Your advice on getting through Chemo for lung cancer

@detroitmom23- I'm sorry that I am coming into your conversation rather late. How are you doing? Is eating getting any easier? Have you learned of any tricks or hacks to eat more types of food or are you still in a kind of--whatever stays down mode?

I haven’t had a whole lot of trouble keeping foods down but when the nausea hits I don’t have much of an appetite. For some strange reason I’ve been eating a lot 0f Ramen Noodles with oyster crackers! I haven’t ate Ramen Noodles in years but it sounded good and has been my go to on bad days.
Also when I’m nauseous I’m afraid to drink too much but my husband pushes me to drink tons of water. And he’s always right - it does help. It’s just so weird how random the effects of chemo can be with some days being good and others not. And I’ve only had one infusion! My next infusion is next week. I really hope that the side effects don’t accumulate with each infusion.,,,

One thing that is very important is to stay hydrated. These strong chemicals can do very strange things to our bodies. But dehydration can cause nausea too. Are you taking anti-nausea meds every day to prevent it from happening?

I'm a firm believer in letting chemo patients eat what they want but the healthier your diet is during good times will probably benefit you the most. Be kind to yourself. It's quite a journey. It sounds as if your husband is quite a good supporter!

I never ate spicy food but when I had chemo with cisplatin (ugly stuff) I needed to eat spicy stuff so that I could taste it. Very strange for me. I still like medium spicy foods to this day for some things.

Yes, I do eat healthy 90% of the time. Lots of fruit, vegetables and salads. But on those “off” days - it’s whatever sounds good! I’ve decided not to beat myself up about it. I do enough of that already! I do have some anti nausea medicine but I don’t take regularly, just as needed. I do find that drinking water helps the most with the nausea.
I do have a strange taste in my mouth… but foods haven’t tasted different - yet. I do rinse with warm salt water and baking soda a few times a day at recommendation of oncology nurse. Apparently chemo is rough on the tissues in your mouth and can cause sores.

Sorry to hear about your nausea. My Oncologist told me, "We don't let that happen anymore." I took Dexamethosone pills the day before and after, and that was always the first bag they hung during chemo. A friend told me to start a laxative 3 days before and continue afterward until movement returns. I did find that relieving constipation helped with the queasy stomach, though it never was more than mild nausea.

Chemo is rough on a lot more than your mouth. I was getting physical therapy for a "near frozen" shoulder and the therapist said all my soft tissues felt somewhat brittle. After learning that I eat like you, she said the only other thing she'd seen cause that was chemo -- and that was before she knew I'd had chemo. MELT and a lot of fascia work took some time but got rid of the overall body stiffness that I was feeling. You're right, lots of fruits, vegetables, and water also help with those body stiffness issues.

The best advice I received was from a Psychologist friend who advised me to give myself permission to rest when I felt the need. I tend to be on the overachiever side and was still working full-time through chemo, but I took his advice then and still do!

Best of luck, stay the course and know that this too shall pass. 🙂

I also received antinausea meds one day before and the day of, but I also took a prescription as soon as I got home and until it was gone. I am a firm believer in being as comfortable as possible during cancer treatments. If a med makes me sleepy as it relieves nausea then I need the rest. It's a time to be very gentle with yourself and pamper yourself.

We are brave souls to allow all these chemicals to enter our bodies. If you can a massage or something like that could help too.

If yo don't need anything that's great, but it's not the time, in my humble opinion, to try and prove anything.

After round three of Carboplatin and Pemetrexed I have never been this sick that I can recall. 5 days after chemo and constant nausea and today started vomiting. The oncology pharmacist prescribed nausea meds every 4 hours and a few days of steroids. If not better on next day or two will be going in for IV fluids. Apparently it’s true that it gets worse with each increasing infusion. First one not bad . 2nd one so-so, this was has me all done in.
I’ve had one scan since chemo started. Affected lymph nodes on neck have shrunk but not mass on lung. Was told that if lung mass didn’t shrink with last two chemo it would be considered uncurable. They might not even be able to do radiation because of size of lung mass and immunotherapy probably not an option due to past history of ulcerative colitis. I feel so hopeless.

I get really sick about day four also. I just have to remember time will make it better.

How are you feeling? Are the anti nausea meds helping now? Keep your provider informed about how things are going.
A try to focus on getting better and over this round of chemo before considering what may come next. Your body needs time to let the meds and chemo do their job. Deep breaths, one step at a time, one day or hour at a time, if that helps. Take care, Lisa

Thanks for asking Lisa. Feeling better now. I was prescribed some additional steroids to take for a few days and that seemed to help. I guess I just have to remember to expect feeling unwell for a few days after chemo and roll with the punches knowing that things will get better.