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Question about chemotherapy

post #1 of 20
3/5/08 at 10:57pm
Thread Starter 
My mom just went to the emergency room (and I would be there except she wouldn't let me take her and my dad's furious because he thinks I somehow made her sick. Yes, he's a psycho.) because she was bleeding. She's been taking chemotherapy and has been doing pretty well with it for a few months now. She has all her hair, looks fine, but she's mostly just been nauseous.

But yesterday she might have gotten an infection, went to a clinic, and got some shots and seemed ok. She didn't even get the side effects they said she would get. Today she started throwing up and said she was bleeding. Unfortunately she wouldn't tell me where, I assumed she just threw it up.

But can chemo cause bloody vomit? Her cancer is fairly mild at least. It was one tumor under her arm that was removed in 30 minutes last summer, but she has some shells around it. I know chemo can cause low white blood count and maybe what she had yesterday is still messing her up.

Edit: Found out what's the problem. She has leukemia.
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post #2 of 20
3/6/08 at 12:00am
The chemo did two things to me that may've caused bloody vomit (though I never actually threw up because they gave me good drugs with THC):

One: It turns you spit into acid, which causes bloody sores in your mouth, throat, and esophagus. Sometimes it cuts up your stomach a bit too.

Two: It drys you out and attacks your stomach lining (which is why you vomit), so conceivably the stomach it self could actually be cut by food.
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post #3 of 20
3/6/08 at 12:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stunt poop View Post
Edit: Found out what's the problem. She has leukemia.
I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she makes a rapid and complete recovery.
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post #4 of 20
3/6/08 at 2:56am
Most adult leukemias are pretty easy to beat these days, but having extra thin blood could've been part of this blood spewing episode. I don't think I'd worry too much until I heard specifically otherwise. Chemo's weird and everyone takes it differently.
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post #5 of 20
3/6/08 at 3:29am
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys. She's going to see a bunch of doctors Friday to see what it really is and what treatment to get because she was diagnosed quickly. She just got a blood test at the emergency room and was home quickly because they couldn't do anything for her except give her some chemo pills that last for two days.

I hope it's not leukemia because she's already weak, but I'm trying to figure out what a good diet she should have if it is leukemia.
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post #6 of 20
3/6/08 at 6:16pm
I do hope your mom makes a fast and complete recovery.

My brother did vomit up alot of blood when he was in chemo, sorry to say. But he also had a very rare type of cancer, different than your mom's, so you can't go by "what happened to this person might happen to her." You'll drive yourself crazy and not do her any good. That's what makes cancer so scary - it's different for so many different people.
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post #7 of 20
3/6/08 at 7:26pm
Ouch...sorry to hear that SP. Having recently lost a parent, I know how scary things like that can be. I really hope things work out for your mom.
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post #8 of 20
3/6/08 at 7:29pm
Good luck, man.
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post #9 of 20
3/6/08 at 7:52pm
Hope your mom makes it.
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post #10 of 20
3/6/08 at 8:20pm
She wasn't in Road House, was she?
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post #11 of 20
3/7/08 at 8:53am
Sorry to hear about your mom SP. I have a somewhat related question though. Have any of you ever donated bone marrow? My aunt has lymphoma and they are looking through the family for matches and I don't know anyone who has ever donated. I have heard it is painful.
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post #12 of 20
3/7/08 at 5:29pm
I did a bone marrow biopsy when I first got sick. They take just a small amount of marrow from you hips. I was on a gillion drugs (and watching Boobah) but it was still the most painful thing I've ever experienced in my life. Blinding pain. It's like the worst tooth ache you've ever had shooting through your entire body, while it's set on fire. I actually started eating the pillow my face was lying on without noticing and had to be stopped by the nurse, who's hand I proceeded to crush.

The good news is that they usually knock you out for a full on donation, from what I understand, and there wasn't mush after the fact pain, so I'm guessing it'll go better.
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post #13 of 20
3/8/08 at 4:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raspberry Leper View Post
She wasn't in Road House, was she?
Ha.

And thanks a lot guys, again. I really do appreciate it. They're sure it's leukemia, and I've got a lot of diet questions answered since I'm going to be managing her diet and doing a lot of her grocery shopping.

