My friend has been diagnosed with stage 4 bladder cancer in October. It has spread to the lymph nodes. He had surgery to remove a tumor & started the chemo treatments. About 3 weeks ago he was told that the chemo is not helping and/or not working. He was then given a stronger chemo treatment last Friday. Apparently he got very ill while taking oxycotin & was then switched to morphine. He is weak, in a lot of pain & can hardly walk. Also the doctor was able to grab the lump in his neck when before that was not possible. It is now about 2 inches thick; The doctor said it has grown significantly. With the first chemo treatments he was fine, maybe a little sluggish but always made it to work on Monday. Now it seems he may be out for about 2 weeks depending how he feels. What does all this mean?
Hello, welcome to Chat Doctor. Your friend is having toxic effects of chemotherapy as well as the effects of tumor. Chemotherapy is very toxic to general health and most of the patients suffer severe depression of general health as a cumulative effects on body. He needs to keep eating well and try to have frequent small meals of balanced diet rich in proteins. If patient is unable to tolerate chemotherapy further your doctor might need to discontinue it for some time and restart later. Wish him good health and speedy recovery.