Forum Replies Created
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- May 25, 2012 at 4:03 am
Allen,
Congrats!!! Even after tolerating the year fairly well you'll be amazed at how good you will soon be feeling.
My husband finished at the end of Feb. Two weeks without injections and he was feeling great, a month after he was himself again. He also thought he tolerated the year well but I think he had forgotten what feeling good really felt like.
I will mention this… if you have been on any sleep aids or antianxiety medications, taper over a few weeks before stopping cold. My hubby had been on Ativan 1mg (tiny dose) to counter nighttime anxiety and help him sleep. He had some significant withdrawal symptoms from stopping abruptly.
Enjoy your interferon free days.
Kelly
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- May 25, 2012 at 4:03 am
Allen,
Congrats!!! Even after tolerating the year fairly well you'll be amazed at how good you will soon be feeling.
My husband finished at the end of Feb. Two weeks without injections and he was feeling great, a month after he was himself again. He also thought he tolerated the year well but I think he had forgotten what feeling good really felt like.
I will mention this… if you have been on any sleep aids or antianxiety medications, taper over a few weeks before stopping cold. My hubby had been on Ativan 1mg (tiny dose) to counter nighttime anxiety and help him sleep. He had some significant withdrawal symptoms from stopping abruptly.
Enjoy your interferon free days.
Kelly
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- May 25, 2012 at 4:03 am
Allen,
Congrats!!! Even after tolerating the year fairly well you'll be amazed at how good you will soon be feeling.
My husband finished at the end of Feb. Two weeks without injections and he was feeling great, a month after he was himself again. He also thought he tolerated the year well but I think he had forgotten what feeling good really felt like.
I will mention this… if you have been on any sleep aids or antianxiety medications, taper over a few weeks before stopping cold. My hubby had been on Ativan 1mg (tiny dose) to counter nighttime anxiety and help him sleep. He had some significant withdrawal symptoms from stopping abruptly.
Enjoy your interferon free days.
Kelly
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- May 25, 2012 at 3:44 am
Hi Erin,
Kelly here… my husband has stage 3b mel, I am a nurse. Here's what I know about mel in the sm intestine….
We have a close friend stage 4 mel with multiple recurrences/clinical trials, etc whose last recurrence was in his small intestine. He had abdominal surgery and has been NED for 15 years. When I told this story to Dr Margolin (Mel researcher at UWashington), she told us that mel in the small intestine if meticulously resected can be a cure. I know that sounds a bit extreme but it is truly what she said. She did stress that the surgeon must be highly skilled in the removal GI cancers.. So do your homework and find the top notch doc to do the job.
Best of luck to you!! Kelly
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- May 25, 2012 at 3:44 am
Hi Erin,
Kelly here… my husband has stage 3b mel, I am a nurse. Here's what I know about mel in the sm intestine….
We have a close friend stage 4 mel with multiple recurrences/clinical trials, etc whose last recurrence was in his small intestine. He had abdominal surgery and has been NED for 15 years. When I told this story to Dr Margolin (Mel researcher at UWashington), she told us that mel in the small intestine if meticulously resected can be a cure. I know that sounds a bit extreme but it is truly what she said. She did stress that the surgeon must be highly skilled in the removal GI cancers.. So do your homework and find the top notch doc to do the job.
Best of luck to you!! Kelly
-
- May 25, 2012 at 3:44 am
Hi Erin,
Kelly here… my husband has stage 3b mel, I am a nurse. Here's what I know about mel in the sm intestine….
We have a close friend stage 4 mel with multiple recurrences/clinical trials, etc whose last recurrence was in his small intestine. He had abdominal surgery and has been NED for 15 years. When I told this story to Dr Margolin (Mel researcher at UWashington), she told us that mel in the small intestine if meticulously resected can be a cure. I know that sounds a bit extreme but it is truly what she said. She did stress that the surgeon must be highly skilled in the removal GI cancers.. So do your homework and find the top notch doc to do the job.
Best of luck to you!! Kelly
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- November 20, 2011 at 10:06 pm
How much water are you getting in per day? Are they giving you IV fluids before each infusion? If they're giving you 500ml ask if they'll give you a liter. My husband TJ is 9 weeks from finishing his year. He measures out a gallon of water a day and tries to get it in before the end of his workday.
I have heard of some patients trying Ritalin during treatment. It would help with your energy and the brain fog that many people experience as the weeks go on.
Beginning week 3 means you get to start counting down the days…. half way there!! I remember that milestone and it felt good! Just think on Friday you'll be 75% done with the daily infusions.
Hang in there it will be different when the injections start.
Kelly
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- November 20, 2011 at 10:06 pm
How much water are you getting in per day? Are they giving you IV fluids before each infusion? If they're giving you 500ml ask if they'll give you a liter. My husband TJ is 9 weeks from finishing his year. He measures out a gallon of water a day and tries to get it in before the end of his workday.
I have heard of some patients trying Ritalin during treatment. It would help with your energy and the brain fog that many people experience as the weeks go on.
Beginning week 3 means you get to start counting down the days…. half way there!! I remember that milestone and it felt good! Just think on Friday you'll be 75% done with the daily infusions.
Hang in there it will be different when the injections start.
Kelly
-
- November 20, 2011 at 10:06 pm
How much water are you getting in per day? Are they giving you IV fluids before each infusion? If they're giving you 500ml ask if they'll give you a liter. My husband TJ is 9 weeks from finishing his year. He measures out a gallon of water a day and tries to get it in before the end of his workday.
