Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

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WriterGirl1969
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Location: Central NY

Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby WriterGirl1969 » Wed Nov 16, 2016 4:30 pm

I'm about 1 month post adjuvent chemo treatment. Definitely know my immune is still low and rebuilding. I've been walking more, taking my vitamins, etc. Of course, I also live in Upstate NY, which means the temp is 80 degrees one day and 30 degrees the next, so my family is currently sharing a yucky sinus infection. I immediately jumped on antibiotics, because I have a history of SI's going right into Bronchitis, but this infection refuses to go away.

So, my question is, what have ya'all done to boost immune system post-chemo other than the normal diet/exercise? Also, if you got sick post-chemo, did you find anything that helped to kick it out?

As always, thanks for sharing your vast array of knowledge and experience with me. :)

--Tracy
DX 3/4/2016 Colon Cancer; age 46 Mom of then 4-yr-old
Stage IIIB: T3N1M0
3/31/16 Surgery
4 to 10/2016: Xeloda Monotherapy
CEA: 10/16 0.56, 1/17 0.54
CT CLEAR: 3/6/17; 4/17/18; 4/16/19
NED 3 years
“If I can help somebody as I walk along, then my living shall not be in vain.”

jhocno197
Posts: 817
Joined: Mon May 11, 2015 9:33 pm

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby jhocno197 » Wed Nov 16, 2016 4:53 pm

If it's sinusitis, that could be viral, and antibiotics won't help.

Eat well, rest, don't overdo it.
Last edited by jhocno197 on Thu Nov 17, 2016 11:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DH - dx Dec 2014, stage IV with bladder & peritoneal involvement - non-resectable
Colostomy
FOLFOX failed
FOLFIRI failed
Tumor actually distending pelvic skin
Not a candidate for last-ditch pelvic exenteration
Stivarga finally begun 2/19/16
Tumor growing/fungating
Lonsurf started 11/18/16
Died 3/10/17

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BeansMama
Posts: 959
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Location: North Carolina

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby BeansMama » Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:10 pm

When illness strikes in our house we boost vitamin c intake. I don't right now but did pre-cancer.

We buy the vitamins as well as using emergen-c. Always look up max dosages if you are going to kick it out with vitamin c. Can't remember off the top of my head but I do remember I found it through Google.

Also have you tried taking something like airborne as a preventative?
41 yrs old
Tumor found 9/2015
Surgery 1 - 11/2015 LAR and colostomy
Surgery 2 - 11/2015 wound vac
Surgery 3 - 12/2015 revise resection, move colostomy
Mets to liver - tumor inoperable - one add'l met destroyed
Stage IVa (T3 N2a M1a)
Primary tumor 9 cm x 7.5 cm x 2 cm
Beginning Folfox 1/2016 - Failed
Beginning Folfiri and vectibix 8/2016 — Failed
Beginning Folfirinox + Avastin 11/2016 - Failed
Beginning Keytruda 1/2017
CEA drop from 345 to 7.3 after starting immunotherapy
Lynch positive 3/2016

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

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby Lee » Wed Nov 16, 2016 7:26 pm

jhocno197 wrote:
Eat well, rest, don't overdo it.


Agree.

Hope your feeling better soon. If you have not already done, maybe see your Onc or Dr.

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!

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CRguy
Posts: 10473
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:00 pm

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby CRguy » Wed Nov 16, 2016 9:06 pm

jhocno197 wrote:If it's sinusitis, that's viral, and antibiotics won't help.

Sorry homie ..... NOT always the case
there can be some very serious bacterial and fungal causes of sinusitis
which require proper diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics and/or antifungals

TRUST ME
BTDT as both patient and the "doc" ... :evil:

Get things taken care of by your docs

WORD !
Cheers
CR
Caregiver x 4
Stage IV A rectal cancer/lung met
17 Year survivor
my life is an ongoing totally randomized UNcontrolled experiment with N=1 !
Review of my Journey so far

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Green Tea
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2016 10:48 am

Dust mites and sinusitis?

Postby Green Tea » Thu Nov 17, 2016 10:56 am

WriterGirl1969 wrote:....Also, if you got sick post-chemo, did you find anything that helped to kick it out?

What I did was I cleaned out my bedroom from top to bottom and got enough new sheets and pillowcases so that I could change to clean ones every day or so. I also bought an air purifier for the bedroom with a special HEPA filter.

Maybe you have dust mites there in your bedroom.

