Side Effects: The Catch 22
It is amazing how fast time flies when you are marking it at three week intervals. Next Wednesday will be the fourth and final of the Nivolumab (Opdivo) and Ipilimumab (Yervoy) therapies for my Stage IV Renal Cell Carcinoma. According to the oncology industry, this is "very well tolerated." Studies show that only a small percent of patient's had to stop treatment during clinical trials dueside effects. As the triage nurse who hears from patients on a daily basis who are going through a wide variety of cancer treatments, I was cautiously optimistic. Other than some serious itching and increased tiredness, the first cycle went well. I had an occasional wave of nausea here and there, but nothing intolerable. About three days after the treatment I felt my worst but recovered after a couple of more days. The second cycle hit me a bit harder. During the first week after treatment I did notice an increase in fatigue, but not much els...