I have heard of some patients trying Ritalin during treatment. It would help with your energy and the brain fog that many people experience as the weeks go on.
Beginning week 3 means you get to start counting down the days…. half way there!! I remember that milestone and it felt good! Just think on Friday you'll be 75% done with the daily infusions.
Hang in there it will be different when the injections start.
Kelly
-
- November 16, 2011 at 3:05 am
Donna
My husband TJ is 9 week from completing his Interferon year. I am an RN and I have followed his labs very closely throughout. The low blood counts are a little misleading. Interferon causes blood cells (particularly white blood cells) to clump together… they get sticky and so the complete blood count numbers aren't always accurate. Yes the treatment does cause lower WBCs but probably not as low as you are seeing on paper. We watched his neutrophils the closest. On the lab results you'll see 'neutrophils abs' listed a few lines below neutrophils. This is the ANC (absolute neutrophil count) and the lower it is the more susceptible your husband would be to getting an infection.
Our oncologists rule of thumb was if the ANC went below .6 (sometimes referred to as 600) then we would have to lower his dose. He got to .6 a few times but never below so he never had a dose change. HIs ANC has stayed low all year. Most of the time it is 1.0 but he didn't catch any bugs. He did have one serious infection over the summer. He had pulled a muscle in his groin. It became swollen and he also had a low grade fever. We didn't think much of the fever and still gave his Interferon that night. The next morning he had a high fever and huge cellulitis from his groin to his knee. He ended up in the hospital on IV antibiotics for 3 days. I mention this only to let you know that what would be a minor infection for someone else can get out of control during treatment… after all we're boosting their immune response right. Be sure to be in contact with your oncologist if your husband gets sick beyond side effects. They"ll probably have you hold a dose. We all got flu shots since TJ can't…
As far as the lymphocytes go, I've never heard concerns about having a low count. I remember our oncologist saying that the number of circulating lymphocytes can appear lower when they are off fighting melanoma cells….
Good luck. One more week of daily infusions… Nice to have that behind you.
If you have any questions about the home injections let me know.
Kelly
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- November 16, 2011 at 3:05 am
Donna
My husband TJ is 9 week from completing his Interferon year. I am an RN and I have followed his labs very closely throughout. The low blood counts are a little misleading. Interferon causes blood cells (particularly white blood cells) to clump together… they get sticky and so the complete blood count numbers aren't always accurate. Yes the treatment does cause lower WBCs but probably not as low as you are seeing on paper. We watched his neutrophils the closest. On the lab results you'll see 'neutrophils abs' listed a few lines below neutrophils. This is the ANC (absolute neutrophil count) and the lower it is the more susceptible your husband would be to getting an infection.
Our oncologists rule of thumb was if the ANC went below .6 (sometimes referred to as 600) then we would have to lower his dose. He got to .6 a few times but never below so he never had a dose change. HIs ANC has stayed low all year. Most of the time it is 1.0 but he didn't catch any bugs. He did have one serious infection over the summer. He had pulled a muscle in his groin. It became swollen and he also had a low grade fever. We didn't think much of the fever and still gave his Interferon that night. The next morning he had a high fever and huge cellulitis from his groin to his knee. He ended up in the hospital on IV antibiotics for 3 days. I mention this only to let you know that what would be a minor infection for someone else can get out of control during treatment… after all we're boosting their immune response right. Be sure to be in contact with your oncologist if your husband gets sick beyond side effects. They"ll probably have you hold a dose. We all got flu shots since TJ can't…
As far as the lymphocytes go, I've never heard concerns about having a low count. I remember our oncologist saying that the number of circulating lymphocytes can appear lower when they are off fighting melanoma cells….
Good luck. One more week of daily infusions… Nice to have that behind you.
If you have any questions about the home injections let me know.
Kelly
-
- November 16, 2011 at 3:05 am
Donna
My husband TJ is 9 week from completing his Interferon year. I am an RN and I have followed his labs very closely throughout. The low blood counts are a little misleading. Interferon causes blood cells (particularly white blood cells) to clump together… they get sticky and so the complete blood count numbers aren't always accurate. Yes the treatment does cause lower WBCs but probably not as low as you are seeing on paper. We watched his neutrophils the closest. On the lab results you'll see 'neutrophils abs' listed a few lines below neutrophils. This is the ANC (absolute neutrophil count) and the lower it is the more susceptible your husband would be to getting an infection.
Our oncologists rule of thumb was if the ANC went below .6 (sometimes referred to as 600) then we would have to lower his dose. He got to .6 a few times but never below so he never had a dose change. HIs ANC has stayed low all year. Most of the time it is 1.0 but he didn't catch any bugs. He did have one serious infection over the summer. He had pulled a muscle in his groin. It became swollen and he also had a low grade fever. We didn't think much of the fever and still gave his Interferon that night. The next morning he had a high fever and huge cellulitis from his groin to his knee. He ended up in the hospital on IV antibiotics for 3 days. I mention this only to let you know that what would be a minor infection for someone else can get out of control during treatment… after all we're boosting their immune response right. Be sure to be in contact with your oncologist if your husband gets sick beyond side effects. They"ll probably have you hold a dose. We all got flu shots since TJ can't…
As far as the lymphocytes go, I've never heard concerns about having a low count. I remember our oncologist saying that the number of circulating lymphocytes can appear lower when they are off fighting melanoma cells….
Good luck. One more week of daily infusions… Nice to have that behind you.
If you have any questions about the home injections let me know.
Kelly
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