what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

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Basil
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:33 pm

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Basil » Fri May 12, 2017 9:19 pm

Tdubz wrote:Doing good today. Appetite came back so got to eat a little more. I've lost nearly 40 lbs since surgery at the beginning of April so I'm glad to get to eat.

I did have a few questions for you guys. when do you guys normally wear a mask? I'll be around a lot of kids this weekend for Mother's Day so it seems like the right thing to do. I go in on Monday for my first post chemo blood draw so I'm sure I'll find out more then. How do you handle this with your own kids? 2 young kids here and I don't want them to freak out if I have to wear a mask.


My doctors told me to wash my hands more often but no need for a mask. And I have two little boys who carry around God knows what.
40 y/o male (now 46), kids 11 & 14.
Dx 3/16/17, rectal cancer s3,t3,n1,m0
PROSPCT trial (FOLFOX in lieu of chemorad)
FOLFOX 4/5/17 - 6/26/17
LAR 7/31/17, temp ileo
pathological complete response
Adjuvant chemo cancelled (IDEA Study)
Ileo reversed 9/25/17
NED
1 year scans - clear
2 year scans - clear
3 year scans - clear
4 year scans - clear
5 year scans - clear (considered cured)

Lee
Posts: 6207
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 4:09 pm

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Lee » Fri May 12, 2017 10:38 pm

Tdubz wrote:I did have a few questions for you guys. when do you guys normally wear a mask? I'll be around a lot of kids this weekend for Mother's Day so it seems like the right thing to do. I go in on Monday for my first post chemo blood draw so I'm sure I'll find out more then. How do you handle this with your own kids? 2 young kids here and I don't want them to freak out if I have to wear a mask.


I never did wear a mask, butt I believe it's based on your blood work and I'm gonna say red and white blood counts. Could be wrong on that, butt if certain #'s drop to low levels, yes a mask is in order to prevent you from getting sick from those around you.

Personally, my Onc was far more concerned about me getting the flu shot. Gave it to me once in her office. So did you get your flu shot for this season?

As far as kids are concerned, wash your hands far more often. Me I used Clorox all the time while on chemo with 2 young kids. Watch for sneeze, cough, etc with young kids.

Lee
rectal cancer - April 2004
46 yrs old at diagnoses
stage III C - 6/13 lymph positive
radiation - 6 weeks
surgery - August 2004/hernia repair 2014
permanent colostomy
chemo - FOLFOX
NED - 16 years and counting!

Aqx99
Posts: 403
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Facebook Username: aqx99
Location: Pfafftown, NC

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Aqx99 » Sun May 14, 2017 7:17 pm

Your white blood cell count will determine if you need to take any sort of neutropenia precautions. I haven't started infusions yet, but was on Xeloda during my radiation treatments. My white blood cell count dropped dramatically the first two weeks I was taking it, so they had me wear a mask if I was going to be in close quarters with a lot of people. I basically only wore it at work. After my numbers started to rebound, they told me I could stop.
Anne, 40
Stage IIIB Rectal Cancer
T3N1bM0
2/21/17 Dx, Age 39
2/21/17 CEA 0.9
3/23/17 - 5/2/17 Chemoradiation, 28 treatments
6/14/17 Robotic LAR w/temp loop ileostomy, ovaries & fallopian tubes removed, 2/21 lymph nodes positive
7/24/17 - 12/18/17 CapeOx, 6 Cycles
7/24/17 Dx w/ovarian cancer
9/6/17 CA 125 11.1
11/27/17 CEA 2.6
12/5/17 CT NED
12/13/17 CEA 2.9
1/11/18 CA 125 8.6
1/23/18 Reversal
3/21/18 CT enlarged thymus
4/6/18 PET NED
7/10/18 CT NED
7/11/18 CEA 2.6
9/18 Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy

Tdubz
Posts: 152
Joined: Sun May 07, 2017 11:01 am

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Tdubz » Mon May 22, 2017 6:07 pm

Well, after a great week and a half off I'm back at it for round 2. It ended up being great timing. I was feeling good for Mother's Day, my sons end of school program, my daughters dance rectial, and my birthday lol. So I had a pretty good off week.

This week is round 2. Off to good start so far. With my first treatment, I think I went in to it with a negative attitude. i didn't know much about cancer coming into this. Tv and movies are pretty much the only exposure I've had to cancer in the past and they make things look pretty horrible, so I was definitely a bit worried going in to my first treatment. But guess what? I made it through it, which means I can do it again too. I'm keeping a positive attitude towards my chemo from this point forward. My doc says some of the nausea is mental. If you think about it all the time then you'll probably get sick, so no more worrying about that either.

doc said to drop the second pill of dex this go around since I was having chest pains last go around. Not sure if that was the cause or not, but I guess we will find out, plus I've got the Prilosec this time incase it was just really bad heartburn.

