My husband is receiving palliative chemo. How long should it take before it starts to ease symptoms ie help with swallowing etc. He is on his first cycle of 3.
Hello and welcome to our forum. Your husband should have a dedicated McMillan nurse to whom you can speak about any worries or what will happen. They will have all his details and should be able to advise and guide you. No one on here is medically trained so use the services offered at his diagnosis and that should help you be more in control I hope his treatment goes well for you both. Carol
Everyone is very different in their response to chemotherapy with their cancer. I'm afraid it won't be possible to say what sort of effect the chemotherapy is going to give your husband. Some people may not get as good a response to their chemotherapy as was hoped, whereas others will see an improvement in their symptoms. So, it will be a case of waiting to see what happens over time with the chemotherapy.
I'm aware that the uncertainty about this must be very difficult. I do hope you both have some support over this time.
If you would like to talk anything over, please feel free to give us a call. The number is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.
As always the answer is a vague "it depends". I had no visible signs of improvement until my post chemo CT scan because the chemo side effects were masking the improvements. At the time that felt depressing but the more the side effects faded, the better I felt.
The oncologist reminded me that it was a marathon, not a sprint. At the time I thought this was annoyingly patronising, but it turned out he was right.
