My mom just went through her second chemo session this previous thursday and..?

Question

She is experiencing numb hands,feet(feet feel cold), mouth- and her left breast hurts (she had surgery too remove cancer from left breast a month and a half ago) , also she feels light headed....is this normal for someone who just went through they're second round of chemo?

Answer 1

Sometimes peripheral neuropathy can happen from chemo . It is probably not common , but it can happen. It is permanent nerve damage in the legs and or arms....tell the oncologist about the pain..

Light headed could be from not eating enough due to the nausea , dehydration from vomiting and diarrhea, anemia from chemo killing off red blood cells... or something else....tell the oncologist..

When I did chemo, I ate a lot of bland high protein foods and a multiple vitamin to keep blood counts up, drank bottled water, and ate saltines. I kept ahead of the nausea with the anti-nausea pills and kept immodium on hand for the diarrhea. (Ask the doc before doing any of this). Bland high protein foods would be cold hard boiled eggs, Arbys or Rax plain roast beef sandwiches, even sliders (white castle).

Everyone is different with chemo and how they react to it. Tell the oncologist about the symptoms you mentioned here.

(Mouth may hurt due to chemo kills of fast growing cells indiscriminately (cancer, hair, GI tract, blood cells). Or maybe dry mouth from nausea/vomiting dehydration...drink plenty of water...tell the oncologist about it.

If she had surgery on her left breast a month and a half ago, it may still hurt...you don't say if she had a lumpectomy or mastectomy...Mastectomy is pretty major surgery..and affects even getting into and out of bed (because you are using chest muscles to help you up and down)...but tell the surgeon about it.

Answer 2

Hope doesn't matter so much as determination. When you get chemo it's a pill or through an intravenous drip in a hospital. Some people feel unwell. You take meds with the chemo and for three days to prevent side effects and they send you home with a prescription for meds to deal with nausea. Early in the 20th centure, cancer was a word you whispered and most people just died, in spite of surgery. No chemo or radiation then.

Answer 3

Your mother should have received a detailed pamplet describing the chemotherapy treatment that she is taking. It should tell her everything she needs to know about the medicine, including side-effects. The numbness in the extremities is very normal. Light-headedness and dizziness are also typical side-effects of chemo. The left breast pain is probably unrelated to the chemo. It may be psychological pain, where she is experiencing pain, because she relates her left breast to cancer, or it may be something more serious. Review her information about the chemo treatment, and if she feels that the breast pain is more than psychological, consult her oncologist.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, yes. Those are all side-effects of chemo and post-surgery. Chemo really sucks, but your Mum's a lucky lady to have a son who cares so much for her. Just be nice to her and understand that if she gets snippy with you, she's pretty miserable. Prayers and luck to her and you.

Answer 5

I'm not a doc but have seen a lot of people who take chemo and common signs are nausea headache numb extremities diarrhea sweats and many more Please don't let her read this she should try to take care of herself without reading all the side effects. there is also a 2 shots they can give her to boost her red blood cell for better energy and one for nausea. the shots are very good my mother in law had them and she was much better afterward than when there was no shots

Answer 6

yeah, these are some of the symptoms she may face..

BUT... chemo patients are extremely fragile, so be cautious of every little thing that happens. they've lost their entire immune system and if any germs or bacteria gets in the air, she may be at risk. don't be afraid to go to the doctor often and make sure the doctor prescribed her some chemo pills to help with her red blood cell count. this is a horrible disease that hurts too many, so take everything seriously and try not to expose her to too many germ-proned things.

Answer 7

These are all normal side effects from the chemo.
Chemotherapy is very strong chemicals and side effects are pretty immediate. Be strong for your mom, she has a tough road but she can do it!!! I'll keep her in my prayers!

Answer 8

The numbness and tingling in her fingers and toes is called neuropathy and is completely normal. There are medicines that can help with that if it is bothersome to her. I had that happen to me too during my treatments. Your mouth is one of those places it also bothers with some people. They have a mouth rinse that can help out a little bit for that, though the relief doesn't last real long. All of what you explained sounds completely normal. It could be way worse. Just tell her to explain her problems to her doctor. There should be help for all of it.

Answer 9

My fingertips were numb the whole time on chemo. It was from a drug called Vincristine. The condition is called neuropathy. And there is a drug for it called Neurontin. OF COURSE, check with her doctor. I wouldn't attempt to guess about breast pain in breast cancer treatment, that's definitely one for the doc.
Best wishes

Answer 10

N0V-002 (novo-two) is a New adjunct medication used with standard chemotherapy

currently being tested for approval in the USA.

Increased the ability of patients to tolerate Chemo to the full 100%
Increased the Cancer Survival rate by 80%

They are accepting some patients under FDA Fast Track SPA Phase III in the USA.

See "Got the Script" message on this board, Novo Two is available outside US:

http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/mb/NVLT.OB

Novelos' pipeline of drugs is based on oxidized glutathione, a natural metabolite that is part of the glutathione pathway. This pathway is the primary determinant of intracellular redox (oxidation/reduction) potential and, as such, plays a key role in cell protection (e.g. detoxification) and in regulation of cell signaling pathways (e.g. leading to cytokine production). Novelos’ lead products are believed to act, in part, via post-translational modification (glutathionylation) of critical regulatory proteins that mediate processes including immune function, cell proliferation and tumor progression (in combination with chemotherapy). They may also sensitize tumor cells to certain chemotherapeutic drugs by modifying drug detoxification processes.