Nuclear Medicine Begins

Today I start my oral chemo. 150 mg of Tarceva. I am happy and excited that I am able to take a pill for my chemotherapy but I am super nervous. I don’t know what to expect. The Dr’s say it’s a blessing that I am able to take this as opposed to regular chemo but they said nothing comes for free or without consequences. The side effects aren’t as bad as regular chemo but they have different types of effects on the body. They also have to monitor my blood because it could cause issues with liver and kidney functions. I have some of the main side effects listed below:

Nausea, stomach upset, vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss, diarrhea, mouth sores, dry skin, acne like pustules, dry eyes, eye irritation, unusual eyelash growth, fatigue, belching, bloated, bone pain, difficulty with moving, dizziness, excessive air or gas, excessive tearing, acid or sour stomach, blemishes on the skin, fear, feeling sad, hair loss, headache, heartburn, indigestion, irritability, loss of interest or pleasure, nervousness, redness or swelling of the eye or inner eyelid, shivering, swelling, thinning of the hair, trouble or inability to sleep, trouble with concentrating, redness and soreness around nails, brittle or loose nails, and “Tarceva Rash”

The Tarceva inhibits the proteins from attaching to cells that help with hair and fingernail growth and what the cancer feeds off of so hang nails and in grown nails could be severe.