Docetaxel

Hello Jubsyp

I am sorry to hear of your husbands journey with oesophageal cancer. I hope you do not mind me responding as I had a different type of cancer to your husband but by doing so I hope to bump your post. Hopefully someone who has had a similar experience will see it and offer support.

I did have chemo last year and although not specifically docetaxel the kind I had was from the same group of chemo and had similar effects. 

I would say the best thing I did was to fill out the booklet they gave me and note the symptoms and on what day- I found there was a pattern on each cycle that repeated. Then if I did have a bad day, I would be encouraged by knowing when things would improve. Any symptoms I would call the help line number they give you and most side effects I could be prescribed medication to support them.

I did have a lot of fatigue and recommend your husband rest a lot and take it one day at a time. I also had some nausea but the medication made a big difference. One of the main things I was advised to do was to buy a thermometer to keep an eye on my temperature. During chemo you can be more likely to pick up infections and any sign of infection needs to be assessed asap. They normally give you a Sepsis alert card that you can take to hospital to be given intravenous antibiotics if needed. 

I will pop a link below to some info that may help as it is specifically about docetaxel.

Docetaxel | Macmillan Cancer Support

I hope this helps a bit but if there is anything else you need, please do ask. I wish your husband well with his treatment.

Jane

Thank you Jane I really appreciate your support and time. Yes this time I am going to note each day. We’ve had a bit of a rough ride unfortunately but on the last change I used to say you were like this last cycle. It didn’t help he’s had a have a replaced stent as the first went astray. We were given bbc a thermometer as standard. Thank you soo much x

You are welcome. I can see that you've had a rough ride with it recently. I hope your husbands stent is now helping. 

There is another forum on here that you might find helpful. It is hard supporting a family member through cancer. I will pop a link below in case it is of interest.

(6) Family and friends forum - Macmillan Online Community

The noting things down really helped me and it also helped with my oncology reviews. My doses were adjusted at times and also given extra nausea meds and tapering steroid doses on the following cycles- made a difference and meant I felt I could continue with the chemo. I personally found the first couple of days at home were the ones where I couldn't do a lot, apart from snooze and go with the flow. But it helped to put things like by the 3rd day I was sitting outside in the garden and by the 7th day I was able to go for a short walk. It helped get things in perspective a bit. It also helped with friends who knew to leave contacting me for the first few days of each cycle but by the time it got to a week, it was great to hear from them.

I hope that the docetaxel helps your husband and that any side effects can be manageable. But never be afraid to speak to his team. They really are the experts and have normally heard it all before and can make little suggestions- like take the nausea meds 30 minutes before eating etc. Little adjustments can make all the difference.