Where to start, my mum has been in hospital for 7 weeks, eventually they diagnosed her with the above, she has lost so much weight, has had her first chemo and now at home. She can't eat or drink anything and I'm worried, is this normal? She just feels too sick all the time, struggles to even take sips of water, tried anti sickness meds, not able to eat at all. I'm new here, I guess I'm just hoping to see how others have managed this, tried frusben drinks and all sorts, very worrying to just watch her be so ill, is this normal for chemo? Any advice appreciated, breaks my heart to see her like this
Hi SS72 and warm welcome to the Macmillan Online Community although sorry that you had to find us and especially sorry to hear about your mum’s Lymphoma diagnosis.
I am Mike and I help out around our Lymphoma groups. I was diagnosed way back in 1999 at 43 with a rare, incurable but treatable type of Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma eventually reaching Stage 4a in late 2013 so although my Lymphoma ‘type’ may be different I do appreciate the challenges of this journey rather well.
There are over 60 types and sub-types of Lymphoma so we can’t have a group for every type but these are our main Lymphoma groups below.
General Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma
These groups are safe places to talk to others with a similar diagnosis, treatment experience, to ask questions and get support.
To join a group first click on the “Bold Link” I have created above then once the group page opens click on “Click to Join” when the black banner appears or “Join” under “Group Tools” (this all depends on the device you are using)
You can then put up your own post when you’re ready by clicking “+new” or “+” in the top right next to the group title. You can copy and paste the text from this post into your new post.
You can also scroll through other members posts and click “Reply” to get involved.
I will keep an eye open for you but if you are not sure what type you have pleased do get back to me on this post and I will help you out further.
Hi again SS72 I see that you have joined our
support group - do put up a post and introduced yourself to the group……. I am in a meeting fir the next hour but will keep an eye open for you ((hugs))
Hi again...... I see that you have not had time to put a post up...........
So to answer your main questions....... on the whole it's not normal to be this sick and not eating or drinking.
How old is your mum?
What "exact" treatment is she on?........ for example I was on 6 cycles of R-EPOCH.
Drinking (2 liters a day is recommended!!!) is the main tool available to all patients to flush the chemo toxins from the body...... as she is not able to do this the chemo toxicity is staying in her body longer..... she will also get dehydrated quickly and food is fuel.....and her body needs fuel.
You need to be getting in contact with her clinical team....... does she have a CNS (Cancer Nurse Specialist)........ if she has call them and inform them of the challenges.
