Medications

Part of being treated for cancer means you end up taking... something. This seems pretty standard to most people. Whether it's chemo, radiation, or immunotherapy, you are under some sort of medical treatment. However, what most people might look over is the *other* medications involved; anything else taken to help with the initial treatment. Usually these involve the side effects of the original treatment and can be something as simple as taking a Tylenol (for example, while I was Stage 3 I took one prior to my weekly injection), to an extensive daily regimen of meds. In my previous post, I mentioned the other medications I was currently taking but I felt I wanted to get a bit deeper into them by providing a bit more information.

I'm going to break down each medication into different parts: what it is, why I am taking it, and the side effects associated with it. For brevity, I plan to only talk about prescriptions and no over the counter stuff. I will also note that the side effects associated with these drugs are not everything, only what I personally am going through. Some people might not have any and some people might have more.

Vemurafenib

What is it?: Vemurafenib is a pill which is a targeted therapy drug. It is designed to disrupt the cancer's replication process. This in turn can cause the body's own immune system to help destroy the cancer as well as the cancer to simply die off due to it's own natural programmed cell death.

Why am I taking it?: It is my main treatment for the melanoma. This is basically the big one right now. Prior to this, I was taking infusions of Ipilimumab, but the doctors felt the side effects I was suffering were becoming too toxic for my body to handle. More on this later.

Side effects: I'm only two weeks into this, but as I have previously taken this I know what to expect in advance. There is some joint pain associated with it, mainly in my fingers, wrists, ankles and knees. Also it can cause some skin rashing, which starts out fairly strong then fades over time. I can also become extremely sensitive to the sun so any long term outdoor excursions require me to cover myself and use sunscreen.

Prednisone

What is it?: A steroid. It prevents inflammation by suppressing certain parts of the immune system that might be attacking your body. Usually used in cases of allergies, it can be dosed in more severe cases.

Why am I taking it?: As I mentioned earlier, I was taken off my infusions because it was causing my body to suffer bowel issues. A side effect of the Ipilimumab is having your body's immune system attack itself and an inflamed colon is one possibility. Even though I am no longer taking the infusions, it is still in my body. This is merely meant as a level of control as the drug works it's way out slowly. My doctors are slowly starting to taper me off of it, since I have been on such a high dose for close to 3 months now.

Side effects: Wow, where to begin with this. The two biggest things have my my appetite and weight gain. This stuff makes you want to eat everything and you will get the weirdest cravings. It can cause a bit of bloating and water retention, which has been causing issues with my left leg (which suffers from lymphedema) with some swelling in my feet and ankles. Also, a bit of swelling in my face and neck. The loss of energy has also caused me to become a bit weaker than I had been and can get easily tired if I expend too much energy. Given such a high dose (150mg), the doctors are actually amazed I'm not suffering more severe side effects from it.

Creon

What is it?: An enzyme designed to help digest food.

Why am I taking it?: With a digestive inflammation, food passes through your body at a much quicker rate than normal. This makes it difficult for your body to absorb the proper amount of nutrients. This helps with my digestion on days when my body decides it wants to act up.

Side effects: So far, none that I can really see. It says it may cause gas and bloating, but since I had all that before I started taking this I can not attribute it directly to this.

Questran

What is it?: A powder designed to help with water absorption in my small intestine.

Why am I taking it?: With an inflamed intestine, water has a hard time getting absorbed back into the body properly which causes watery stool. Taking this helps with this absorption and can firm up the stool.

Side effects: Again, anything associated with this as not manifested itself separately so I can't attribute anything.

Lovenox

What is it?: A daily injection designed to act as an anticoagulant, mainly used to help break up blood clots.

Why am I taking it?: Well, because I have what is called a pulmonary embolism. This is a blood clot situated somewhere in an artery in my lungs. It's possible it started there (and is apparently a somewhat common occurrence in cancer patients) or started as a DVT in my legs and traveled to my lungs. Given my house-bound nature due to my stomach issues and being mainly non mobile it's quite possible this is the case.

Side effects: Well, it's an injection so sticking myself with a needle daily is the biggest challenge. The other big one is the medicine does burn a bit going in, but quickly fades after a couple minutes. Lastly, because it's an anticoagulant it can cause some bruising at the injection site. This also means I have to be real careful about not cutting/scratching myself as it might not heal itself fully.

That is pretty much it for the big stuff. Hopefully the Prednisone dosage will dwindle down to nothing and I can get my body feeling back to normal, as most of the side effects I'm dealing with seem to stem from that. Getting my energy back and not feeling like a zombie all the time is really my top priority at the moment. I'd love to try and get back into shape, but I am unsure how the blood clot will affect my ability to workout, so I'm taking it a little at a time right now.