kroblow

Hello Jimchief,

I am new here but wanted to reply since I just had my 7th Opdivo treatment yesterday. I have my treatments every other Friday and the plan is to receive treatment for one year in order to prevent recurrence. I was staged at 3C in August of this year. Three recurring tumors removed from my ankle in July. Began treatment with Opdivo in September following 5 heavy doses of radiation to the area. My experience has been relatively easy. I am put in a room with hospital bed and a chair. I usually have one person with me and they are able to go back with me for treatment. Once the drug is delivered to the transfusion unit, it takes 30 minutes to drip and then there is a 5 minute saline flush making sure you get your money's worth! Then we get back on the road for the 4 hour drive from Houston. The one thing I do experience is a slight dizziness during the infusion and also right after.  Nothing terrible but I just notice it.  I have felt fatigue in the few days after treatments but my thyroid has also been affected. I had hypothyroidism for years prior to treatment so I fully expected the thyroid to be my issue, if I had any. I have maintained workouts with my trainer, only cancelling one week's worth of them when my thyroid levels first went haywire. We are still working on getting my levels back to normal. I recently made a visit to the ER and was diagnosed with pleurisy. I am not sure if this would be considered a form of pneumonitis that is so talked about as a side effect. Also, I am nauseous every single day.  It's like morning sickness. I am a person who only gets out of the bed in the morning to get my cup of coffee…I must have it but since I've been taking Opdivo, coffee makes me sick to my stomach. I will have a sprite or coke zero instead. Later in the morning I will have a cup of coffee if I want. Also, it helps to get something in my stomach. Toast or crackers. Some foods I used to eat just don't sound good to me now. I don't even drink wine in the evenings anymore. It doesn't sound good either except for maybe every once in a while. You would think I would have lost a few pounds but no such luck. Maybe that is due to the thyroid issue.  

Honestly for the first 3 – 4 treatments, I felt better than I have felt in a long time. Then the thyroid levels got off track and I can't say that anymore. I have experienced the muscle and joint aches and also some weakness. These side effects come and go kind of randomly. It does help to work out even if I am not up to my full potential that day. I just do what I can do and I feel better when it is done. In the last few weeks I have not slept well at all which could be due to thyroid levels being off.  

So, I hope my account helps somewhat. Good luck with your treatment and I look forward to hearing about it over the weeks to come! 

Yes, you are correct. It is preventative treatment. They way it was explained to me is that since i have had a recurrence, clearly my immune system cannot fight the cancer on its own. So, the hope (as i understand it) is that with the treatment my immune system will be strengthened and able to fight the cancer in the event it comes back a third time. At the time of recurrence, i was told that i had a 66% chance of the melanoma returning. The preventative treatment reduces that percentage to under 50%.