Anybody that has anything positive to say about chemo?

[mommydear]

My dad (54) was daignosed with stomach cancer and starts with chemo therapy on Monday. So far we have only heard bad things about chemo. His cancer is stage 3-4 and the specialist said it is unlikely to be cured. Is there anybody with a positive experience or any suggestions? My dad and I are very close.

My dh has terminal pancreatic cancer and was given 3-6 months to live just before Christmas last year.

He was given chemo, and we were told that on average it would give around 6 extra weeks of life.

Well, it is given us a fair bit more than that, it also reduced dhs symptoms to almost nothinh for arounf 5 months.

In that time we have taken the children to eurodissney, celebtrated dd;s and ds's birthdays, our birthdays, had a holiday in lyme Regis, toured scotland, and visited dhs family, gone to Rome, Visited London and celebrated our 20th wedding aniversary. Dh has also flown a spitfire and had a trip in a Lancaster bomber.

Withought the chemo (which has been bloody grim for dh) he would have died before Easter.

Good paliative care and chemotherapy can help to buy your father some last good time to spend with you all.

It can be a gift

Sorry to hear about your dad's cancer.
My dh has had chemo for testicular cancer, and coped very well throughout. It is intensely tiring - perhaps not immediately but a few days after the treatment, it hits and stays for a week or ten days, then there's some recovery.
Of course there's the nausea, and he and you should be aware that there are a few different families of anti-sickness drugs: if one isn't working, ask to be prescribed something from a different family. Usually, they are very good at this anyway, but dh did have to keep pointing out that X worked so could he please have it again (I think they were perhaps thinking of budget).
If you can try to get him to eat plain but healthy food, and drink a lot, that will help. The sense of taste can go with chemo, making food really unpalatable - plus you feel so physically low - and it's easy to not eat when you feel like that.
I hope the treatment goes ok. My dad had throat cancer at 52, it's worrying, isn't it? He also coped well with treatment. He was in a small local hospital and said the staff were so fabulous, they really helped him feel better about it.

A close friend was daignosed with mouth cancer the begining of the year.One dr said the only hope was removing his bottom jaw and tongue.He refused this and saw another dr.He was given IV chemo and radiotherapy,it was hard at time,but he is now in remission.I think chemo is getting better all the time now,and side affects are better managed.

I wish the best of luck to your dad,and hugs to you.

Havent experienced chemo but my mum had cancer but it was removed and chemo wasnt needed.

But just wanted to wish you, your Dad and the rest of your family luck. xxx

re they actually trying to cure it but not hopeful or are they trying wihout a huge hope of success? It will make a difference to how hard the chemo is.

My mum was stage 3/4 bladder cancer and the only good thing I can say about the chemo was ... it worked, 3 years on she is in remission. Was given roughly 5% chance of surviving 2 years. But she was treated at the Royal marsden so had the bext care I think. However even they were amazed (she had radiotherapy too after chemo)

Palliative care chemo is milder and side effects more managable I think.

Mommydear,good advice so far here.

I would recommend "Cancerbackup" organisation.If you put it into Google the website will come up.It has very good advice re all aspects of cancer and treatment.Has a freephone number too for patients and carers.Would also recommend the Mcmillan organisation for emotional support.Hth xx

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. Diagnosis is a horrible time.

My mother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer nearly five years ago, and was only expected to survive for a few weeks. Chemo and radiotherapy have kept her alive and in pretty good health for much longer than anyone thought possible.

She hasn't had much sickness with the chemo at all (and if your dad does get nauseous, make sure that he is aware that there are lots of different anti-emetics that can be used, and his oncologist should keep searching for one that works for him). The worst effect seems to be tiredness - so she just stays in bed, listens to Radio 4 and sleeps for a few days.

Good luck.

(On reading the thread I see I am repeating a lot of what Pruners has already said, but I'm going to post anyway cos I'm like that.)

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Hi sorry to hear about your Dad.
my DH has a terminal brain tumour, he was told in aug he has 3-6 months.
he is having radiotherapy mon-fri and chemo every day, he has just finished week 4
so has two more weeks of treatment. he has had problems with anti sickness meds and is on his third different sort. he is very tired but he has had a good week with no sickness since sunday.
its all about getting the sickness and pain management sorted as MB pointed out to me a while back {she is very wise}
get a macmillan nurse as they can help so much.

Sorry to hear about your dad. My mum was diagnosed with breast cancer 25 years ago and had chemo, radiotherapy, the whole works. As well as getting to see her kids grown up (i was 7 when she was diagnosed) she also got to meet her granchildren!

Sadly the cancer did return in 1999 and once again she had treatment. She finally lost the fight a few weeks ago but when i consider the amount of time the cancer treatment bought her i have to consider myself lucky

My dh was diagnosed with late stage teratoma (version of testicular only it was in his abdomen and took a long time to get a diagnosis), with metastases in his lungs and kidneys.
He had several months of chemo, which while tough, has now allowed us 14 years of marriage and 2 dc. The staff on the ward were pessimistic about his chances, but he was very bloody minded about it and probably not the best patient, but I am convinced it helped.
I would second the advice already given - Macmillan were fantastic (unlike dh's gp but that's another story) and how tiring it can be. Sickness was a trial for him but eventually the right approach was found to alleiviate it. I would add to what pruners said about the sense of taste - dh found that the problem was nothing tasted how he remembered it which didn't help with appetite, but also that things changed over time. Ie what tasted ok one day might not the next. It was simply an matter of trial and error.

Wishing you strength to cope with this - it isn't easy, but the docs are not always right in their predictions, so never give up.

I had colon cancer 3 years ago and was on oral chemo (8 tablets per day) for 6 months. It really wasn't too bad a t all, I only had one day off in all that time as one side effect was blistered soles and palms and I couldn't stand).

Other than that, and the inevitable tiredness, the chemo really wasn't a big deal at all.

Your dad's oncologist will keep a close eye, especially at first, and if the side effects are really bad will reduce the dose.

Hope he has as much enjoyable time left as possible.

Thank you for all the good advice. My dad was in real pain yesterday but we took he to the beach today and he looked much better. I know the Dr said that he is going to have his bad days. Just wish there was something I could do for the pain. He is going for his first chemo tomorrow and hopefully the pain (stomach cramps) will get better.

re the pain. Get in contact with Macmillan nurses. they are the best people when it comes to pain relief. Far better than a GP or even an oncologist. They specialise in controling symptoms and will be the best people to help your dad.