CancerCompass message board discussion started by strav on 11/27/2007 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,18408,0.htm Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ My mother was diagnosed with stage 2 stomach cancer about three months ago. While performing a total gastrectomy on her they also removed her lymph nodes and found 7 of 25 with cancer.  She spent about a month in the hospital after the surgery because she felt so sick with nausea, pain, and no appetite. They have her on the feeding tube that goes directly into her small intestine so she still is able get some nutrition. The two medications for nausea that they have her on are marinol (which does not really work) and kytril (which does work). The problem is that kytril is very expensive and the insurance company only covers 21 pills a month. My mom takes two of these pills a day, after 10 days my mother will be out of these pills, cutting it down to only one didn’t help (nausea came back). I was wondering if there is another pill besides kytril for her nausea that she could take?  And if I could, another question that I have is should she have started chemotherapy by now? Any help would be greatly appreciated.     strav Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Kytril seems to be the only thing that works for my father too.  Sorry not much help there but as for the chemo question...They typically like to start no later than 60 days after the surgery has been performed.  Of course that can vary with people as some patients take longer to recover from the operation.  My father had 70% of his stomach removed and was pretty much fully recovered within 2 weeks...no feeding tube, and back to regular meals (just smaller portions) Steeda Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Steeda, Thanks for the quick reply. Your father seemed to recover quickly from the operation, that’s great. It’s been over a month and a half and my mother still can’t eat, has constant stomach pain, and pretty much nauseated all the time. Today, the doctor (surgeon) gave my mother a prescription for Tigan to help with the nausea. Hopefully this will work. She also has an appointment to meet with the oncologist next week. I figure first make sure the cancer is gone (chemo) then worry about her nausea/stomach pain. I hope this is the correct way of looking at it. It's just sad to see my mother in so much pain and my father trying so hard to help her. Luckily he is retired and able to devote all his time to helping her. strav Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT For nausea I take Zofran (Onedansetron) but it is very expensive.  I also have Compazine (Prochlorperizine) but don't take it often.  Tom LabGuy Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT