Managing Chemo Symptoms
Written by Anna
One of the most commonly experienced and discussed chemo side effects is nausea, and this has been no exception for Linus. When he first started his treatments, he was only nauseous for a few days after he received certain medications. We were able to control it with some strong antiemetics for a while, but eventually the medications seemed to become less effective, and his nausea would persist for longer after his treatments. Eventually, Linus was vomiting everyday, and his nausea became so unrelenting that he would vomit up to 30 times per day. Our oncologist, gastroenterologist, and a surgeon were all racking their brains when we found one last medication to try. This new medication has helped tremendously. While Linus still is frequently experiencing nausea, he is able to live more comfortably, sleep better, and vomit only a few times each day. The options for antiemetics are quite limited for babies, so we are hopeful that as Linus gets older we will find more medications that he responds well to. We have also been reassured by multiple doctors that things should improve greatly once Linus is done with his chemotherapy.
Aside from the exceptionally horrible nausea, we have been truly lucky with how few side effects Linus has experienced from his treatments. Of course there’s been other common side effects like alopecia and a lack of appetite, but these aren’t really a big deal for us since Linus had minimal hair to begin with and he already had a feeding tube and could eat very little food by mouth. So far he has required minimal blood transfusions, no platelet transfusions, his liver and kidney function has remained fine. Even though his immune system is functionally wiped out every few weeks, it tends to build itself back up quickly. We are only halfway through his chemo regimen, and I am anticipating that he may slowly begin to struggle in some of these areas as we progress through his treatments. Many of these side effects will gradually worsen, and we have already noticed that his immune system is getting weaker sooner after the start of each cycle. Overall, I am thoroughly impressed that Linus’s body has remained so strong for so long.