Hey everyone, I usually just browse reddit and don't post, but shit has been getting difficult. So I made an account to see if we can get any help, recommendations or something.
My wife had Hodgkins Lymphoma, did the stem cell transplant radiation therapy and all that. She was cancer free as of January. Now she's in the "maintenance" phase of treatment. She's getting 1 dose of Brentuximab every 3 weeks, and a total of 12 treatments. We just finished the third treatment 2 weeks ago and some of her side effects are getting worse.
Some things we're worried about that the Doctor doesn't seem concerned about.
1.) She's in pain almost constantly. Full body, muscle and bone pain. She can't sleep some nights because of the pain. They prescribed her OxyContin but she says it just makes her loopy for a bit but the pain is still there and easier to focus on because she feels less of everything else. Claritin helps some she says, but not much.
Should we get a referral to another specialist? Is there anyone we can talk to?
2.) Itching, she's constantly itchy. She says it doesn't seem to be on the surface. Like the itch is under the skin.
3.) Skin discoloration. Some light research on Google says this is normal. Just trying to get some anecdotal evidence for her and seeing if anyone has had any problems with it.
This is a new symptom so we haven't seen her Doctor about yet.
3.) I know constipation is a side affect. But when she was able to use the bathroom today there was a not small amount of blood in her stool. Is this normal? Should we talk to her Doctor about this? Or is it an emergency room situation?
It's late and I'm worried so I just wrote this out quick. I can't think of anything else at the moment but I'm sure I'm missing something. If anyone has any insight it would be very much appreciated. I hate seeing her like this and feel so fucking helpless.