Physical Symptoms of Advanced Cancer
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Hi Michael,
My mom’s (stage 4 ihcc diagnosed 3 months ago) is having similar bad nausea since she started on oral chemo with Xeloda (2nd cycle on going now). Emeset (Ondancetron) prior to her meals helps somewhat. You may want to consult your oncologist on using that.
Another common symptom she says is that she gets nauseated when drinking water. So to maintain her fluids we try to give lime juice or any other citrus fruit juices instead of just plain water. It helps her avoid nausea. Ginger (even chewing raw, though it will be a bit pungent) helps too. Hope these tips might be of help to you.
Hope your mother is able to manage her nausea better.
Wishing you holiday season greetings in abundance…
Warm regards
JohnyHi Mike,
It is good to hear from you. I looked at your prior postings and saw that your mother is at 5+ years living with this cancer, and has had quite a lot of treatment along the way. Having persistent nausea really saps well-being, however, and I was sorry to read her more recent treatments have not had the hoped-for results.
For nausea, I imagine she may have already tried the more common remedies (e.g., zofran) doctors offer for cancer-related nausea. There is also nutrition guidance, e.g., avoid greasy or spicy food, eat multiple small meals, try ginger tea or candies. Most of the cancer organization websites have pages with recommendations for patients experiencing nausea. I am hoping our community can suggest specific tricks they have found. Some patients report relief from acupuncture, and the cancer organization recommendations also cite other general remedies such as relaxation techniques.
It is good your mother will be seeing a palliative care nurse.
One suggestion that occurred to me looking at your message is that occasionally nausea can be caused by a blockage issue in the digestive track. This might be something to ask your mother’s doctors about since her nausea seems not to be responding to treatment.
I hope your wife is feeling well and getting good treatment given her own diagnosis, and that you are enjoying a happy and peaceful holiday season.
Regards, Mary
Hello CC family,
I apologize for not posting for a while, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer about 6 months ago and I’ve been distracted from Mom’s ICC. The past year for Mom has been trying. We had no success with SBRT radiation, immunotherapy (opdivo), capecitabine (xeloda), and two different forms of BRAF/MEK inhibitors. Though the cancer has not metastasized outside of the liver, she now has multiple tumors and they have not slowed in growth. However, its difficult to judge whether the treatments have had any effect because she hasn’t been able to tolerate any of the treatments for a substantial amount of time. The biggest issue right now is her nausea. She has medicinal marijuana and she goes twice a week to get saline and zoloft, but it really isn’t enough. We are meeting with palliative care nurse next week; in the mean time I really could use any advice to curb the nausea. Thanks everyone!
Mike
A helpful web page which discusses the physical symptoms of advanced cancer, and how to cope or manage the symptoms.
-Karen
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