Up and coming treatment

Malpas 17 days ago

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Hi everyone, I was diagnosed with plural mesothelioma in 2022, I was at stage two and was offered surgery which I had in February 23.

The surgeon removed the plural from my right lung, my heart and my diaphragm, and replaced it with a man made alternative.

Had scans every three months and the cancer was stable for the first four scans then it showed the cancer had started to grow again and I was asked if I would be interested clinical trials, I read all the information sent me and I decided it was not for me.

This made me feel really guilty but some of the potential side effects were very scary, also all the things I needed to do was daunting and at 78 years of age I felt it would have been too much for me.

I’m now waiting for a date to discuss treatment, I think I will be offered chemotherapy and immunotherapy to reduce the tumour.

concerned how this treatment will affect me, will it make me feel sick and lethargic? I feel guilty that I’m putting more stress on my wife, she is suffering with her knees and needs them both replaced but won’t have surgery yet as she feels she has to look after me.

Wardyboy 17 days ago

Hi Malpas - my husband had 9 sessions of immunotherapy - it didn’t make him sick but he did have some problems with diarrhoea. It didn’t work for him as the tumour grew. He had his first chemotherapy on 24 May - Pemetrexed & Carboplatin, unfortunately he ended up in hospital on Sunday with Acute Kidney Injury stage 3 - they say they can’t be certain but they think it was the chemo - he has just been discharged today. They are going to carry on with Chemo but are going to reduce the dose.

You could sail through immunotherapy & have good results everyone is different. My husband was never given a grade he was just told it had been found really early but he was never offered surgery. He is under Wythenshawe Hospital at Manchester & they apparently don’t do surgery there.

Good luck with everything.

Malpas 17 days ago in reply to Wardyboy

Thanks Wardyboy, was your husband offered clinical trials? I was but I decided it not for me. It seemed to be very involved with different tests on internal organs, the tests could also damage my organs and make me very sick, I could have chronic diarrhoea, ulcers in my mouth and other not very nice reactions.

plus I had to make notes of how I was feeling every day, down load an app and fill in all the questions every day, some of the tests are 8 hours long and sometimes it’s an overnight stay and at 78 years of age I felt it would be too much for me.

Contacted them and told them I didn’t want to go ahead with the trials and since then I have had no other appointments and I’m getting worried that they won’t bother with me now.

Wardyboy 17 days ago in reply to Malpas

He hasn’t been offered any trials at all. I’m sure they will offer you some treatment, the trial you were offered does sound gruelling. My husband is 68 and was diagnosed in June last year. He has pain because the tumour is pressing on his top 2 ribs on his right hand side but for now is localised to that area.

I hope you hear something soon and I am sure there will be people on here who have had a much more positive outcome with treatment than my husband. We are hoping next chemo with reduced dose goes much better than the first.

Take care.

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