New phlegm just before 6th round of chemo? - 1244899

petunia
Posts:12

Hi,First I would like to say that I am not sure how to navigate through this new system here. My mother, as some of you may know, has ext sclc. just about to do her 6th cycle of chemo (she did radiation 20 times) main tumor showed shrinkage (not her adrenal gland.) Recently in the last 10 days she has been spitting out phlegm during the day. She says it is clear but when I looked at it it seems a little pink/reddish (not blood but not yellow.) She was just diagnosed late February. Can this be a reaction to the radiation? She has not had this symptom for the past two months so it is worrying me now that she is doing this. She had this symptom three months prior to her diagnosis but then it stopped and now it seems to be back. She has her 2nd brain MRI scheduled for tomorrow as well as her second cycle of Zometa. She had a CT scan done a few weeks ago and I am wondering if they will do another one after her last round of chemo. I know they are waiting to see what is going on with her tumors inside her body before they begin or discuss PCI/WBR. It is just worrisome that she is now spitting up stuff throughout the day when I am thinking that she is getting better. Please any info or advice will be greatly appreciated.

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Reply # - July 11, 2012, 01:05 AM

catdander
Posts:

Hi Petunia,

I'm so sorry your mom is having even more worries. I hope you can make sure she speaks to the staff about the blood in the phlegm tomorrow when she goes in for zometa. If I recall right the blood can mean a lot of things.

Your mom's scheduled scans sound about right by current standards but in real life it seems a lot depends on individual needs.
Below is a link to a blog/post by Dr. Gadgeel, where he said, "Scans to assess the response of the cancer to this treatment are done after every 2-3 rounds (or about 6-9 weeks)." That could put your mom on schedule. Scroll down to Treatment of Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients
http://cancergrace.org/lung/2010/08/07/treatment-of-small-cell-lung-can…

I hope this is helpful,
Janine

Reply # - July 11, 2012, 09:56 AM

Dr West
Posts: 4735

The scan should really clarify how she is responding to treatment. But yes, it's very, very common to have an increased cough and sometimes even shortness of breath from inflammation that can follow chest radiation. I hope that's what's happening.

-Dr. West

Reply # - July 12, 2012, 06:08 AM

warriorprincess
Posts: 14

I have had a few situations where I have started coughing alot more and coughed up blood, or bloody phlegm for several hours. In the most recent case, I was coughing up bloody something, but not sure what it was.
Generally its resolved as quickly as it started and I have no idea what caused it.
I have always told my oncologist, but there hasnt been any action taken.
I think if something like this persists, its always more of a concern.

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