I saw Dr G yesterday and he decided to treat whatever is going on in my mouth in three ways: continue the anti-fungal meds; take valcyclovir in case it's a viral infection; swish and swallow Magic Mouthwash and GelClair for pain. M Mouthwash didn't work too well. It numbed my lips before it got to my throat!
He also prescribed a Fentanyl patch when I asked. I'm already taking the maximum daily dose of Vicodin and I wanted to avoid the ups and downs of pain relief as it wears off before I can take the next dose. The patch delivers a constant stream of pain relief directly through the skin. I also received a prescription for morphine in case of breakthrough pain.
The hand-foot syndrome is causing the skin on my palms to blister in several places, like third-degree burns. No blisters have opened yet. I really don't want to take DMSO (the chemical solvent) even if it helps with the pain because it is so highly absorbed into the skin. So onc gave me permission to "cream the living daylights" out of my hands. I'm using Udderly Smooth hand cream.
It appears that I will not have chemo again until the hand-foot thing resolves and then when I do, it will either be a lower dose of Doxil or another chemo with less risk for hand-foot syndrome.
Oy.
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I was on the Fentanyl patch years ago. It worked for me. Problem was that I thought I was over the pain so ripped off the patch and went cold turkey. It was awful. The pain management folks recommended I substitute with a patch used for high blood pressure and wean myself off of that. It worked.
ReplyDeleteI've since had another instance where I thought I was over the pain and abruptly stopped pain meds. Once again, a big mistake and I went back on the pain meds with a planned orderly reduction of medication.
For what it’s worth, my oral cancer was misdiagnosed as thrush. They didn’t get a good sample to do a biopsy, so assumed it was thrush which is not uncommon with people with suppressed immune systems such as people with AIDS or in my case, arthritis. I treated the thrush for 1 ½ years while the cancer continued to grow.
RE: Hand-Foot Syndrome
ReplyDeleteTry using Emu Oil on the H-F Syndrome patches. I find it helps more than DMSO with the pain and it seems to decrease the blistering as well.
I apply the Emu Oil morning, evening, and at bedtime. I let it be absorbed then apply Bag Balm.
It's been a tremendous help for me, I hope it helps you!