Not everyone reacts badly to chemo - sm
Posted By: Laura E. on 2009-05-24
In Reply to: speaking of ignorance...sm - anon
My daughter was not throwing up every half hour. In the 18 treatments/doses she received in her five month regimen she puked 3 times I think. She was nauseous, yes, but Zofran took care of that. She lost about five pounds in all but most/all of that was tumor. She did not lose her hair until the 4th month, but as I said then if that is the worst thing to happen we will live with it. Hair does grow back. Her hair grew back red again, not as firey red, but still a beautiful color, thicker now too, and grows so much faster now too, already below her waist now in the 3.5 years it has been growing back. Her hair was very, very slow growing prior to her chemo (about mid-back maybe short when she got sick at 5, with absolutely no haircuts except for bangs). Physically now she is in fantastic shape. She never developed footdrop or any side effects other than nausea and exhaustion, she had little stamina for 6 months to a year after chemo ended. Now however she is great, looks great, is in great shape and is a very active 9-y/o. She has been thru a lot and is very mature for her age, more so than my soon to be 11-y/o. She has a lot on her mind and still worries sometimes she will get cancer again. I feel bad that she thinks that way but it is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life, but at least she will have a life. Without the chemo she would not have had one and she knows that, she is a smart cookie. She also knows I am her mom and I love her to pieces and will always make sure she is kept safe and hopefully healthy. If she never needs it I will give her one of my kidneys presuming I can. ---but chemo is proven to work more than it fails, nothing is 100%, but at 13 the boy is too young to understand the ramifications. He will die, period, no doubt in my mind, if he does not do chemo. Yes, he may still die with it but his chances are much less and if they go with a "natural" treatment his chances are definitely a lot less. Very short-sighted of both of them I think. Before anyone attacks me, I like you am entitled to my opinion but before you attack make sure you have walked in my shoes. A child sick with cancer is a very scary thing.
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Everybody reacts differently to
medications. It would probably be a good idea whenever possible to start one new drug at a time and see how it affects you before adding a second.
That's not always possible if you are having to treat something acute, of course.
One tiime, say yes and go. See how he reacts to
x
I am truly sorry about the child having to have chemo
but everyone in this life has issues and problems to put up with, you are not the only one. We all have to deal with things that are not what we would choose for ourself. We all fight battles each and every day- but you let a 14 year old female be paddled (I personally think 14 entirely too old for that) but it seemed and still does seem strange for you to go through each and every thing about her bottom, telling her to wear padded panties, my gosh I feel like I am the one watching a peep show. I think it sounds like some soap opera and that is truly how I feel.
if the kid doesn't want chemo, let him be?
My sons both hate the dentist, and one of them can't stand going to the doctor... I guess I'll just let them live with strep throat and ADHD, cuz they really don't want the treatment...
Side effects of chemo
You are 100% correct in your post but there are a lot of other ailments that are also treated with drugs that can cause cancer and this is something people are advised against up front. I remember 1 kid in high school treated some an ailment and the side effect of his treatment was that he contracted cancer and died from that. I have known for years the connection between breast cancer and hormone replacement; thus when I came of age to perhaps take it I turned it down. My mother, on the other hand, given hormone replacement and contracted cancer from I believe irradiation 30 years earlier for tuberculosis in her lymph glands and she mentioned to me the fact her doctor still had her on replacement hormones. She, herself, knew the connection. I have 2 older aunts and myself who have never taken this treatment because we all know connection. Believe me, if you check on other maladies, you will find the treatment often can cause the side effects such as cancer of which you speak.
Children Receiving Chemo DO get horribly sick
Joel was on both Zofran and Phenergan round-the-clock while on his first regimen of chemo (it included Cytoxan and Vincristine, can't remember the third drug on that one), and the nausea was horrible and barely even touched by the Zofran. Before he relapsed the first time, when he was on the Cytoxan, I would cry through my shower every single morning, praying for his suffering to ease. The next regimen of chemo was ICE (I remember the acronym, but not the ingredients on that one). The ICE regimen was easier in terms of nausea, but it wreaked havoc on his immune system and on his blood counts. One of his chemo buddies was diagnosed with the same stage rhabdomyosarcoma the same week Joel was, and that poor child was even sicker than Joel with all kinds of life-threatening complications. Weirdly enough, I think that child survived, and I'm sure his parents believe it was worth the suffering now.
By my point here, Laura E., is that just because YOUR child didn't have nausea does not mean that everybody's children escape the horrible side effects.
Furthermore, I also have typed pediatric oncology reports (I eventually had to refuse to type peds onc. because it would leave me in tears every time), and the reports don't really explain the side effects the parents and children are seeing on a daily basis. The reports themselves just cover overall progress issues. The doctors don't live with the parents and get to visualize the experience at 2:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., when the Phenergan wears off and the kid has nothing left inside to puke, but keeps puking anyway.
I'm sorry I've gone off on such a rant - but IT IS THE DECISION OF THE FAMILY TO CHOOSE WHICH TREATMENT REGIMEN TO FOLLOW.
Not only is he treating you badly,
what kind of a man tells his wife and children to leave the home? My parents divorced when I was 11 and as I got older I realized it really was for the best. You need to show your children that it is not okay to disrespect anyone. You should go ahead and at least consult a lawyer and see what your options are.
I feel so badly for you - sm
It is not supposed to be that way! Your hubby sounds pretty selfish. If I told my husband I needed him to stand on his head and turn cartwheels for me to orgasm he would at least attempt it, especially after a year of marriage. Is everything fantastic with him other than the sex issue??
But it may end badly for the dogs
They may not be taken care of when he's off doing other things. I would tell him though that he needs to buy or pay for the dog food and put a time limit on how long you'll take care of them. You're a good person to make sure they're taken care of.
I'd say she has been hurt badly and deeply
besides having a questionable upbringing. It has been shown you can even be raised weird and still have great qualities - something happened to push those natural feelings towards other human beings way down inside her. If it were me - I would just kind of detach myself from her as she will most likely not change and you will grow to become bitter and you cannot change her. You are not going to get what you need as a friend from her. Sorry also about your son. Hugs!!
Help for badly damaged hair
Got a perm a couple months ago (bad mistake -especially once DH said - is that the way you wanted it?) Anyway...since then have gotten it trimmed a couple times to get rid of the dead. But it is like a rats nest, looks dry and very frizzy. I have tried...curling creams, leave in conditioners, mousse, putty, creams, and a wide range of hair products. The other night I tried mayo & egg. My hair still feels dried out. Actually just feeling it now, the part that has grown out is not dry, but the part where the perm is is dry.
Anyone have any suggestions. How I miss my beautiful locks of my youth (I'm 51). I used to have beautiful curls and the hairdressers always commented they never seen such beautiful natural curls before. Now it's just old, frizzy, no curls and no body, and a thinning spot toward the top of my forehead. Talk about feeling old. I did just color it because sometimes coloring brings back shine and makes it manageable, but didn't do anything but get rid of the gray. I'm ready to just go Sinead. Any suggestions much appreicated.
Does he treat you badly in front of your children or is it
usually "behind closed doors?"
Well I had a friend at work who wanted a baby badly
had hydrocephalus. She prayed and prayed. She finally decided through a lot of counseling that it would be better to abort this baby. So in what stage of abortion are we talking made to look at the ultrasound. Is this a whole different thing? Should she have been made to have that baby even knowing the baby would not survive? I think there are abortions for different reasons. JMO.
City of Angels. I couldn't leave the theatre I was bawling so badly. nm
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