I'm also hoping to be a bit more active. I kinda just laid around in bed for the first 3 days and I hear being active helps.

Hoping for a smooth ride til wed, I'll post an update then.

benben
Posts: 324
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2017 3:18 pm
Location: Washington State

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby benben » Mon May 22, 2017 7:56 pm

Tdubz wrote:Well, after a great week and a half off I'm back at it for round 2. It ended up being great timing. I was feeling good for Mother's Day, my sons end of school program, my daughters dance rectial, and my birthday lol. So I had a pretty good off week.

This week is round 2. Off to good start so far. With my first treatment, I think I went in to it with a negative attitude. i didn't know much about cancer coming into this. Tv and movies are pretty much the only exposure I've had to cancer in the past and they make things look pretty horrible, so I was definitely a bit worried going in to my first treatment. But guess what? I made it through it, which means I can do it again too. I'm keeping a positive attitude towards my chemo from this point forward. My doc says some of the nausea is mental. If you think about it all the time then you'll probably get sick, so no more worrying about that either.

doc said to drop the second pill of dex this go around since I was having chest pains last go around. Not sure if that was the cause or not, but I guess we will find out, plus I've got the Prilosec this time incase it was just really bad heartburn.

I'm also hoping to be a bit more active. I kinda just laid around in bed for the first 3 days and I hear being active helps.

Hoping for a smooth ride til wed, I'll post an update then.


Cheers Tdubz! Happy belated b-day.
Glad to hear second treatment has started off as well as the first.
Keep us posting, I'm just a week behind you on treatments so I'm walking in your shadow.
----------------------
3/29/17 diagnosed CRC - 44 y/o Male
4/17/17 ULAR - Straight anastomosis - no ostomy.
Path: low grade T3n1m0 - moderate diff.
KRAS - NO, MLH1/PMS2/MSH6/MSH2 - Normal.
5/3 med port install
5/22 folfox - first treatment.
3rd treat, delayed - low ANC - reduced to 90% OXI
zarxio all treats
Treat 7 - 75% OXI
Treats 8-12 - NO OXI, Luke & 5FU
10/20/17 CT- NED
3/18 Scope - Clean
11/8 PORT OUT!
7/22 CT - NED (5 years!)

Tdubz
Posts: 152
Joined: Sun May 07, 2017 11:01 am

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Tdubz » Tue May 23, 2017 8:31 pm

Day two of second treatment was pretty uneventful. I felt good most of the day. Towards the evening, I started to get some slight chest pains again, although it doesn't seem as painful as it did after the first treatment. Maybe it was heartburn after all and the Prilosec is working. I'm still going to mention it when I get disconnected tomorrow.

Have any of you experienced a slower heart rate while on chemo? It seems like my resting heart rate drops to the high 40s to mid 50s while on chemo and then bounces back up to 70's and 80's on my off week. I wonder if this could be related to my chest pain.

benben
Posts: 324
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2017 3:18 pm
Location: Washington State

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby benben » Tue May 23, 2017 9:19 pm

Tdubz wrote:Day two of second treatment was pretty uneventful. I felt good most of the day. Towards the evening, I started to get some slight chest pains again, although it doesn't seem as painful as it did after the first treatment. Maybe it was heartburn after all and the Prilosec is working. I'm still going to mention it when I get disconnected tomorrow.

Have any of you experienced a slower heart rate while on chemo? It seems like my resting heart rate drops to the high 40s to mid 50s while on chemo and then bounces back up to 70's and 80's on my off week. I wonder if this could be related to my chest pain.


Keep an eye on the heart rate for sure and check with the Onc about it. I'm not sure if mine has dropped at all, don't have any device to measure it at home and don't trust i could do it with a watch and count.

Chest pain may just be heartburn as that is a common side effect with the chemo. I've already been on Prilosec since late march as I had a dual scope and endoscopy showed inflammation of the esophagus and stomach.
I was diagnosed GERD about 7 years ago and take the prilosec off and on when symptoms start to worsen. So, so far I've not had any sign of heart burn as I'm sure the prilosec in my system is already working on that.
----------------------
3/29/17 diagnosed CRC - 44 y/o Male
4/17/17 ULAR - Straight anastomosis - no ostomy.
Path: low grade T3n1m0 - moderate diff.
KRAS - NO, MLH1/PMS2/MSH6/MSH2 - Normal.
5/3 med port install
5/22 folfox - first treatment.
3rd treat, delayed - low ANC - reduced to 90% OXI
zarxio all treats
Treat 7 - 75% OXI
Treats 8-12 - NO OXI, Luke & 5FU
10/20/17 CT- NED
3/18 Scope - Clean
11/8 PORT OUT!
7/22 CT - NED (5 years!)

