Re: How many days do you have to stay in hospital during the chemo?
hi I am not sure how everyonelse does but my son has special needs and he was admitted for his treatment on thrusday afternoons and we usually went home saturday evenings. I think alot of people are not admited for treatment but go into the chemo clinic,then they take home the pump for two days . Im not really sure how that works we never were treated in clinic.due to my son having autsim and being very afraid. We were always adimited , I think that is not the normal line of treatment.
Re: How many days do you have to stay in hospital during the chemo?
Hi James:
MOST people DO NOT stay in the hospital for treatment. They will access your port there in the cancer center, and get you running on the continuous
5FU, if this is the regimen they have chosen-- continuous 5FU. Then you will need to go get hooked up every morning for Lecovorin for about an hour, and you are free to go. They will run your bloods occasionally to make certain your body is handling the chemo ok. And that's about it!
Someone please correct me if they finally got the continuous pump to release the daily morning dose of Leucovorin to save you the trip in. I doubt it because they want to be certain you are handling the chemo ok.
Re: How many days do you have to stay in hospital during the chemo?
James,
I would get the Oxaliplatin at my doctor's office, than a home nurse would hook me up to 5FU and Leucovrin at home, she would come back 24 hrs later for the 2nd dose of 5FU and Leucovrion.
In the beginning I would get Oxaliplatin only at the doctor's office, with everything else at home. About 1/2 thru treatments, they started giving me Oxaliplatin and Leucovrin at the doctor's office.
Re: How many days do you have to stay in hospital during the chemo?
Lee:
Thanks for the reminder...James, I got all my drips of Oxaliplatin at the cancer center... I went to a cancer center that had a "big room" with a bunch of uncomfortable recliners and other people occupying them; and then there were limited "private rooms" that my nurse tried to sneak for me... I was being treated with people who were double my age in the big room, and although I am sociable, you just DON'T feel like talking during treatment. You can bring your music headphones to wear, and the rooms I had also had TV's. You just want something to relax you and take your mind away. Use visualization... take a picture of a beach with the ocean and you can make up a relaxing story in your mind of where you're going when your treatment is finally complete... or take a brochure of that car you are going to buy, ANYTHING... it can be fantasy, of if you have the means, plan to treat yourself to something.
Word to the wise though... DON'T take in your favorite juice or soda, I can tell you this happened to me and others said the same thing... you develop this aversion to it... so when chemo is FINALLY over, everytime you drink that favorite, there is this association that occurs and you DO NOT WANT IT.
For instance, whenever I used to call my nurse and get her voicemail, I used to have to hang up quickly or I finally found out how to skip her message, because literally I would hear her voice, and it would trigger me to get sick and vomit.
It's just that chemo and the way it makes you feel is NOT fun... again depending on what they give you, and keep in mind that everyone is different. I developed such a strong aversion, I just would associate things with chemo. My accupuncturist said this was "good," that I can pick up on oher people and I must have a strong ability to connect to other people. I said "okaaay! " and didn't go back to her. In any event, I guess all this just shows you that little things can trigger a "body memory" where you can't help it, it just happens.
I would play relaxing music if I were you. Try to mediate and feel the sun on your face... create a story in your mind... different each time... to make the time pass faster. It really does work.
Re: How many days do you have to stay in hospital during the chemo?
Thanks for all the info everyone...thank you cancerdad especially.
So it sounds like with Oxiplation you have to stay in for a few days and with 5FU & Leucovorin, you go in for a little while then can go home the same day.
Re: How many days do you have to stay in hospital during the chemo?
I guess it is different in different places and with different people. My husband had 5Fu/leukovorin by 1V on a daily basis in a clinic and I have recently seen a woman being treated with oxaliplatin for an hour or two in the clinic and sent home with a 48 hour pump of 5FU (I believe).
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Husband dx July 2003, advanced rectal cancer stage 111C; myself dx July 2006 indolent lymphoma; husband dx February 2010, stage 2 prostate cancer.
Re: How many days do you have to stay in hospital during the chemo?
I had no hospital stay or visit. I would go to my oncologist's office for the Oxaplatin. That IV fusion would last 2-4 hrs depending on how fast they were giving it to me. Then I would go home for my other drugs. Leucorin would be given to me in a bag which I had to sit for, but 5FU was given in a special pump and back pack, thus I was able to walk around and leave the house, even sleep in.
Special warning, You can not shower when hooked up to the 5FU back pack (maybe things have changed since I was on it). I would always take a shower first thing in the morning on day 1, about 2 days later, when everything was disconnected, I would shower again. It's was my understanding you could not get the port wet when it was being used.
Re: How many days do you have to stay in hospital during the chemo?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lee a
I had no hospital stay or visit. I would go to my oncologist's office for the Oxaplatin. That IV fusion would last 2-4 hrs depending on how fast they were giving it to me. Then I would go home for my other drugs. Leucorin would be given to me in a bag which I had to sit for, but 5FU was given in a special pump and back pack, thus I was able to walk around and leave the house, even sleep in.
Special warning, You can not shower when hooked up to the 5FU back pack (maybe things have changed since I was on it). I would always take a shower first thing in the morning on day 1, about 2 days later, when everything was disconnected, I would shower again. It's was my understanding you could not get the port wet when it was being used.
Hope this helps,
Lee
When I was on the pump (5FU), I was on it straight through for about 40 days (30 days of radiation treatments, plus weekends and holidays-- once a week they would replace it in the cancer center). You can't shower with it, but I had this complicated thing with waterproof tape and saran wrap covering my port, and a plastic baggie for the pump (though that was probably a little overboard) so I could take baths, and my now-husband would wash my hair afterwards. So it's not impossible to bathe with the pump, though if you can wait until it's done it's probably worth it!
My cancer center also had what was pretty much a big room in the chemotherapy suites, but unlike cancerdads, it was divided up into seperate "cubicles" with curtains, and their own tv/vcr and table. definately not soundproof, but nice for privacy. Once a week I also got a clinical trial drug via IV, and that took 2 hours, but of course, YMMV. Good luck, and god bless.
Re: How many days do you have to stay in hospital during the chemo?
I'm curious cinda,
How did you change clothes? Did you wear a certain type of clothing? 30 day straight, WOW. The truth be know I would sleep in the same bra and shirt for the 3 days on chemo. When it came off I felt gross and in need of a shower. How did you get everthing off and on with the chemo pack? Mine was a lot bigger than my sleaves.
" and didn't go back to her. In any event, I guess all this just shows you that little things can trigger a "body memory" where you can't help it, it just happens. 
