Calling for Decency
- Rush Limbaugh has upset listeners this week, prompting some people to hurl unkind words his way; a CNN host called for others to show support and compassion.
- Limbaugh has been battling advanced lung cancer for the last year and received targeted therapy as well as chemotherapy.
- The side effects of chemotherapy may include fatigue, hair loss, and numbness.
Rush’s Lung Cancer Battle
Limbaugh’s cancer has been classified as advanced. Advanced lung cancer or, stage 4 lung cancer means that the cancer has spread beyond the lungs to other parts of the body. Limbaugh shared that his disease progressed, despite earlier scans showing the disease was being maintained. Related: Radio Host Rush Limbaugh Battles Late-Stage Lung Cancer What Are the Options For Treatment? So Often It's About Making It To MilestonesHe has told listeners that his earlier treatment plan needed to be altered due to the disease’s progression. Limbaugh has gone through at least three rounds of treatment, including targeted therapies.
Living with Late-Stage Lung Cancer
Dr. Geoffrey Oxnard, a Thoracic Oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discussed in a previous interview what it’s like to live with this type of cancer Limbaugh is battling. “Stage 4 lung cancer means that beyond the disease you can see in the chest and the bone and the liver and the brain, there is invariably invisible metastatic disease, and we don’t know which of these spots is going to make you sick,” said Dr. Oxnard.
Related: Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer
“We don’t know if it’s the small brain tumor that might give you stroke or seizure symptoms. Or it’s a hidden liver spot that’s going to make your liver become injured and fatigued and nauseated with time. So Stage 4 means, treat the whole body visible and invisible spots.”
Dr. Oxnard says there are several different methods for treating this disease. “The way we plan Stage 4 lung cancer today is using precision therapy. It’s the idea of moving away from just chemotherapy for all into finding the right medicine for the right patient. That involves figuring out the biology of a cancer. Ten years ago, all patients who presented with lung cancer ended up getting chemo. Today, about half of patients get chemo up front.”
Overview of Stage Four Lung Cancer
Side Effects of Chemotherapy
Many people battling lung cancer, including Limbaugh, undergo chemotherapy to treat the disease. This type of treatment has myriad side effects. In an earlier interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Lynn Parker, a Gynecologic Oncologist at Norton Cancer Institute, shared some of the most common chemotherapy side effects that patients may experience during treatment. “For most patients, they typically get a lot of fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain in that first 24 to 48 hours after chemotherapy. I feel like we now have great regimens we can use to prevent nausea and vomiting, so that is less of an issue. But I want to be proactive about managing that as well.”
Related: Misconceptions About Chemotherapy
Fatigue is a common side effect, said Dr. Parker. “Typically, you can see some decrease in blood counts so fatigue. So fatigue again around 10 days or so after the chemotherapy is given. With Taxol, your hair will fall out, but it should grow back. Typically, it would take a few months after chemotherapy is completed for that to happen. And then, the longer-term side effects are things that we can see further down the road in receiving chemo, are, as I mentioned earlier, some fatigue, the neuropathy, the numbness tingling in the hands and feet. Neuropathy is a side effect that we can see paclitaxel or Taxol during chemotherapy and after. It is another side effect it typically can worsen in the first two months after chemotherapy and then start to get better.”
Managing Common Side Effects of Chemotherapy
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