Tdubz
Posts: 152
Joined: Sun May 07, 2017 11:01 am

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Tdubz » Wed May 24, 2017 12:46 pm

Chest pains again today plus a bit dizzy. Thought I was gonna have a quick disconnect appt today but now they are giving me fluids. We will see if that helps any.

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Jacques
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Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 10:38 am
Location: Occitanie

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Jacques » Thu May 25, 2017 12:18 am

Here's a view from the chemo chair:
http://colonclub.com/a-view-from-the-chemo-chair/

DebZ
Posts: 83
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 9:01 pm
Facebook Username: Bulc

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby DebZ » Thu May 25, 2017 8:28 am

Your chest pain worries me. I would definitely contact doctor immediately about that! As for being dizzy, don't underestimate how much water you need to drink. And it's not easy if you feel slightly nasaeous, but makes big difference. Hope you have a good non-chemo week!
48 @ diagnosis Sept 2014
MSS; Kras mutant G12D
Oct 2014: right hemicolectomy
Dec 2014-May 2015: Folfox
June 2015: clean scans
Sept 2015: scans reveal ovarian mass and liver met; Folfiri
Jan 2016: liver wedge resection and hysterectomy
April 2016: multiple lung mets; Folfiri+Avastin
June 2017: lung mets growing; switch to Folfox+Avastin
Jan-April 2018: dropped oxali; CEA rising
May 2018: back on Folfox+Avastin, add pulse steroid treatment to get platelet count up (continuously in 50s)

Tdubz
Posts: 152
Joined: Sun May 07, 2017 11:01 am

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Tdubz » Fri May 26, 2017 11:32 am

Went in to give blood for the genetics test today and do some other lab work. They found that my potassium levels were low. I have read on some other threads that others had chest pain with low potassium so hopefully the supplements they are prescribing will help. Looking forward to feeling better on the upcoming off week! Hope you guys have a good one as well!

benben
Posts: 324
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2017 3:18 pm
Location: Washington State

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby benben » Fri May 26, 2017 4:45 pm

Tdubz wrote:Went in to give blood for the genetics test today and do some other lab work. They found that my potassium levels were low. I have read on some other threads that others had chest pain with low potassium so hopefully the supplements they are prescribing will help. Looking forward to feeling better on the upcoming off week! Hope you guys have a good one as well!


Good to hear Tdubz.. Hopefully that'll be the end of your chest pain.
I know I had to double up on my prilosec as I noticed heart burn increase.
keep gaining strength for your round 3.
----------------------
3/29/17 diagnosed CRC - 44 y/o Male
4/17/17 ULAR - Straight anastomosis - no ostomy.
Path: low grade T3n1m0 - moderate diff.
KRAS - NO, MLH1/PMS2/MSH6/MSH2 - Normal.
5/3 med port install
5/22 folfox - first treatment.
3rd treat, delayed - low ANC - reduced to 90% OXI
zarxio all treats
Treat 7 - 75% OXI
Treats 8-12 - NO OXI, Luke & 5FU
10/20/17 CT- NED
3/18 Scope - Clean
11/8 PORT OUT!
7/22 CT - NED (5 years!)

Tdubz
Posts: 152
Joined: Sun May 07, 2017 11:01 am

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Tdubz » Sat Jun 03, 2017 4:25 pm

Onc wants me to see are cardiologist too now, so now that's on the schedule. Lowering the 5FU dose this next go around to see if that helps as well. Guess we will find out Monday.

Lee
Posts: 6207
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 4:09 pm

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Lee » Sat Jun 03, 2017 4:29 pm

Glad you are seeing a cardiologist, butt I'm also wondering if your chest pain is a reaction to your chemo. Has your Onc mentioned this as a possibility?

Good luck,

Lee
rectal cancer - April 2004
46 yrs old at diagnoses
stage III C - 6/13 lymph positive
radiation - 6 weeks
surgery - August 2004/hernia repair 2014
permanent colostomy
chemo - FOLFOX
NED - 16 years and counting!

Tdubz
Posts: 152
Joined: Sun May 07, 2017 11:01 am

Re: what should I expect on the first day of chemo?

Postby Tdubz » Sat Jun 03, 2017 4:42 pm

Yes, I believe that is what they suspect. It only happens on the day before, of, and after disconnect. During that time my heart rate slows to the 45-55 bpm range and blood pressure drops to 90/50 along with the chest pains. I'm normally around 80 bpm and 120/80 blood pressure. I'm not sure what my options are if it turns out to be some reaction from the 5FU. I guess I'll have to ask on Monday


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