R-CHOP CHEMO SIDE EFFECTS.

Hey Keith

I had 6 sessions of RChop this year and at the time i felt like hell but since then ive had higher doses of chemo and compared to the Rchop i now feel that the Rchop was nothing.

Everyone reacts to chemo differently i can say the worst thing i felt with Rchop was a feeling of being on another planet (as with all chemos) and just generally feeling tired, exhausted and occasionally being sick.

I generally started to feel a bit better about a week or two after the chemo .

The most important sign to look out for with your wife is her temperature, she's going to feel unwell for a few weeks generally but if her temperature goes above 39 you must call the chemo helpline at your local hospital for advice as it may be a sign of infection.

You should see her pick up slowly soon , i always stay in bed for at least a week after chemo as i just feel like ive run a marathon and just want to sleep.

All the best and hope you both have a peaceful xmas xx

Hi Keith

As Kels said we are all different, and react differently. Have you read the information on this site it covers most of the things your wife will experience.

Tiredness is the hardest thing to adapt to and when she stops the steroids after day 5 that is when it will hit her for a couple of days. If she is feeling sick then they can give her different medication to stop this, different consultamts seem to use different meds but the best one I had was apprepetant one tablet per day for 3 days.

She will probably have a dry mouth, if so pinnapple helps and food will taste horrid for at least a week to 10 days, its important she still eats and finds things that she can tolerate, spicy food worked for me. Fatty foods and dairy products tend not to taste good.

Over time she may become forgetful and forget words and names, nothing to worry about its called chemo brain and we all suffer.

She may get peripheral neuropathy which is numbness in hands and feet, this is from the vincristin and and does go after time.

Constipation can also be a problem intially after treatment but again can be managed, she may feel cold as well so having a nice snuggly blanket can help as its important to sleep when she feels tired.

It will be a roller coaster ride and she will learn to listen to her body and the best advice is keep a diary of how she feels, any side effects etc. plus write down questions as they come to mind. Take this with you for your between treatment checkups as they will be able to manage most of the things your wife will go through. If they don't know they cannot help so always tell them how it is and seek help when you need it.

On hair loss I did not completely lose mine but had a no.2 cut just after 2nd cycle as thats when it started to drop out, this may be the hardest thing for her, it is for many.

Good luck, I have recently finished 8 cycles with some blips in between but am now on watch and wait, so the treatment has knocked the cancer back for the time being.

Any questions just ask.

merry xmas

john  

Hi Keith,

This is the second time I’ve written this as I managed to lose the first one so if it’s repeating anyone else’s reply - sorry!

As Kels said, everyone reacts differently but hope this helps…

I had 8 x R-chops earlier this year and was lucky in that I got away with few side-effects. All my pains stopped when treatment started. Ondansetron dealt with sickness so it wasn’t a problem. If your wife is still feeling / being sick, get in touch with her team who can change or adjust her medication for this.

The steroids did, sometimes, have me up at all hours wide awake. I was prescribed a  mild dose of Zopiclone to help me get off to sleep. I was a bit worried as I’d never taken anything for sleep before and didn’t want to become addicted J. However, there was no danger of that and I’m convinced that having some ‘good’ sleep every night helped my body deal with the treatment and ‘me’ deal with Life. I stopped taking them at the end of R-Chop.

The steroids also drastically increased my appetite. I found it better to eat what and when I fancied. Sometimes this coincided with dinner-time, sometimes not. Lansoprazole dealt with any heartburn as well as protecting my stomach from steroids.

I did feel tired but not exhausted. I just listened to myself (for once) and did what I could. My outreach nurse had suggested an afternoon rest (asleep or not) with no phone, no tv, no radio. I didn’t really need this but can see the sense in it if I felt physically or mentally tired.  “Chemo brain” set in soon after treatment started which is hard to describe but, for me, it meant sometimes being too ‘tired’ to even watch a film flickering across the screen or an inability to settle down to or concentrate on anything. I found it easier to make decisions or do anything requiring concentration in the morning (“How skint are we?”, “What’s for tea?”, “Do we let the boys go out tonight?”). I found I forgot things - usually conversations :D Occasionally had a detached or spaced out feeling which wasn’t unpleasant or scary though - family could soon tell when I’d ‘drifted off‘, haha.

Constipation was a problem until  I eventually managed to sort out a combination that worked for me - senna, sodium docusate and movicol altogether. As well as plenty of water, bran flakes, wholemeal bread, fruit etc. I made the mistake of ‘leaving it’ til it became a really uncomfortable problem during the first cycle. After that I started taking stuff before the start of the next cycle so that I was ‘ready’. Again ask as soon as you become irregular - they can help.

The main thing, especially at this time of the year, is trying to minimise the risk of infection. For us that meant not seeing anyone with even a hint of a cold (people were fine about it); avoiding crowded places like supermarkets at busy times or nightclubs (I wish!); no gyms or swimming pools; we had a bottle of alcoholic gel by front door so which everyone who came in had to use; they also took off their shoes (it is muddy where we are though!). Family soon got used to it. The boys periodically clean the phones/pcs/banisters with anti-bacterial stuff - it gets rid of some germs and helps remind everyone to be careful even though I’m ‘fine’.

She may get an infection at some time - they are very common. Make sure you keep a close eye on her temperature. I was told to go in to hospital if it went above 37.5 . I think it’s usually 38 degrees but because I live a long way from the hospital they wanted to be sure. I had to go into hospital with non-specific virus/infection during cycle 1. This meant a week of antibiotics through a drip - I still felt fine though. I only went because my outreach nurse happened to come out, take one look and tell me to follow her back to Middlesbrough. I only had the beginnings of a cold. Lesson 1 - Normal isn’t normal anymore.

I found it a bit confusing at first because the treatment itself can give you cold/flu-like symptoms. I got ‘told off’ for ignoring my symptoms but I just didn’t realise the significance and didn’t feel ‘unwell’. Now, I ring in if anything’s different and we talk it through and then decide. Actually, I usually found it easier for my partner to ring in on my behalf - never feel like it’s not important or that you don‘t need to bother anyone. I hope this doesn’t sound too dramatic - it’s not really.  

I rememeber it being kind of overwhelming at first. I used to count all my tablets 3 times before I took them to make sure I had the right number. It soon becomes second nature and you relax a bit :) Any questions and there are loads of us on here who have been through the same so please ask.

have a good xmas

karenx

Karen John and Kels! Thanks a lot for going to the trouble to give me so much useful feedback,we have gleaned some really useful hints and tips from you reply to my blog.

She is into the tough bit of the cycle now and has had a couple of really rough days prior to today when although still exhausted she has felt a bit less sick and ate a good dinner tonight.Her toughest days will include Christmas eve and day according to the Proff but all the kids r coming up and my younest lad (who is at Uni) has offered to cook the dinner (hes a brill cook).So anyway thanks again for your kindness it really is apprecited.

Merry Christmas Keith