Carboplatin and Pemetrexed

My wife has had carbo/Pemetrex for about 6 cycles from August to December. At her first scan the chemo had significant reduction on the cancer sites. At the second CT scan further reductions had occurred at cancer sites. She's now moved onto Maintenance chemo as carbo Pemetrex can only be used for so long.

The first two sessions were difficult and my partner suffered nausea, sickness and significant loss of appetite. She also lost her hair.

After that she seemed fine right up to final cycle.

I had Cisplatin and and chem Cisplatin, is a very harsh chemo, i only manged one cause a big problem, i then went on to what your dad is going to have..

For me it was so much kinder though not always for everyone, i did 9 sessions, of second line chemo.

Hi Wrighty  thank you for reaching out. 
my dad started on cisplatin but unable to tolerate it so has been changed to carboplatin. 
did you wife start at 100% of her dose? I think my dad will start at a lower dose. I’m worried he won’t tolerate the side effects. Did your wife get prescribed the anti sickness meds? My dad has metrochlorpomide and ondansetron anti sickness. How is your wife doing now? My dad will have 3 more cycles of chemo and then 4 weeks worth of radiotherapy before he moves onto immunotherapy

take care 

Adele 

Hi ellie 73  did you have any side effects with the carboplatin and pemetrexed? 
Thank you for reaching out 

Adele x

No not really, tired,  nothing tasted right was like cardboard or metal taste, as i said every one is so different, though the cisplatin caused me big problems. Like your dad, when i was finished i went on to immunotherapy and did the two years your aloud, though again that does not always work for everyone,

Yes was given all medication that may be needed for side effects', i  wish him well.

Hi Deli. 

I had four cycles of carbo/pemetrexed after my lobectomy. One session every three weeks.

I was given B12 injections and folic acid tablets to take in the run up to the treatment. Also anti sickness meds/steroids to take the day before chemo and for a couple of days after.

Had no nausea until the very last cycle and then only mild. No loss of appetite. In fact I put weight on! No hair loss. Felt really well for the first few days after each treatment. Able to walk and cycle. but then the tiredness kicked in. Tell your Dad just to give in to it and rest if he needs to. 

They did blood tests before each session. After the first round my white blood cell count had gone through the floor and had to be raised to allow treatment to go on. I was given injections to do at home for three days mid cycle. In the stomach . Yuck. Probably the bit I disliked most. But it worked fine and my treatment was not delayed at all.

Chemo affects everyone differently. I was in good health with no symptoms before the cancer was discovered by accident. I hope your Dad gets off as lightly as I did. Good luck to you both. 

Hi Deli - my wife's dose was based on her height, weight etc. it was weekly for 3 weeks and then a week off. Repeated 5 more times. So she will have been getting a low dose weekly as opposed to once every 3 weeks, if that makes sense.

Anne had terrible nausea and sickness. She was prescribed Meds for it, but nothing really worked. Ondansitron was the best, but then gave her constipation. So then she had more meds for that. She was determined and she seemed to put up with side effects. The eating was a nightmare, her food input was low. Dietitian didn't seem to grasp the severity of her eating.

Now my wife is on metrochlorpomide for anti sickness she takes it 4 times a day and it has helped her since January. She's now tons better, eating proper food, level 5 meals for people with a stent fitted.

Her new maintenance chemo starts again Friday. This has been absolutely terrible in late December. I had to take her to hospital for urgent treatment for 6 days.

It's interesting to see your dad is being changed to another chemo, the anti sickness medication looks good to me. Interesting why is he offered immunotherapy?

As some else said chemo affects people differently. I was astonished someone said they could go cycling. Perhaps they are younger and fitter.

Hi Baytree after chemo finished what effect did it have on your cancer? My wife had significant reduction in the cancer sites.

hi Baytree123  thank you for reaching out. I had read online that b12 and folic acid was given prior to the treatment. Could I just ask, with the b12 was this an injection before every treatment? by dad is already on b12 injections and he had his 3 monthly one yesterday. He is due to have the carbo/ pemetrexed next Thursday. We are very nervous as he had cisplatin and vinorelbine for his first cycle and was so so unwell. The nausea was unreal. He now has metrochlorpromide and ondansetron so I am hoping this willl keep it at bay. We have been told by the oncologist that the carboplatin is much easier to tolerate than this cisplatin but at the end of the day they are both chemo drugs and could have an effect. When he had the cisplatin, and he was so unwell, he was saying that if the next cycle was bad he would give up treatment. I am praying to any god that this is not the case as I am so desperate for him to get through this. His treatment is 3 weekly so once per 3 weeks for 3 cycles (as he has already had his first one). Thank god for this forum as its such a weight to carry, all of this worry. I am trying to stay as positive as possible for my dad but am scared to death. How are you doing now?

Hi Wrighty.
I’m in a different situation to your wife. Went into lobectomy ( top right) a Stage 1. Docs thought  just the one tumour, no lymph nodes involved etc. No chemo planned. Came out Stage 2a because they found tumor had invaded pleura in a small area. So risk it had spread. Hence carbo/pemetrexed. 
Waiting to see if it has done its job yet. Some changes on first CT so next stop a PET scan.

Sorry to read the chemo made your wife so ill. I was very lucky (should have said it was a static bike i cycled on!). It may be they let me off a bit lightly thinking it was just a belt and braces thing. Fingers crossed they were right…