Starting pemetrexed and carboplatin pembrolizumab: What to expect?

Thanks so much. My husband seems to be constipated in general despite lots of fiber and water So I’m thinking I will just give it to him and see how it goes. I hope your treatment goes well on Wednesday.

can he try a vegatable laxitive.

I have just finished my round of pemetrexed and starting pembrolizumab. The combination I have found to be very effective is a nightly dose of 2-3 colace and 7- 8 tabs of Swiss Kriss brand of herbal laxative. You would have to experiment a bit to see what works for your husband. It may take a day or so to get results after a bout of constipation but once it works then it is fairly easy to maintain. Swiss Kriss is available on Amazon or at a well-stocked vitamin store.

@chedder2008, has your husband started his treatment? How is he doing? How are YOU doing?

Hello. Thank you for asking. No he has not started treatment. Thankfully our second opinion appointment with Mayo has led to more testing to correctly diagnose staging. Prayers for good news and a less stage.

@codym I have been Tagrisso for six years, but it now looks as if I may need to go into a clinical trial or have the exact same chemo regimen that you have had. So, have you continued on Tagrisso through the chemo? My oncologist has indicated that I would not stay on it once I start chemotherapy

Hi @lbz1, Sorry to hear that you are facing these decisions. I don't have direct experience with Tagrisso or the chemo regimen noted. I'm taking a different targeted therapy.
I've heard of both situations; where the targeted therapy is stopped with chemo or where it is continued. It can be scary to stop taking the drugs that have been our lifelines for all these years.
You may want to ask your oncologist why they recommend stopping the Tagrisso. Is it due to potential toxicity? Are they confident that the Tagrissio isn't protecting some areas of your body, such as your brain?

@lbz1 yes I stayed on Tagrisso with the chemo. It worked 2 years for me. Found out a couple days ago that it has spread to my spinal fluid. Im now switching to an improved tagrisso and a new chemo regiment. I cant recall the names of either right now but I can check later. Unfortunately even with this new treatment the optimism from my Dr isn't that high.

@lbz1, I'm sorry to hear about your progression. Those of us taking Tagrisso know that this could always happen. That's why my oncologist has prescribed blood tests, a brain MRI, and a chest/abdomen CT scan every 3 months since December 2020. So far, so good with only one recurrence that was eliminated with one round of targeted radiation.

My cancer started in my upper right lung lobe. After a robotic lobectomy, I did this chemo routine at the same time as 33 rounds of radiation to my chest. My oncologist had me take B12 shots before and after and high doses of Folic acid during. That was 2018, so I don't know if that's still the protocol, but other than a few days tiredness, I didn't really have any side effects. Also, my friend is a registered dietician and he recommended tons of vegetables and fruits as the phytonutrients help bolster the immune system.

But I'm with Lisa. Have you had biomarker testing to determine what your cancer has potentially mutated into or has testing revealed that you still have the same EGFR mutation? I'm curious about your oncologist's response since the Mariposa 2 trial has shown that Tagrisso+chemo is more effective (longer Overall Survival) than Tagrisso alone. These things are always evolving. This latest result was presented at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in September.

Hi everyone,
My name is Debbie and my username is ProfessorC as I just retired from teaching college mathematics. My husband and I moved mid July to a beautiful PGA Community with lots of senior activities that we started to dab in until he got the diagnosis. He has stage IV Mucinous Adenocarcinoma NSCLC. This went undiagnosed as pneumonia for 11 months dealing with the PCP and a Pulmonologist. He is to start his first of 4 rounds with carboplatin, pemetrexed and keytruda this coming Friday. I am just looking for a way to belong with others that have lung cancer and this treatment protocol. His cancer has no cure. Only this maintenance treatment to keep the cancer at bay. I will take all the help I can get. Thanks for reading, and God bless your treatment plan, your family and you.