CC
I am so terribly sorry for your brother. i am not a patient, my husband is and the only thing that makes him feel better is light walking when he's felling crummy, even during a fever. It sounds impossible at time to get up and move around but the doctors have always told us that moving and walking, even small doses, is key to fight fatigue and for recovery. Nutrition is important for energy, can he sip smoothies or milk shakes w bananas and a lil protein added? This will help
I will add your family to our prayers.

Yes, for sure -- some walking ... just about any walking will help. Of course, it is not good to over-do it, but at this point I would think there is little chance of that. Try to get him up to do something three times a day on a regular basis. He has to take control of the situation and not let it dominate him no matter how bad he feels. There are some little white pills for nausea -- be sure that he takes them at the first inclination of being nauseated. Most problems with them is that people take them too late in the process.

Eating is kind of like the walking -- it is not going to work to wait until the spirit moves him. He has to take control and eat whatever he can -- yes, a supplemented milkshake can be very good -- he has to get his nutrients and exercise or things will get even worse. We all know that this is tough because we have been there either ourselves or with our loved one. Get him whatever food he thinks he might like ... the hospital food gets old fast. -- daveB

Thank you for the advice for walking and eating. We encourage him to eat a few spoonfuls of porridge at a time even though it may all come up after a few hours. I will encourage him to do some light walking. Currently it's from the hospital bed to the bathroom. He's on zofran the anti- nausea drug but maybe he's taking it just a little too late like dave said. I will encourage him to take it a tad earlier. All of you guys are such a godsend with your words of encouragement and advice. It's also awesome to see such solid faith and love. As an advice for others, I found the drink Orgain to be a fantastic substitute for ensure.

Hi,
You mentioned your brother taking the Zofran too late. Is he taking it orally? When I was in the hospital for consolidation, they gave me Zofran in my IV. Is that not an option? Just throwing that out there...

While on the IV Zofran, I didn't feel nauseous at all. I had no appetite, but at least wasn't vomiting. I hope this helps.

Lora

I recall their telling me there was something in my IV prep that had to do with suppressing nausea -- but I do not know what it is. Please take it up with the oncologists -- they will know. -- dave

I've become a pretty big fan of Finergen (sp?) for nausea. My body is really sensitive to stuff like that, so the Zofran just didn't really cut it for me.

I can't speak from personal experience, only from my experience with my young son. He had a lot of problems with nausea and had very little appetite, especially after induction. Zofran was very helpful for the nausea and tummy aches. They gave it through his IV, never orally. Almost all of his meds were IV meds, with the exception of Tylenol and a couple of oral meds that he still takes. For appetite, we experimented with almost anything under the sun that we thought he might eat. His tastes changed dramatically. Sometimes salty was good. I have also heard that chemo patients often like the banana flavored Ensure--I guess somebody must! I wish you both the best. I can't imagine going through it. Watching your loved one suffer is also very difficult. Thinking of you.
Jacki

Hi cc,

Zofran works well for my husband. Since he is home, he takes it orally about 20 minutes or so before eating or taking his other oral meds.

I'm so sorry your brother is feeling so poorly. Please know that I am thinking of him daily and sending strength and health his way.

Hugs,
Monique

Thank you once again for the advice. Just a quick update - my brother was discharged late this evening since the team was able to verify that he will be receiving his sorafenib tomorrow morning via mail order. He is back in clinic in 11/2 day to recheck. His WBC dropped down from 100 during his admission to the lowest point of 1.12 but has been steadily increasing daily to 1.99 this morning. I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not. On the elevator down to the lobby this evening he threw up and once again after the ride home about an hour later. He did take zofran so let's hope he gets a good night sleep now that he's home. I will definitely encourage him to take the zofran early. The directions were every six hours but he doesn't. I will also look into phernergan also.

Thank you for all the prayers well wishes and thoughts. Everyone is so wonderful on this forum and I deeply appreciate it! I am thankful and I feel very blessed by the support of many of you.

CC

I am so sorry that your brother has relapsed after his BMT and that he is feeling so poorly.

It is good news that he was released to go home and hopefully the meds will help him feel better.

My thoughts and prayers are with him.

Karen