Chemotherapy

My suggestion? go to the library, get any books on cancer by Michio Kushi, Verne Varona, Christina Pirelli or anything on cancer and macrobiotics and read VERY carefully.

I had chemo every 3 weeks for 6 months. the first 4 treatments were one kind and the last 4 were another kind. I had the first treatment and thought hmmmm I'm feeling ok. Within about 2 hours I was puking my guts out and that lasted for more than 24 hours. I finally had to be taken back to the clinic. Turns out I was violently allergic to the zofran which they put into the mix to help with nausa. go figure. within about10 days your hair starts to fall out. by the week after the second treatment my hair was gone. it didn't hurt as it fell out just came out in clumps. I went and had it cut short. Each time I had a treatment I was sick. the last 4 treatments were not as awful but I was god awful tired. I started radiation the week after the last chemo. I had that daily for 9 weeks. I was tired and really bad burns. private message me if you want to talk more about things.

So sorry about your father's diagnosis. There are different types of chemo medicine out there and they can have stronger and weaker effects on the patient. Having just been through all this with my mom, some of her side effects were:
- hair loss
- finger and toe nails and fingertips and toes turn blue-ish/black-ish
- loss of appetite
- VERY sensitive to smells
- achy
- nausea
- constipation OR the opposite
- VERY low immune system

Mom would always feel the effects more for about a week, then things would get better for her. She had three weeks in between treatments so it was one really bad week, then two decent weeks, then the cycle would start all over again. :(
Again, so sorry to hear about your father.
R.

It's hard to answer your question because chemo affects every person so differently. For me, every subsequent session got worse despite the fact that my Oncologist swore that the side effects were not cumulative. How can that be? Well, in my case it was not true - sorry to say. Very sick can mean any number of things - nausea, vomiting, weakness. Toward the end I felt like I should be bed-ridden and in the hospital but that did not happen. I don't mean to be a downer, but this is my experience.

You should ask the doctors where he is receiving the chemo what to expect as each person reacts to it differently. Nausea, no energy and generally feeling awful will be a very big factors so, yes, he may be bedridden at times.

Depends on the type of chemo drug they use. I have a friend who went through chemo for breast cancer last year and she would go into what she called her "black hole of chemo". Very weak, nauseous, muscle aches, just wanted to stay in bed. This would come on the 2nd day after chemo and last for 2 days. I have another friend being treated for pancreatic cancer and she feels okay after the chemo and has not lost her hair at all.
There are many support groups for him and you. The cancer centers should have all sorts of info. for you. There was one online forum where you could talk to others and ask questions of people who have the same type of cancer. I went on there to see how to best help my friend and have some idea what she would be going through. I think it was on Lance Armstrongs "Livestrong" website.
Good luck and god bless!

It all depends on the dosage, mixture & duration.
My friend was just treated for leukemia and had 24 hr, 7 day chemo...very strong. She lost all of her hair within a week after the 7 day treatment and had lots of mouth sores.
Mt stepfather had 5 days on (an hour or so) then 2-3 weeks off, repeat. He never got mouth sores. Eventually his hair fell out but not immediately.
Your dad will most likely have fatigue and nausea or varying degrees. He might feel fine at first--it tend to build up and get worse toward the end.
My stepfather would feel OK the week he got the chemo, cruddy the next week, then pretty good just in time for the next round. :(
Ensure, milkshakes, etc. to have on hand and he may need to avoid fresh fruits and veggies completely while on the chemo and beyond for a bit.
His doctor can probably give him and you a pretty accurate run down on what to expect.
All the best.

Very sick, as in extremely weak, and extremely nauseous are the typical signs. Others include, diarrhea, anemia/bleeding problems, fatique, lots of body pain, swelling, most likely bed ridden the first several times. Total hair loss depending on how many sessions and what kind of chemo. Hopefully, they give him some Zofran to help with the nausea. Long term side effects of years of chemo include other cancers, like squamous cell carcinoma and the like. My father had Leukemia, so I have seen him through many years of terrible chemo sessions, and new cancer resulting from it. I will be praying for your family, my heart goes out to them!

Some info here:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/coping/chemo-side-effects