stem cell replacement therapy

[jennys]

Hi all,

My brother was dx with choriocarcinoma stage 3 May last year, he has undergone 4xbep, ended up with pulmory toxicity and has just been told that he will need hdc comprising of stem cell replacement.... His hcg levels rose in 2 weeks from 3000 to 8300...we are all concerned for him as we lost our mum to lung cancer last april.

I was hoping that there might be some of you people that will be able to give us an idea what to expect from this treatment so we can best help my brother.

I come from a large close family and I know we will all be truly grateful for any info you would be able to give us.

Thanx
Jenny[email protected]

[dadmo]

Jenny:
Welcome to the tc forum. I'm sorry your brother is having such a tough time. Where is he going to get the HDC w/stemcells done? Have you had a consulataion with any tc experts if not a list of experts is attached here . We have had a fair amout of member go through the same treatment as your brother and the results have been quite amazing. As the days go on several will respond to you but remember even with this diffiuclty your brother can be cured. Just check out this recent post from a member who had HDC Good News

[Lori]

Jenny, welcome to the forum. Where is your brother having the HDC? My husband Jon had HDC at Indiana University. He was refractory to the initial round of chemo; therefore, he had to do the HDC. He would be open to talking to your brother and I obviously will help you in anyway I can. I'll send you a private message with our contact information.

The HDC wasn't as bad as either of us thought. The following info is based on the IU process, not sure how it is handled elsewhere. If there is a caregiver with the patient 24x7, then IU tries to maintain outpatient. If there isn't then they will check your brother in. The chemo will be three days, two days off, then the stem cells back and then 10 to 14 days of recovery. If he maintains outpatient status, then he will go into the hospital every day for liquids and to be monitored. They do a great job with the anti-naseau medications so Jon never was sick. He was tired, but still managed to walk 5 flights of stairs every day. His key was hydration and movement.

Again we'll answer any questions we can. Jon finished his two rounds of HDC on 9/23. He had two major surgeries after and is back home doing well now. Your brother will do fine if he has to do the HDC.

Lori

[jennys]

Thankyou Dadmo and Lori for your support,

My brother (Gerard) will be having his hdc at Sir Charles Gairdener Hospital which is in Perth Western Australia, Australia, I noticed on your list Dadmo that there is no specialist listed there for Western Australia, so I will find out the name of his specialist and see if she would mind her name being added to the list...apparently she is very good

He had blood tests and a chest ct done yesterday and he will find out today the results of those.....the onc then wants to do a pet scan next week to pinpoint exactly where the cancer is before starting treatment...

Lori, do you know if having severe pulmory fibrosis (he was told that he would most likely need to have a double lung transplant sometime in the future) could cause problems for him with this hdc and stem cell therapy?

Anyway, thankyou both again and I will keep you in touch with how he is doing

[Lori]

Jenny, I know Jon had to do a pulminary test prior to starting the HDC to get a base line. Every day they did a normal check to see how the lungs sounded. As his were fine I don't know if it could have been a problem. You may want to have your doctor reach out to Dr. Lawrence Einhorn at Indiana University. He always consults with other doctors and he has helped find and perfect the treatments for testicular cancer.

Keep us posted on how Gerard is doing!