Pembro - kidney problems?

Hi SED76,

I wonder if your hubby's back pain is due to his poor kidney function as you say it's on each side and not in the middle, same with the swollen ankles and fingers maybe. Is there a doctor you can check that out with Saffy?

I have my Pembro every 3 weeks (half the dose of the 6 weekly dose) and will have a year of that instead of changing to 6 weekly as my oncologist says she's had a couple of people on the 6 weekly  dose who have had bad side effects and she has become very cautious.  I'm not sure what percentage of doctors opt for 3 weekly instead of 6 weekly but I'm happy to do as advised, so it's not a "failure" for your husband just his body saying slow down, reduce the dose and continue hopefully with fewer side effects.

Joint pain is one of the side effects of Pembro and I've certainly had some of that myself along with constipation!

You've hopefully been given some info on the side effects of Pembro before commencing the treatment but more info can be got from your hubby's oncologist or a specialist cancer nurse (or the Macmillan advisors on here) so it's worth chasing things up with them hon.  It's such a tense time as we all want the treatment to work, so maybe it's sometimes just a question of adjusting the dosage and frequency.   I started getting really tired after about my 5th dose even though my bloods were fine.  If your husband has had kidney issues them perhaps the tiredness is due to that?   I hope your husband's kidney issues settle down with a reduced dose hon.  Take care x