I have to get tested to see if my bone marrow is a match for her if she needs it. It's freaky thinking they may eventually have to crack my ribs open to donate marrow to my mom...yeesh. And I'd rather not imagine what you're talking about, Gabe. I mean, it's kind of tragically funny to picture you eating your pillow, but damn.
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post #14 of 20
3/8/08 at 5:48am
That wasn't even the funny part. The funny part was that one of the two nurses (not the one who's hand I was crushing) was a total hotty and I was trying to act tough for most of the procedure.

Cut my skin? Doin' fine.
Chip off a little bone? Ain't no thing.
Stick a needle in my bone? Pfft, whatever.
Draw marrow into the needle? OH MY GOD NOOOOOO!! OWOWOWOWOWOWW!!!

The good news is that the whole thing lasts about one minute total and you've got a good story to tell later. I'm pretty sure they won't need to draw too much to test you, if any at all, and if you need to donate they'll knock you out first.

My chemo lasted about a year, but it was for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which is the stubbed toe of cancers - it has something like a 98% survival rate - so I was mostly just uncomfortable. I know that the breast cancer chemo is generally easier to take then what they had me on, but I've got no clue about the various leukemia treatments. I'm sure the basic side effects are similar. I'm usually on these boards during work, so if you have any questions I may have an answer for you.
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post #15 of 20
3/8/08 at 5:55am
Hope your mom makes a quick recovery, SP.

My dad just recently sent his Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma packing it's ass into remission-land so I can only wish your Mom also does well.

They also took some marrow from my Pops and he did say it was painful but was definitely worth it, considering you know, the alternatives to not doing it.
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post #16 of 20
3/9/08 at 11:02am
Good luck with everything--hope your mom pulls through with flying colors. You might have been kidding in your first post, but you and your dad might want to talk to the doctor about counseling for families while your mom is sick. It's hard on everybody when someone in your family isn't well--maybe some counseling can help you all work through it. Just a thought.
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post #17 of 20
3/9/08 at 11:59am
Nid Hog is right - you and your dad really should get some kind of counseling while your mom is sick. An illness like that can have the strongest of families at each other's throats. When my brother was sick, my dad and I were in the hospital cafeteria when two women, clearly sisters, came charging in, screaming at each other. I even had a moment like that, not quite as heated, with my other siblings during a particularly bad day for my brother at the hospital. Coping with her illness is hard enough - you really don't want you and your dad to be at odds. Go talk to someone, it'll help everyone involved. And it WILL help your mom get better faster if you two aren't screaming at each other.
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post #18 of 20
3/9/08 at 1:39pm
I am currently on chemotherapy treatment right now. In the first stages, I was able to choose a (fairly) tolerable pill form (Temodar, for brain tumors), which was easier on my system. However, without a decent anti-nausea pill, I vomited so much that I lost some of the lining of my stomach and vomited blood. After that first incident, I use Zofran and it works well. The only drawback is that I got acid reflux from all that nonsense.

Now I take intravenous chemotherapy, and tolerate it pretty well. Every patient's treatment is different, and I wish the best for your family. I don't know if that helped at all, but I do think people need support in such times.
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post #19 of 20
3/11/08 at 2:09pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks a lot guys, your kindness is really appreciated. And I'm so sorry, samuraisix. I wish no one ever got cancer. I know you may not want to answer, but how's your treatment going and what's your prognosis? I really, really hope you make it out well.
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post #20 of 20
3/11/08 at 4:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by samuraisix View Post
I am currently on chemotherapy treatment right now. In the first stages, I was able to choose a (fairly) tolerable pill form (Temodar, for brain tumors), which was easier on my system. However, without a decent anti-nausea pill, I vomited so much that I lost some of the lining of my stomach and vomited blood. After that first incident, I use Zofran and it works well. The only drawback is that I got acid reflux from all that nonsense.

Now I take intravenous chemotherapy, and tolerate it pretty well. Every patient's treatment is different, and I wish the best for your family. I don't know if that helped at all, but I do think people need support in such times.
I ended up building an immunity to Zofran towards the end. If that starts to happen to you I suggest you look into the anti-nausea/anti-anxiety pills, or the THC based pills. I actually managed to gain some weight back on those guys.
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