Carrying for chemo therapy patient?

Question

My mom is soon to begin a chemo therapy. I have a general idea how it is going to be, but not sure. She is in her seventies. She has mantle cell lymphoma which is incurable, as her dr. said, anyway, he recommended rchop, a very aggressive therapy, that will only help with growing cancer that is on her kidney. Nothing nice to hope for, as she is in her 4th stage.

Answer 1

Teonora,

My thoughts and prayers are with you.  Your mom will need your support as she will be unbelievable fatigued.  Some people handle chemo better than others and it effects some differently than others.  The supportive drugs have gotten so much better to combat the nausea and fatigue, and if she has any of these symptoms (plus muscle pains, headaches, etc,) she needs to communicate with her care givers so they can adjust or add appropriate meds.

What you can do for her is just make sure she is comfortable with few worries as possible.  Make sure she has some nursing or hospice care if she needs it and home health aids for housekeeping etc.  Ask the Dr.'s office or social services office at the hospital, your local hospice agency or the social services office in your town and they will be able to get you these important available services and more, that you may not have known about otherwise.  You'll have to be proactive and take advantage of as many programs as possible.  Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions.  Keep a positive attitude and that will help her alot. Good Luck!!!

Answer 2

My dad had CHOP-R for a different kind of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  It is a very common regimen for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  Side effects include nausea (however it is usually not severe when proper anti-emetic drugs are given), hair loss, and fatigue.  Also, it can cause a bad taste in the mouth.  There is some really good information on what to expect with CHOP here:

http://www.lymphomainfo.net/therapy/chem...

Since the oncologist is saying cure isn't possible, they are probably just trying to slow down the cancer or perhaps get her into remission.  Stay in close contact with the oncologist -- you will want to balance her side effects against whatever good the treatment does to give her the best quality of life possible.  Do note that the chemo tends to work FAST in lymphoma, especially fast growing lymphomas.  I had a different kind (Hodgkin's Disease), but you could see visible shrinkage of the masses within a very short period of time.  My dad also had very fast and visible shrinking of his mass too. Hopefully even if it cannot cure your mother, it can give her some good quality time.

Good luck to you.