however:
Since he gets cisplatin every week (30-40mg/m2 ??) the effects from this should not be immediate. Having said that it is possible that you get ringing even after a single low dose treatment! In fact that happened to me (see my signature). You want to watch this and if it occurs let the MO know. He might switch to carboplatin.
Quite a few people receive chemo and radiation together since I am one of them, I cannot personally separate the effects.
On the other hand this (combined treatment) is what your husband gets anyway.
I drove myself to most radiation and chemo treatments (short distance maybe 30 min), however it is a good idea to have a backup plan as he may get as weak as a dog towards the end.

M

Welcome to the site, and sorry you have to go through this. Your husband's diagnosis is very similar to mine (though I can't tell what size your husband's primary tumor is), and the treatment plan is very close. I had a few more IMRT treatments, and my weely Cisplatin was on Mondays, not Fridays.

Everyone is different in how they react to treatment, and you will see the full spectrum of responses in these forums. Under similar circumstances to your husband, I drove myself to all of my treatments, and continued to work. That is not to say that this will be your husband's experience. Some folks have significant issues during treatment.

I remember being tired after my first chemo treatment, but that was about it. If you go to my blog on this site, I was pretty diligent about chronicling my experience during my active treatment. Here is link.

Best of luck to you and your husband. Keep asking questions, both from your doctors and here. We are all here to help.

i had my cisplatin everyday on weeks 1,4,7 of my 7 weeks of radiation havent read anyne else having it that way.
Plus i had double radiation on fridays. I dont like to post and say i drove myself everyday thruout because i was on morphine and roxicet. But i did. Im 53 and being an experienced stoner from the time i got my licence 16 till i was
40 i think came in handy in the driving while high .

Umm, clearly you are still on the meds or you wouldn't be posting on a public forum that you were habitually driving while intoxicated...

Hello Wanda,

I had similar treatments to your husbands, cisplatin every friday and IMRT for 7 weeks. I was ok throughout the 7 weeks. I was quite energetic. The problems I encountered were loss of appetite and taste, thick saliva and also mouth ulcers.

However, I felt quite weak after the treatments were over on 21 Nov 08. I am just fine now except for the loss of taste. So, I had a PEG tube fitted 2 wks ago and now I am putting on weight.

But then again, the effects may not be the same because we respond to treatments differently.

All the best to you both...

Sharifah

Bill had the weekly Cis and twice daily rads and was able to drive himself (if needed) for almost 4 weeks, but reached a point where I was not comfortable with it and began driving to every appointment. He was weak, mentally hazy, and yes, on major pain meds which alone should rule out driving.

I had the old style of Tx where I got 3 bags of Cis. One the first day of rads; the 2nd on the 15th day and the last on the last day of rads. I was able or should I say I did drive myself all but the last 2 weeks.

Mine was same schedule as David's, with flush IV's for 3 days following each Cis. I drove about 70 miles each way except for the last week and a few other days when friends wanted to help. The last 3 weeks I mostly worked from Hospital and home because I was tired and it was easier. I had everything setup at home before treatments started in case I did not handle treatments as well as I did. The week or so after treatments were over was the worse for me. I don't think I would have been able to drive that week.

The're making this Tx so easy now, it won't be long before they wave a magic wand over our head and say "that's it".

Wanda,
Make sure that he is taking lots of anti-nausea meds as prescribed.
Rob

Hi Wanda:

Sounds familiar except that my Cisplatin was delivered at three-week intervals. Personally, I found the effects of IMRT to be far more obvious and deleterious. By the fifth week, I was on steady pain meds and was tired most of the time--didn't need to drive 45-60 mins through D.C. traffic even if I had been able. Some days were better than others but on the whole I was happier not to have had to drive. The radiation effects continued post treatment for several weeks.

As for the chemo, I had shaved my head after a disasterous start with Induction Chemotherapy; the hair started coming back about a month after treatment ended. I also suffered reduced kidney function (high creatinine, low GFR) which resulted in a switch to Carboplatin for the final treatment. Your husbands doctors should be doing blood test throughout...

That was all last summer and now seems ages ago. Hope everything goes well for you and yours...