A cold and Imfinzi immunotherapy

Posted by suea813 @suea813, Dec 8, 2018

I woke up with a terrible cold this morning. My next immunotherapy treatment is scheduled for next Friday; 5 days from now. Will I still be able to have my treatment if I still have this cold?

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Good morning @suea and welcome to Mayo Connect. I'm sorry that you feel so awful. Colds are so inconvenient, to everything. I would wait until Tuesday or Wed and call your doctor to see if you should wait for your next treatment. Since I am fairly new here I don't know your history. Can you tell me about yourself? What kind of cancer do you have? If you have a pulmonologist I'd call her now and see if she can help with a Z pack or something else to help you get rid of your cold quickly. I have multifocal adenocarcinoma of the lung and my pulmonologist prescribed it for me so that I wouldn't have to delay a procedure that I needed.
I have heard many different things about immunotherapy but I don't know much about it. How are you holding up? Are your side effects tolerable? Can you tell me more about it from you special case?

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I just got done with 1yr of treatment's with Immunotherapy. My side effects were tired more than usual, basically that is it. Before that I had 42 radiations and chemos at the same time. I would take Immunotherapy over anything else. Also with mine I didn't lose my hair.

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@lorib

I just got done with 1yr of treatment's with Immunotherapy. My side effects were tired more than usual, basically that is it. Before that I had 42 radiations and chemos at the same time. I would take Immunotherapy over anything else. Also with mine I didn't lose my hair.

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@lorib- Hello- That's fabulous news for you! Sounds like you had a run for your stamina with your radiation and chemo at the same time. How did you ever get out of bed? I had 4 months of chemo for lung cancer, twice a week and I was tired! tried! tired!
So far there isn't an immunotherapy for multifocal adenocarcinoma of the lung but there is a lot of research going on. Promising for the future.
How are you doing now? Are you on any meds for your cancer?

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To answer how did i get out of bed, I lost my brother 1yr i was diagnosis to cancer. I knew it he didn't want me up there with him yet.. So i knew i had to do it 5 days a week, ( don't get me wrong by Wed I had to make myself go). I am done with everything right now, CT in 3 months. Meds, I'm not taking anything for now except for my attitude. In general I do have a positive attitude, and that's what keeps me going. Always try to look on the bright side and stay away from negative people if at all possible. LIFE IS A WONDERFUL GIFT. ❤❤

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@merpreb

Good morning @suea and welcome to Mayo Connect. I'm sorry that you feel so awful. Colds are so inconvenient, to everything. I would wait until Tuesday or Wed and call your doctor to see if you should wait for your next treatment. Since I am fairly new here I don't know your history. Can you tell me about yourself? What kind of cancer do you have? If you have a pulmonologist I'd call her now and see if she can help with a Z pack or something else to help you get rid of your cold quickly. I have multifocal adenocarcinoma of the lung and my pulmonologist prescribed it for me so that I wouldn't have to delay a procedure that I needed.
I have heard many different things about immunotherapy but I don't know much about it. How are you holding up? Are your side effects tolerable? Can you tell me more about it from you special case?

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My cold is much better so next immunotherapy treatment on Friday is a go.

I have stage 3b adenocarcinoma of the lung which changed to stage 4 when it went to my brain in July.

I was diagnosed in January 2018 by Mayo. It had been missed on a chest x-ray by my local radiologist in September 2017.

I started with chemo in February once a week for 6 weeks and 30 sessions of Proton therapy. My PET scan was clear after these treatments.I was nauseated from the chemo but got it under control week 4. Proton side effects were minimal.

I started Infinnzi immunotherapy at the end of April 2018.

In July I started getting severe headaches. Found out I had 4 brain tumors. This is a typical progression of lung cancer. Two were removed surgically and two we're removed via gamma knife. Since then PET scans and brain MRIs have been clear.

I feel good. My only side effect from immunotherapy is fatigue which is a small price to pay! I am so grateful I went to Mayo for a second opinion. They saved my life and have given me hope for a longer future.

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@suea813 - That is great news! I now have a clod, lol. Looks like the holiday season this year is also cold season. How often do you have scans?

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@merpreb

@suea813 - That is great news! I now have a clod, lol. Looks like the holiday season this year is also cold season. How often do you have scans?

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I have scans every two months. Next scans are January 2. Hoping and praying for clear results!

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@suea813

I have scans every two months. Next scans are January 2. Hoping and praying for clear results!

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@suea813- How did your scan on January 2 go?

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@merpreb

@suea813- How did your scan on January 2 go?

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Lungs are still good. I have a small tumor in my brain again which they are watching. Next PET scan and brain MRI are March 28. Will eventually have another gamma knife procedure for my brain. Will continue with immunotherapy every 2 weeks indefinitely. Only side effect at this time is fatigue which is a small price to pay. So grateful for my team at Mayo in Rochester!

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Oh Sue this is good news for your lungs! Is the small tumor affect anything for you? Mayo is a great place.

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