Feeling lost and helpless

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Hi my mother in law was diagnosed last year with lung cancer which has travelled to liver. She has been receiving immunotherapy at first it was every 3 weeks and now it’s every 6weeks, she has been great more good days than bad but all of a sudden she has had a dramatic change and we as a family is at a loose end and don’t know what to do or turn to. Since Easter she has been vomiting and having  diarrhoea she refuses to eat and drink and it just makes her  vomit she has been admitted to two different hospitals who have run tests and found nothing so she just gets sent home to go back to not eating drinking and constantly sleeping. We are all heart broken to see her this way and are lost to what to do next. Has anyone experienced this situation or have any advice to help.

  • Hi Lillys,

    Sorry to hear about your mother in law, it seems she has been tolerating her immunotherapy well so far, blood tests before treatment must be coming back ok and scans must be showing good signs and the trips to hospital appear to show nothing untoward. Has she only been like this since having her double dose of immunotherapy? If not before, at her next treatment these issues should be told to her team.

    I completed 2 years of immunotherapy (Pembrolazumab) with no issues or side effects apart from an itch. The second half of my treatment was as your mother in law, double dose every six weeks. I had no issues with that although it did feel slightly different to the 3 weekly cycle, my chest always felt a bit heavy for a few days afterwards. Maybe you could ask for her to go back to three weekly treatment to see if that changes anything but as always any problems need to be raised with her team. Have they not noticed these problems themselves as there must be some weight loss which would be picked up the day of her treatment. Sorry I can’t be of much help but hopefully she will get sorted soon

    Take care

    Julie
  • Hi Julie, we actually had to admit my mother in law back to hospital last night it’s like she has just given up. She has only had one maybe two courses of the stronger dose and seemed to be ok just the odd sickness and diarrhoea we as a family thought maybe it would be best to suggest her to go back to the 3week treatment but she has just had this drastic turned around in between her treatment and just refuses to eat or drink she was due to go for her treatment last week but couldn’t go ahead with her being in hospital at the time. When we contacted the hospital dealing with her treatment they just suggested to take her straight to a&e and she’s just in and out of there now. Hospitals are so hard to deal with at the minute with covid as we can’t get in ourselves to talk to the doctor and phones are just ringing out or engaged.  


    xx

  • Hi Lilllys

    Sorry your mother in law is back in hospital, hopefully someone will get a grip on things and get her back on track

    Julie