Dana - Methotrexate and 5FU (fluorocil) are fairly common and often given in tandem; they can cause nausea, but it's not usually that bad, although it probably depends on the dosages. My Mom was treated with those for a couple of years for breast cancer and had little nausea. It's quite possible that the combo of radiation and chemo is making him sicker than either one by itself would.

Atavan is an anti-anxiety medication, and I have never before heard of its being used for nausea. A good treatment to prevent nausea is IV Zofran right BEFORE the chemo is given, along with the pill form of Zofran (sorry, I forget the pill's name) for a few days after the chemo. Suppository compezine can also be given, and is especially good if the nausea prevents taking pills. But whatever he takes AFTER the chemo, he should be given anti-nausea medication by IV right BEFORE the chemo. Also, if the Tylenol 3 isn't working for pain, you might ask them to try Vicodin.

It sounds like your husband's having a really tough time, and I'm so sorry to hear that. At this point, it's hard to tell if it's from the treatment or from the cancer; however, don't be afraid to ask a million questions and to get a second opinion!

Also, think about taking a tape recorder to all doctor sessions...tell them you just can't remember everything and would like to tape the conversation so that you can go over it later. Most doctors won't object. It helps when you think of questions later.

Keep me posted. I truly mean it...you both will be in my prayers.

Ruth

[Please, .edu and .gov links only, as per the guidelines.]

[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 11-30-2002).]

Dana -
YELL at that idiot doctor to give him IV anti-nausea meds immediately BEFORE giving him chemo. Many people experience nausea immediately when receiving chemo, and if they're already nauseous, they can't keep a pill down! You must be your husband's watchdog. Since you've mentioned that his attitude is pretty good (he's willing to try anything to stay alive), I seriously doubt his symptoms are psychosomatic. Honestly, where is this doctor's head? Nausea is an extremely common side effect, it's also variable from person to person as to how bad it is (and from chemo to chemo), and it should be treated preventatively. If they give him the IV anti-nausea meds, THEN he can take the pills afterwards (probably one a day for about 2-3 days after chemo) and keep them down.

I wish everyone could have my oncologist. His philosophy is that no one should have to suffer through nausea with chemo, even if he has to find them a supplier for mj! I met at least 20 of his patients during my four months on chemo, and not one of them had severe nausea. Some of them did experience some queasiness, but that was it. And they were all on different chemo regimens, depending on the type of cancer they had.

Two of the women in my cancer support group were being treated at major Boston hospitals...one at Dana Farber and one at Mass. General, and neither was being effectively treated for nausea until I told them what my doctor was giving me. They had both lost a lot of weight due to nausea/vomiting and loss of appetite. Once they learned what I was getting, they insisted on the same regimen for themselves, and experienced great improvement.

I will call my doctor on Monday and get the name of the pills I took. The IV was Zofran, but there's another one, too and I'll ask the name of that. Also, Compezine suppositories are good if he can't keep a pill down, but they don't always work if the nausea's really bad.

Wish there were more I could do to help. Consider yourself hugged.

Ruth

Hi DANAS68:

I'm joining in this discussion because I'm a parent of a child who had leukemia, had a lot of chemo, a bone marrow transplant, etc. so I feel I understand some of what you're going through.

First off - I completely agree with Ruth's advice to you, including her comment 'idiot doctor'. What kind of doctor would prescribe Tylenol [a documented liver toxin] to a patient with liver cancer?!! [Our child had GVHD of the liver, a post-transplant complication, our BMT HEM/ONC cautioned us that anyone with a liver problem should avoid Tylenol.]

Second, ACOR.org is an excellent resource for support and information. I use it myself. Mostly people discuss their day-to-day problems due to their cancer, chemo, radiation - so it's very relevant. Also, it's the type of advice you're unlikely to get even from a very good doctor.

"Anti-emetic" is the name given to the drug class prescribed for nausea and vomiting. BTW - it is now STANDARD therapy/protocol to give Zofran BEFORE administering chemo. Here's the link for the NIH MedLinePlus information on Zofran. Zofran is the brand name; this link will show you the drug's official chemical/generic name [ondesteron, I think]:
[url="http://search.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/query?FUNCTION=search&PARAMETER=zofran&DISAMBIGUATION=true&START=0&END=25&MAX=0&ASPECT=0&SHOWTOPICS=0"]http://search.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/query?FUNCTION=search&PARAMETER=zofran&DISAMBIGUATION=true&START=0&END=25&MAX=0&ASPECT=0&SHOWTOPICS=0[/url]

Also check for cancer information, including the 'golden standard' therapies for various cancers, at the official NIH cancer site:
[url="http://www.nci.nih.gov/"]http://www.nci.nih.gov/[/url]

About 'cancer odds' - Statistics can only tell you about proportions of a large population, statistics can't tell you about any one person's chances. In our case, the statistics for surviving were also pretty scary, but we chose to do whatever we could to improve on them. [The 'chances' of a child being diagnosed with this cancer are 1 in 10,000 - so our child's chances for coming out of this are/were, in comparison, much higher.]

Good luck,
Jay