Does everyone receiving chemo get an infection at some point? Help getting through cancer treatment...?
I'm 17 and my mum has been diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, what can i do/say to help? My mum has inflammatory cancer in the right breast and massive tumors in the left breast and under her armpit, she starts chemo tomorrow (23rd Dec ) and them will have a double mastectomy and radiotherapy. What are the chances of infection during the chemo e.c.t. and what is the general prognosis for someone with this amount of cancerous cells??? If anyone could share there own stories of going thorough this type of cancer and treatment it would be much appreciated..... Also is there anything i can do or say to make her feel better, as it sound terrible but i don't know what to say to her apart from 'I'm so sorry and i love you' thanks xx
Cancer - 3 Answers
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1 :
I'm so sorry to hear that. My mom went through breast and lung cancer, and there's nothing really to say to her. She didn't expect me to say anything though. Just tell her you love her, and try to keep things light and positive. She'll appreciate hearing trivial things like how your day was and what's going on in your life. It makes things more normal, so the cancer doesn't dampen her spirits as much. Sorry I don't really remember about infections and stuff, I just wanted to extend my sympathy and let you know to keep it light. That same thing goes for you too, try not to dwell on it. It sounds like they're doing a lot to stop it, so she'll probably be fine. Oh, and after her hair falls out from the Chemo, and she has the mastectomy, she's going to need to feel beautiful, so remind her how pretty she is and help her feel like herself again!
2 :
There are a number of people on this site who have been through this - but no two people with any type of malignancy are ever exactly alike. I saw thousands of people with cancers of all types - one in six were women with breast cancers. You don't specifically give us the size of the primary or the age of your mum. This sounds like stage III inflammatory breast carcinoma. I'll add a site to show you the rough - and I mean general - survival rates. http://www.imaginis.com/breasthealth/staging3.asp#inflammatory http://cancer.about.com/od/breastcancer/f/survivalrate.htm I liked to treat breast cancers up front with chemotherapy. When you get a rapid positive response, you know that the treatment is working. In many adjuvant (preventive) situations, we cannot see the microscopic disease we are treating. I have had a number of patients in this stage III situation who did very well with chemotherapy first - - and most of them never had an infection when their white blood counts were low. That doesn't happen as much now that we have Neupogen and other drugs to stimulate white blood cell regrowth after aggressive combination chemotherapy. If Dave chimes in here, he will tell you about the expense of the white cell drugs - - but I suspect you are in the U.K. since you use the term "Mum." With the National Health Care in Britain, you should not have to worry about the hundreds of thousands of dollars this care would cost in the USA.
3 :
My breast cancer was different, there are several different types, and I was treated with lumpectomy, chemo & radiation. During 6 months of chemo, I only had one infection. Still don't know what it was, but it triggered a fever spike and I went to the local hospital where I was given a penicillan injection and paracetemol to reduce the fever sent home with antibiotics a few hours later when the fever had subsided. It was scary, both for me and my 16 year old daughter who had to take control of the situation. As a "just in case" measure, keep informed of what medications etc your mother is on, know where this information is kept, where all here contact numbers for oncologist etc are kept and if something like this happens, take all the info with you. Keep in mind, that even what would normally be a mild illness, that you might not normally notice can look very scary when it causes a sudden fever spike, but they usually respond well to treatment, so it is just a matter of ringing the emergency contact to advise what is happening and taking their advice. The balance of the time, treatmens, emotions and side effects will be leaving your mother weak, lethargic, tired. If you can, step up and take on a bigger role with housework etc to give her the chance to rest. There will be times when you need to cry together, other times you will need to be strong for Mum, still others when you need a shoulder to cry on. Find a friend, friends mother, etc - someone strong, and explain what is going on, and ask them if they will be your shoulder. They don't need to offer solutions, just be someone you can go to when you need to cry, and offer a hug and understanding. This is something we normally expect our own Mum to do, but at times you will probably find the strain of being upbeat all too much and will need a safe place to vent so you can go back and smile for Mum. You will be amazed at the healing power of those words "I love you" and also the help it is when people talk about plans for "next year when you are better" when making plans or when you are too tired to do something you normally would - from writing Christmas cards to making birthday cakes! Good luck with it all, looking forward to see you passing on advice to others on how to get through all this. (next year when Mum is better)
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Title : Does everyone receiving chemo get an infection at some point? Help getting through cancer treatment
Description : Does everyone receiving chemo get an infection at some point? Help getting through cancer treatment...? I'm 17 and my mum has been di...