If you think that this might be the case, there are ways to deal with the problem:

Dust Mites and Sinusitis
Dust mites cause chronic and acute sinusitis due to their effect on the mucus membranes in the nasal and sinus cavities. Dust mites cause the most damage when you are asleep, when your cilia are at rest.
Your doctor can prescribe such treatments as steroid nasal sprays, antibiotics and corticosteroid nasal spray to reduce the inflammation and facilitate drainage.
http://www.nycfacemd.com/dust-mites/


KElizabeth
Posts: 400
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Facebook Username: KElizabeth
Location: Omaha

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby KElizabeth » Thu Nov 17, 2016 7:23 pm

I had previously had sinus problems repeatedly that I would treat with oral antibiotics but my ear nose throat suggested using the Neil-med sinus rinse 2 times a day and swaying my nose with antibiotic ointment afterwards. It clears me up in a few days. Maybe give it a try? It shouldn't hurt.
For wintertime immune health I often turn to elderberry extract. Check with your doctor tor see if this is OK.
Female age 39- ,2 teens.
Colon Cancer - DX March 2013
Age 34 at DX - Stage III B
Resection surgery -May 2013
FOLFOX - June, 2013 to Sept, 2013
5FU plus leukavorin Sept, 2013 to Dec, 2013
METs liver and lungs discovered Sept, 2015
KRAS - MSS
FOLFIRI plus Avastin - Sept, 2015 - July 2017
Durvalumab and Cediranib Sept 2017 Dec 17
FOLFOX with desensitization protocol - current

jhocno197
Posts: 817
Joined: Mon May 11, 2015 9:33 pm

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby jhocno197 » Thu Nov 17, 2016 11:15 pm

CRguy wrote:
jhocno197 wrote:If it's sinusitis, that's viral, and antibiotics won't help.

Sorry homie ..... NOT always the case
there can be some very serious bacterial and fungal causes of sinusitis
which require proper diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics and/or antifungals



I edited to say 'could be'.
DH - dx Dec 2014, stage IV with bladder & peritoneal involvement - non-resectable
Colostomy
FOLFOX failed
FOLFIRI failed
Tumor actually distending pelvic skin
Not a candidate for last-ditch pelvic exenteration
Stivarga finally begun 2/19/16
Tumor growing/fungating
Lonsurf started 11/18/16
Died 3/10/17

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WriterGirl1969
Posts: 524
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2016 3:48 pm
Location: Central NY

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby WriterGirl1969 » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:18 am

BeansMama wrote:When illness strikes in our house we boost vitamin c intake. I don't right now but did pre-cancer.

We buy the vitamins as well as using emergen-c. Always look up max dosages if you are going to kick it out with vitamin c. Can't remember off the top of my head but I do remember I found it through Google.

Also have you tried taking something like airborne as a preventative?


My Mom swears by C also, and I've tried it but never had the same results she has... ? Maybe it's just me.
No, I haven't tried the airborne yet, although I've heard some people talk about it. Have you found it works well?
DX 3/4/2016 Colon Cancer; age 46 Mom of then 4-yr-old
Stage IIIB: T3N1M0
3/31/16 Surgery
4 to 10/2016: Xeloda Monotherapy
CEA: 10/16 0.56, 1/17 0.54
CT CLEAR: 3/6/17; 4/17/18; 4/16/19
NED 3 years
“If I can help somebody as I walk along, then my living shall not be in vain.”

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WriterGirl1969
Posts: 524
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2016 3:48 pm
Location: Central NY

Re: Dust mites and sinusitis?

Postby WriterGirl1969 » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:21 am

Green Tea wrote:What I did was I cleaned out my bedroom from top to bottom and got enough new sheets and pillowcases so that I could change to clean ones every day or so. I also bought an air purifier for the bedroom with a special HEPA filter.


Oooo, good idea! I didn't even think of that, but it makes a TON of sense! Plus it just sounds so NICE. I'm going to do this one, and look into the dust mites. Thanks!!!
DX 3/4/2016 Colon Cancer; age 46 Mom of then 4-yr-old
Stage IIIB: T3N1M0
3/31/16 Surgery
4 to 10/2016: Xeloda Monotherapy
CEA: 10/16 0.56, 1/17 0.54
CT CLEAR: 3/6/17; 4/17/18; 4/16/19
NED 3 years
“If I can help somebody as I walk along, then my living shall not be in vain.”

