Chemo Embolization…help with side effects!
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Thank you everyone!! She has been feeling better so that is a plus. We go for the MRI tues so hopefully it shows good results! They did a chest xray to see if there was a reason for the cough and we haven’t heard back yet (which is usually a good sign, fingers crossed).
Again, thank you so much for all of your input…it’s so nice having a resource of knowledgeable people to talk to
~KatieHi Lourdes….this is a great video. It describes the procedure and objective of the TACE intervention. I am worried for the link to be lost in the threads and am wondering whether you would not mind re-posting it in the “Radiation” category?
Thanks much. Let me know if you need any help.
All my best wishes,
MarionHi Katielinn,
I hope your mom is doing better. Lourdes gave you a lot of good info.
I drank many shakes my husband made me. The PA at Johns Hopkins told me it does take some people 6 to 8 weeks to feel better. I hope that your mom feels better soon-the procedure is definitely worth the aggravation of not feeling like yourself. JohannaHi Katie,
My dad started with systemic chemo and then had chemoembolization. His first CE side effects was pretty rough. A lot of fatigue, lost some weight, and muscle weakness, along with the fever for the first week after the procedure. He was scheduled to go to his regular chemo the week after his first CE and when he talked to his oncologist, they postponed due to the extreme fatigue he experienced. I also did a search on CE on this site and found out from another post that the fatigue is normal, and I shared this with my dad and it helped emotionally to know that someone else had been through the same thing. We basically just let him sleep most of the day, and because of the weight loss, I gave him fruit shakes with whey protein because we thought it would at least help supplement his diet.
He recently had his 2nd CE and it went better in comparison to the first one. He didn’t have any nausea but again had a lot of fatigue and light headedness. With the first round of CE and then the regular chemo, my dad also felt he was getting worse and this of course brought him down emotionally and I just kept trying to find information on what the side effects were and process of how CE actually releases medication into the body.
Before she starts her systemic chemo make sure to talk to her oncologist and let them know what your mom is feeling.
If it helps, I found this information and it has a mini-video: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/liver_tumor_center/treatments/intraarterial_therapies/tace.html
I watched it with my dad and it gave us both a great visual on what was going on with the CE.
Lots of thoughts & prayers your way,
LourdesThanks Johanna and Bazel! I’m even more concerned now (at 3 weeks, 1 day) bc she feels like she has gone downhill in the past week. She has a consistent cough (she insists it’s just a tickle in her throat but its constant) and feels nauseous and couldn’t even make it 1/4 of the way around the block today, which she has been doing fine with. Her low grade fevers are gone, but she feels weaker and more exhausted this week than the past 2.
We go for her MRI and bloodwork on Tues, but I’m just really concerned that she feels that she’s getting worse.
Worried constantly,
KatieKatie,
My dad had 2 chemo-embolization and his number one side-effect was fatigue followed by chills. Lasted a good 3-4 weeks after each procedure.
Bz
Hello Katielinn,
I have had only one chemo-embolization-it took me one month to feel good. I lost 15 pounds.
As far as your mother’s exhaustion-I had that also. I did develop cholangitis. I had chills and icterus (yellowing of the eyes).
What do the whites of your mom’s eyes look like?
Just a suggestion, I would not wait to call the doctor your mom may need some stat bloodwork today.
Where was the chemo-embolization done?
Johanna (retired RN)PS The good news is that more than 50% of my tumor is dead. I hope your mom feels better soon! Tell her to hang in there – she will feel better. My treatment was in March and it is still working on killing cells.
katie….Everything about this darn cancer is hard. We like to compare it to a roller coaster ride and are thrilled when reaching the great highs. Until others have a chance to reply you might want to read up on some previous postings re: chemoembolization. I am attaching this one:
http://www.cholangiocarcinoma.org/punbb/viewtopic.php?id=2136
However, if typing “chemoembolization” into the top, right, google function other threads will appear also.
I hope this helped and others will share some thoughts with you.
All my best wishes and many hugs for your Mom,
MarionHi all,
It has been 2.5 weeks since my mom had her first round of Chemo embolization. First week was VERY bad with nausea and vomiting, but once she got through that, the 2nd week was much better and she was eating normally. She has a consistent low grade fever and is tired, but lately (past fews days) is EXHAUSTED and feels very weak. Is this normal??I’m going to call the doctor on Monday but I just wanted to see if anyone on here had similar symptoms. So far we have not started any systemic chemo and she is doubting that she could even tolerate it on top of the CE. I just want to make sure we’re doing all the right things to fight this as much as possible!
It’s really hard to see her so exhausted and weak, so I’m hoping this gets better soon
We thought once we were through the 1st week she’d start to get better, but for some reason she just started getting worse and can’t sleep at night but then is exhausted all day.Please let me know if any of you have had similar experiences. Thanks so much!
~Katie
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