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Cycle 4 and very nervous

Esophageal Cancer | Last Active: 4 days ago | Replies (9)

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@southbendcarrie

Hi there. I'm sorry to hear about the bad experiences with the chemo session. My husband had four rounds of immunotherapy and chemotherapy, then surgery, then four more rounds of chemotherapy. I could tell before the first session was finished that his dose was too high. The nurse confirmed that they shoot for as high a dose as a body can tolerate, with a 20% margin for reduction. I requested an immediate reduction and his oncologist concurred. His next three sessions were 10% reduction of meds from the first session, and although better, the first session knocked him on his behind and he never really recovered fully like he did during the first four sessions. The night of that first over-dose of chemo, all of his hair fell out in one fail swoop, including his beard. Can you request a reduction of the meds? It was just too much for his already exhausted body to handle at that point. Slow progress now and healing but I wish I had requested the full 20% reduction, looking back. Sending you both love and strength!

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Replies to "Hi there. I'm sorry to hear about the bad experiences with the chemo session. My husband..."

They did a 10% reduction for cycle 4; the doc didn’t want to go down too much because he feels like it’s working. I hope it helps my husband to get through it. He has a scan after this and then, if that looks good, he’s supposed to go for the surgery. I’m very nervous about that too. As hard as the first 4 rounds of chemo were it’s hard to imagine him doing this all over again after the trauma of surgery. They might have to reduce the dosage another 10%, at that point.

Just wanted to add that I hope things are much better for you guys these days and that your hubby enjoys many, many years of good health. This is a wild ride that none of us wanted to be on, but we’re doing it, day by day.