User avatar
WriterGirl1969
Posts: 524
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2016 3:48 pm
Location: Central NY

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby WriterGirl1969 » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:27 am

Thanks everyone!
I took your good advice and hit the doc's today. Sinus infection with UTI to boot. Ugh. Now we get mega doses of antibiotics. At least I should be good for Thanksgiving. LOL

Even so, I will follow up on lots of these and see if I can keep myself from getting any more illnesses before our Central NY winter is done. Just thinking about clean sheets and elderberry extract has me feeling better. :)
DX 3/4/2016 Colon Cancer; age 46 Mom of then 4-yr-old
Stage IIIB: T3N1M0
3/31/16 Surgery
4 to 10/2016: Xeloda Monotherapy
CEA: 10/16 0.56, 1/17 0.54
CT CLEAR: 3/6/17; 4/17/18; 4/16/19
NED 3 years
“If I can help somebody as I walk along, then my living shall not be in vain.”

Yolanda
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 1:32 pm
Facebook Username: yolanda bernice

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby Yolanda » Fri Nov 18, 2016 9:55 am

When it comes to strengthening your own body's defenses, never forget garlic and bone broth! In fact, put garlic paste IN your glass of bone broth! I know, nobody has that broth these days. But you could have in less than a week. Collect bones from dinner and instead of throwing them out, collect them in a bag in the freezer. When the bag is full and the weather cold, put them in a huge pot of water on the stove. Bring to a boil and keep simmering very slowly for three to five days. Pick a day when you've got the time and energy after 3 days and remove the bones. They can now be composted, tossed, or whatever your great granny did with them? boil down the remaining sieved liquid till you get about 20% of original volume then freeze in ice cube trays and store in a bag in the freezer. Two or three of these cubes in a mug with water, and microwaved till hot. I put salt, pepper, and garlic paste in the mix (mix the paste with a bit of water before adding to broth cup) when I make mine. When I was really low weight and needed extra calories, I beat an egg into it as well before heating, yummy.
Why they help, both have ingredients the bone marrow uses to build immune cells. IN the case of bone broth it also contains lots of just good nutrients like calcium and iron.
-Yolanda
dx colorectal cancer FE2016
emergency colostomy MR2016
Major surgery removing everything from perineum to stoma to remove tumour with. total hysterectomy including ovaries.
Perineal and pelvic floor rebuild with VRAM flap AU2016 (put my stomach where my butt used to be)
IV sub dermal Port installed NO2016
Currently in follow-up FOLFOX.
Colostomy is permanent. I just turned 53, but have an energetic lifestyle.

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CRguy
Posts: 10473
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:00 pm

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby CRguy » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:16 pm

jhocno197 wrote:I edited to say 'could be'.

Nothing personal my friend ... it's just me
I sometimes get "tweaky" on details :oops:

the consideration for dust mites is also a plausible concern

Cheers
CR
Caregiver x 4
Stage IV A rectal cancer/lung met
17 Year survivor
my life is an ongoing totally randomized UNcontrolled experiment with N=1 !
Review of my Journey so far

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BeansMama
Posts: 959
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:38 am
Location: North Carolina

Re: Post Chemo Sickness Busters?

Postby BeansMama » Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:58 pm

WriterGirl1969 wrote:
BeansMama wrote:When illness strikes in our house we boost vitamin c intake. I don't right now but did pre-cancer.

We buy the vitamins as well as using emergen-c. Always look up max dosages if you are going to kick it out with vitamin c. Can't remember off the top of my head but I do remember I found it through Google.

Also have you tried taking something like airborne as a preventative?


My Mom swears by C also, and I've tried it but never had the same results she has... ? Maybe it's just me.
No, I haven't tried the airborne yet, although I've heard some people talk about it. Have you found it works well?


We have had good results with the vitamin C and airborne, I did pre-chemo as well, I haven't risked it being on chemo currently since C can interfere with chemo
41 yrs old
Tumor found 9/2015
Surgery 1 - 11/2015 LAR and colostomy
Surgery 2 - 11/2015 wound vac
Surgery 3 - 12/2015 revise resection, move colostomy
Mets to liver - tumor inoperable - one add'l met destroyed
Stage IVa (T3 N2a M1a)
Primary tumor 9 cm x 7.5 cm x 2 cm
Beginning Folfox 1/2016 - Failed
Beginning Folfiri and vectibix 8/2016 — Failed
Beginning Folfirinox + Avastin 11/2016 - Failed
Beginning Keytruda 1/2017
CEA drop from 345 to 7.3 after starting immunotherapy
Lynch positive 3/2016


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