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Starting immunotherapy Keytruda

Lung Cancer | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (27)
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@dougmck

I'm sorry to hear about both your husband's experience as well as his death. I'm getting ready to start Keytruda also and I'm having concerns about possible side effects as well. I understand that some people tolerate it and others don't, and there's no way of knowing what to expect from it in advance. How many treatments did your husband have before he developed pancreatitis and how long did it take him to recover from it? Also, did he not have health insurance, which meant he had to pay such a large sum out of pocket? I've read that Merck will often help supplement the cost.

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Replies to "I'm sorry to hear about both your husband's experience as well as his death. I'm getting..."
pml | @pml | Oct 27 8:48pm

Hi dougmck,
My husband had three treatments of Keytruda but he started having symptoms from the first. It took him about 7 months to completely recover from Pancreatitis. He refused any further Keytruda treatments and prior to this he refused anymore chemotherapy treatments also because he was too sick from them. He was only supposed to live 5 years when he was first diagnosed. However, he lived 14 years thanks to a lot of prayers, good food including good quality red meat and a quiet life style; staying away from crowds. I would suggest doing a lot of research before you get the treatments. That way you can make a decision that fits you. The Mayo Clinic is a good place to start and just do a search on Google for "Keytruda side effects". It will give you a lot of places to research. Keytruda is also known as Pembrolizumab. You may see that in your research.

My husband had very good health insurance through his union. We didn't have to pay anything past the co-pay which was rather minimal. However, at $25,000 per infusion which are twice a month, how long is the insurance going to meet this cost with the number of cancer patients increasing? That medication can't cost the medical community that much.

I wish you the best. I will say a prayer for you.
PML

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