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The immunotherapy has helped tremendously. No bloody discharge at all. They are at the end of the 7 treatment cycle and will now go for CT scans to see if/confirm whether the cancer is indeed gone.
However....the side effects have become significant. Serious fatigue, chills, and muscle aches. Per my mom Dad sleeps a lot; he's never been a great sleeper so getting 8-9 hours a night is a good thing, but the 4-6 additional hours in the daytime is not normal.
I'm sensing that morale at the house might not be that great. They seem to have traded a fatal problem for a solution that doesn't leave much quality of life.
The new medicine will be a less potent dose, so hopefully the side effects will greatly diminish.
The immunotherapy has helped tremendously. No bloody discharge at all. They are at the end of the 7 treatment cycle and will now go for CT scans to see if/confirm whether the cancer is indeed gone.
However....the side effects have become significant. Serious fatigue, chills, and muscle aches. Per my mom Dad sleeps a lot; he's never been a great sleeper so getting 8-9 hours a night is a good thing, but the 4-6 additional hours in the daytime is not normal.
I'm sensing that morale at the house might not be that great. They seem to have traded a fatal problem for a solution that doesn't leave much quality of life.
The new medicine will be a less potent dose, so hopefully the side effects will greatly diminish.
Does your father have Stage 4 kidney cancer? I cannot remember.
I wish your father the best.
Take good care of yourself, and please keep us updated.
The immunotherapy appears to have cured the original issue. However, typically enough, the side effects are now the problem.
Dad sleeps or lays in bed 20 hours per day. When he does get up he's got aches/pains/chills so badly he walks around with a blanket on. Eats minimally.
He's now three weeks since his last treatment, and mom's hope is that these effects will recede over time.
The medical folks have been real helpful. "We will have to wait and see" and "Everyone reacts differently."
Mom did ask Dad "Knowing what you know NOW would you still have gone through with the treatment" Dad's emphatic answer was "yes."
One odd point is that when they go for follow up appointments, Dad refuses to let my Mom go back with him. Absolutely refuses. Mom's concern is that Dad's not asking any sort of follow up questions. This is....peculiar, and doesn't bode well.
The immunotherapy appears to have cured the original issue. However, typically enough, the side effects are now the problem.
Dad sleeps or lays in bed 20 hours per day. When he does get up he's got aches/pains/chills so badly he walks around with a blanket on. Eats minimally.
He's now three weeks since his last treatment, and mom's hope is that these effects will recede over time.
The medical folks have been real helpful. "We will have to wait and see" and "Everyone reacts differently."
Mom did ask Dad "Knowing what you know NOW would you still have gone through with the treatment" Dad's emphatic answer was "yes."
One odd point is that when they go for follow up appointments, Dad refuses to let my Mom go back with him. Absolutely refuses. Mom's concern is that Dad's not asking any sort of follow up questions. This is....peculiar, and doesn't bode well.
That is all for now.
Thanks for updating us. I don't know what to think, to tell you the truth.
His quality of life definitely needs to improve at some point.
He may be hiding things from your mother. Family members do this with serious illnesses, etc. It's not unusual.
I hope your father starts to feel better. I don't like that he feels so bad from the side-effects from the immunotherapy regime.
Please keep us informed. I am interested in knowing how things develop with your father.
Side effects continue as before; no real improvement.
They (again) discuss quality of life. "Was it worth it?" Dad answers emphatically that it was.
They are going to schedule a CT scan, which will confirm what they suspect, that the kidney issue has been resolved.
Re: the side effects I asked mom if she'd considered getting some sort of second opinion. They live in a rural-ish area, and a second opinion could mean a "long drive" of 2 hours. Mom vigorously indicated that they were not interested in such a long drive.
I've had some minor topsy turvy on my end; once it settles down in the next week or so I will see if she (mom) would be interested in me coming for a visit. I'm assuming she'll decline, but I'm still going to offer it.
Side effects continue as before; no real improvement.
They (again) discuss quality of life. "Was it worth it?" Dad answers emphatically that it was.
They are going to schedule a CT scan, which will confirm what they suspect, that the kidney issue has been resolved.
Re: the side effects I asked mom if she'd considered getting some sort of second opinion. They live in a rural-ish area, and a second opinion could mean a "long drive" of 2 hours. Mom vigorously indicated that they were not interested in such a long drive.
I've had some minor topsy turvy on my end; once it settles down in the next week or so I will see if she (mom) would be interested in me coming for a visit. I'm assuming she'll decline, but I'm still going to offer it.
Will continue to update.
Thank you for updating us.
So, your father is in remission, more or less, or so you think?
Dad gets up for breakfast, watches football, and helps a bit around the house. Morale is significantly better. Dramatic improvement over lying in bed 20 hours a day.
This, to me, is a huge improvement. Mom on the other hand is slightly unimpressed. Not sure what's going on there, but perhaps she's still mentally present in the past few months rather than a few days of improvement.
They are awaiting some test results to confirm that the treatment addressed the cancer. She's under the impression that she will log on to their patient portal and see both the results and medical interpretation of same. Not sure that is what will happen, but we will see.
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