Postby elesa » Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:27 pm
My mother-in-law, who has been dealing with this cancer for 3 years now, was told that she is resistant to treatment and there was nothing else they could do. She didn't like that answer so she went to another doc, whom she had seen before, and he agreed that options were running low but was willing to try this one last treatment to see if it would change things at all. She had tried it one time before, but it made her so incredibly sick that they wouldn't continue after the second treatment. I think it is called "camptosar". Anyway, so she got one treatment..... couldn't get the second because white blood cell count was way too low. they did shots for a few days to raise it but then she went into this nausea/vomiting/all over sick thing so bad that she could barley get out of bed, much less get a chemo treatment. She was sick like that for a few weeks, then started hallucinating. It was like she was on a morphine fix, but with morphine she never remembered when she was tripping, this time she does, she like catches herself wigging out and then plays it off. Pretty funny watching a 68 year old 100 pound bald woman chasing a cat out of the fireplace when there is no cat and she has never had a cat! Funny stuff! Sorry that is not what this is about. Anyway.... with all the sickness, weightloss, loss of appetite, sleeping and now the confustion and hallucinations, palliative care nurse says she has about 1-2 weeks and trnsfers her to hospice care. They give her an antibiotic for a tooth infection and and anti-psychotic med. for the hallucinations. Sleeps on and off for about a day. Low and behold, the next day, Thanksgiving, she is up, eating, coherent, cleaning, you name it. My husband thought it was the anti-psychotic meds helping... i of course was worried that it was the typical "last surge of energy". NOPE. it is now Dec 8th, and she is still going! Up and around, out and about. her legs/feet are swelling some, and now having some crying episodes worrying about dying, but other than that, she is ready to go back to the doc and start that dreadful treatment again. I have to say, I love her fight, but I really hate to see her get back to that horrible sickness again. She has already lost about 65 pounds and is skin and bones, but she seems determined to do this. God Love her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Has anyone seen this type or rebound with the anti-psychotic meds or have any insight. Also, as a footnote, she usually has such intense pain.....and somehow one the hallucinations started, the pain seemed to calm down. Now, no evidence of confusion, other than just acting like she is drunk, but that is her personality to a certain degree, but still she doesn't appear to be in as much pain..... Miracle anti-psychotic drugs-or something more "spiritual" going on?