Immunotherapy

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My dads 79 and was in relatively good health. He was over in holiday for a few weeks taking care of his older brother. When my husband and I went over at the end of August to bring him back, we noticed his breathing a bit faster. When we asked he said he'd been a bit short of breath in the last couple of weeks thought it was due to my uncle's smoking. When we came home I took him to the GP and following a chest xray was found to have fluid in the lung. We still believed it was infection and nothing else as my dad was otherwise well. But a CT showed 2 spots in the lining of his left lung which further biopsy showed a fast growing mesothelioma. My dad worked in the building trade for over 40 yrs and now this has happened. My dad was initially put forward for chemotherapy but when we met with the oncologist we had read about immunotherapy and asked if this was an option. He reviewed his results and as my dad had no other medical history they agreed they would offer it as an option. My dad decided on immunotherapy and had his first session yesterday.  He's very tired today but he's been getting increasingly tired over the last few weeks. His moods really low. My dad is such a lovely, quiet caring and thoughtful man but this disease is already changing him and i for for whats ahead. My mum died 8 yrs ago and apart from my wonderful husband who is so close to my dad, I'm on my own.  I hate what's happening to him. We're just praying the immunotherapy helps but don't know too much about it. 

  • We're going to the mesothelioma nurse tomorrow for her to check his drain and unblock it if necessary, then hopefully take fluid off, he get 500mls drained 3 times a week and he only got 50 last Wednesday and 300 on Friday, so I'm hoping that will give him some relief. 

    Good luck with the immunotherapy. My dad got 1 drug 1 week and 2 drugs 3 weeks later for 4 months. He always felt a bit worse when he got the 2. Hopefully if your husband has tolerated chemotherapy, he won't find the immunotherapy as bad.

  • How long did your dad have immunotherapy for ? And why did he come off immunotherapy?  My husband managed 6 rounds of chemo ending in October, it shrunk the cancer lots but with no treatment this last 6 months it has grown again ,,,,,

  • My dad had 4 months of immunotherapy. He chose that instead of chemotherapy because they thought it might have the best outcome for him. It's a 3 week cycle, 1 drug one time then 2 drugs the next but when he had his check CT at 4 months after the treatment , it hadn't made any difference the cancer was growing. So nothing else they could offer. He got a permanent drain in to take the fluid off 3 times a week and that helped a lot but we were at the clinic today and he's developing new pockets of fluid so now waiting on a CT to see what's happening. Its just living with constant dread of what's coming next.  

  • Has your husband started his immunotherapy yet? How is he doing?

  • What a nightmare ! The treatment had to be cancelled on the day due, the nurse phoned in sick ! Apparently no other nurse was available…. Not good at all.  Treatment is now Thursday, we were so upset as we were feeling a little anxious. Anyway we have picked ourselves up, again….

    how is your dad ? did he have any side affects from the immunotherapy? Could your dad have chemotherapy, it did work for us …

    • can your dad look at any private treatment options, a lot of people get compensated which provides funds for private treatment…..

    thank you for asking x 

  • I'm so sorry to hear that! I know how much you build yourself up for these appointments to be disappointed on the day must've been such a blow.

    My dad tolerated the immunotherapy really well. He had a bit of an itch but we got an antihistamines for and when he got the double dose every 6 weeks he has some diarrhoea a couple of days later but apart from that he was fine. He tolerated it for 4 months. 

    It was at his follow up scan at 4 months that he was told that the immunotherapy made no difference at all the cancer was progressing. They said they could try chemotherapy but as immunotherapy was the best option to start with that the chemotherapy probably would not make any difference either and would give him worse side effects, so he decided not to go for it, so its just managing his symptoms as they develop. 

    We were told at the start my dad had the quickest growing and fastest developing type of mesothelioma so anything they tried was a long shot. So my husband and I are doing our best to take care of him and spend as much time with him as we can. He wants to remain independent for as long as he can, so he's still in his own house. 

    His next CT is the 12th May, so we'll see how he's doing then...

    Good luck on Thursday. I hope it all goes well for your husband and I know what a worry it is for you too, it takes a lot of energy trying to be the strong one.. 

  • Thank you for your message, it is a shame there is nothing else for your dad.! I think my husband having the chemo really did hold off progression for a year…..

    roll on Thursday , if your dad has a little cough or is breathless you could mention Oramorth to his doctor . My husband has half a tea spoon just to stop his cough.  It seems to help, relax and help breathing especially at night time xx 

  • Thank you for that, he started on Oromorph just over a week ago and the cough is almost gone. It's just awful listening to that dry harsh cough. He only ever got relief from lying down, so its been great. He also got a course of steroids to give him a boost but I don't know if its made much difference. Its hard to tell because he doesn't say a lot about how he's feeling but he'll try anything. 

    Good luck tomorrow, I hope everything goes well.Mx 

  • How is your husband doing on the immunotherapy? My husband has just had his first session x