Chemo after RPLND

[David1969]

Hi All,

I recently underwent an RPLND and had 17 nodes removed, of which 2 showed signs of cancer. My surgeons initila reaction is to go on surveilance rather than have Chemo. However, he has suggested I get a secon opinion from a Chemo expert. I am doing this in Janury.

I guess my question is, does anybody know how extensive the 2 rounds of proposed Chemo would be, i.e. how long would i need to stay in hospital for and what side effects are likely.

Any views would be gratly appreciated.

[Scott]

If you do have two rounds of chemotherapy now, you can expect one week of treatment, a two week break, then a second week of treatment. While some people do spend the week of treatment in the hospital, most have treatment during the day but go home for the night.

[David1969]

Scott,

Thanks for the information. Do you know what type of recovery period is needed after each round of treatment. I need to travel a lot for my job and am trying to plan how long I will be out of action for.

[dadmo]

Typically your in good shape for office type work within a week or two. My son had four rounds of chemo and didn't miss a day of work on the weeks in between rounds. He did have trouble staying focused the first week after treatment but by the second week he was good to go. I don't know if this will matter to you on your business travel but you will lose your hair.

[David1969]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. The hair loss will not matter as this has started already even before Chemo!!!!

[willgetoverit]

Does this mean that for a 3xBEP, it'd not be foolish to plan to be off work ONLY for the weeks that you are on the chemo? Of course, I do understand there would be a bit of a "variable" here, given that each person responds differently to the chemo, but is it a reasonble assumption that many/most people are indeed able to return to work during the "off" weeks?

Thoughts?

[mikeygti]

I took a leave of absence during my entire chemo regime.

IF at all possible I would highly recomend the same,so that one can focus on recovery. As well as staying away from people with colds etc. while you have low blood counts.

Best Wishes

[Savin16]

I totally agree with Mikeygti, if that's possible. In my brothers case he had 4 rds. of BEP, he was too weak the first week after chemo, but he did work the week after that.(chemo 1st week, rest the 2nd week, 3rd, worked, then back to chemo) so as you stated, everyone's different. We actually have the same question now, after his chemo he had RPLND and now needs more chemo, will having had the surgery make you even weaker? So he's gonna plan it work wise the same. For my brother, his counts were lowest that 3rd week, so it was possible for him when working to wear a mask and he didn't come into contact with anyone, so that helped. Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GregF]

Working during the "off" weeks helped me to get my mind off of everything that was going on. It made things feel more "normal" (or as normal as they could feel).

That said, there were certainly days during the "off" weeks when I just didn't feel up to it and either didn't go to work or asked to leave early. I was up-front with my boss about this and he and my company were very accomodating and understanding. That made a big difference.

[dadmo]

My son would work between weeks mostly to keep busy. We work at the same place so I was able to keep an eye out for him.

[Scott]

Actually, 2xBEP after RPLND is normal if there's a small amount of active cancer found. See the TCRC's RPLND page and page 9 of the NCCN guidelines.

[dadmo]

Two rounds is standard at this point but I can't stress enough how important it is have have a second opinion given by an expert. They really are only a phone call away.