First chemo treatment and first vomit

Expat2uruguay

Hi everyone. This is actually my second post here. this morning I started my chemo treatment and I feel pretty good. After the treatment I ran some important errands that involver walking for 30 minutes. But just now I vomited (a lot) for the first time. It's concerning how quickly it comes on. I barely made it to the bathroom in my own house. I don't know what I would do out in polite Society, or while I was walking down the street. I guess I better carry a roll of toilet paper for cleanups.

Anyway, the thing I'm really struggling with is a lack of information. Because I I'm living and receiving treatment in a country where I don't speak the language fluently or hardly at all it's very difficult for me to understand what's going on. The doctor gave me some papers 3 weeks ago, but someone misplaced them while I was on vacation seeing family in the states. So my biggest priority is to get back to the doctor 4 those papers.

my best friend came with me today to translate and help me with my first chemotherapy treatment. Unfortunately it produced a real strain on our relationship when I was pushing to get more information and she was doling out blame for the loss of information.

I plan to just go it on my own, because I don't believe that these doctors are telling me the truth when they say they don't speak English. English is taught for three years in the elementary schools here and anyone who receives higher education probably knows more English. Besides, my oncologist is the freaking son of the president, so I really find it hard to believe that he can't have a conversation with a patient in English. so I'm going to force the issue by showing up alone with my Google translate on my phone and see how it goes. This would be for the appointment with the oncologist to replace the lost papers.

The lacknof info is pretty damn frustrating, but it is extremely unhelpful for me to appear frustrated. I hope that this place can be one of my strategies to bridge the information Gap. I just wish this site wasn't so big...

Denise-G

Expat2uruguay - did they give you anti nausea meds? As my USA Oncologist said - "I am giving you just the tip of the iceberg in anti-nausea drugs. If you vomit even once, call me for different medications."

I am concerned what anti-nausea meds you are getting or not getting. You did not say what chemo drug you received. In the USA, there are a lot of anti-nausea meds given before the chemo infusion in addition to the pill-form drugs.

This website is FULL OF INFORMATION that can answer just about any question you have.

My best and first advice is to know what medications are being given and what mg and dosage you are receiving.

It is done differently in many countries.

Sending all my best wishes to you!

Expat2uruguay

Hi hi Denise G. I was given an anti-nausea infusion before the chemotherapy treatment started. I entered all my information regarding diagnosis and treatment in my profile, and I'm surprised that it's not reproducing with my post like I thought it would. Is there something I need to change in my settings?

WC3

Expat2Uruguay:

I am receiving taxotere and carboplatin for chemotherap.

Here is what I am given to prevent nausea.

The day before chemo and the day after chemo: I take 8mg of dexamethasone in the morning and 8mg in the evening.

The day of chemo:

I am given IV dexamethasone, and an IV anti emetic. Originally the anti emetic I was given was IV Aloxi (palonosetron) which worked the best for nausea...I had almost none, but the Aloxi gives me a bad taste in my mouth for most of my cycle so I was switched to IV Zofran (ondansetron) and then my infusion after that they also added IV Emend (aprepitant). On these I have bouts of nausea for the first week but it's manageable and I don't have as much of the bad taste.

For nausea at home I have zofran tablets. On the Aloxi I just needed one the day after chemo and maybe one the next day. The key is to take it at the slightest sensation of nausea. I was given compazine tablets in case the zofran tablets don't work but I haven't needed them.

If I start to feel sick while out and about I sit and rest...I could also take a zofran but a lot of times it's just my blood sugar dropping so I carry hard candies to suck on and some water.

Additionally, the dexamethasone gives me acid reflux so I have been starting Prilosec (omeprazole) a few days before I take the dexamethasone and I stay on it until a few days after chemo then switch to Zantac (ranitidine HCl) to wean off of the Prilosec....a lot of people stay on the Prilosec, I don't because I develop a tolerance to it then get rebound reflux when I try to stop it.

moth

expat - for your sigline dx info, once you enter it in your profile, come back to this community page and on the left hand side go down to settings; scroll down and you'll see a place where you can make your dx and treatments public. Tick everything you want to show up.

re your nausea - the pre-infusion stuff is just the beginning of the anti nausea protocol. You should have more medicines to take usually for 3 days after chemo though protocols vary depending on your chemo drugs.

Healthcare providers may be wary for using a second language even if they know it for fear of getting things badly wrong. I speak another language fluently but would not want to translate medical conversations because I'd definitely worry about getting terminology wrong.

At my center they provide professional translators to cancer patients but I guess the system there is not set up for that? You may be best off hiring a professional yourself if you can afford it. Then you get an impartial professional. Or perhaps there's a student at the university etc who might want to make some $? I think as you've discovered, these things a whole can place a lot of stress on friendships so it might be better to seek someone removed from the situation....

Expat2uruguay

thank you WC3 for the information on how you are dealing with nausea. It was particularly interesting to me what you had to say about acid reflux because that is a problem that I have separate from breast cancer and chemotherapy. So I will have to include that in my talk with the doctor regarding vomiting. It is interesting, but I'm not actually nauseous. I feel fine and then suddenly I feel like I'm going to vomit.

Expat2uruguay

Moth, thank you for your reply. I particularly appreciated your observation regarding using friends as translator / advocates. Also, thank you for the guidance on how to include my DX in the Sig line.

I'm not very happy with the care that I'm receiving right now and I think I've got to make some noise one way or another to get things going in the right direction. Two things that happened today really Disturbed me. The first is that my oncologist who I met with two or three times before starting chemo apparently didn't write any notes into my file. Given my language situation, I think that's unacceptable. Secondly, when the guy inserted my IV into my hand he was not wearing gloves. Later, when he was changing my bags for the treatment he was wearing gloves. I want to make sure that the non glove wearing doesn't happen again. Maybe I need to carry my own gloves? It seems like really bad procedure to me...

WC3

Expat2Uruguay:

Side effects can come up fast. In a few instances I was fine and then they just came over me.

Fairchild

I had my first chemo today and was surprised that it really kicked my butt. Mostly fatigue and now some faint nausea. Will take zofran before bed. Is it normal to pretty much continuously sleep?