When to Call Your Doctor

 


Developing any of the following symptoms during your chemotherapy treatment may indicate a serious condition. If you experience any of the following throughout your cancer treatment, please inform your doctor.

  • Fever higher than 100.5° F
  • Shaking chills
  • Vomiting that continues 48 hours after treatment
  • Unusual bleeding or bruising
  • Shortness of breath/chest pain
  • Severe constipation or diarrhea
  • Painful or frequent urination
  • Blood in the urine or stool
  • Soreness, redness, swelling, pus, or drainage at your catheter or port site or vein in which treatment was given
  • Irregular or rapid heart beat
  • Swelling in feet or lower legs
  • Increasing pain or pain in a new place
  • Pain that is not relieved by your pain medication
  • Headache that is not relieved by Tylenol (acetaminophen)
  • Inability to eat and continued weight loss
  • Mouth sores
  • Nasal congestion or drainage that is yellow or green, a productive cough with yellow or green drainage or coughing up blood
  • One or more of the following symptoms in conjunction with repetitive diarrhea or vomiting (signs of dehydration):
    ---Dry, cracked lips
    ---Dry, sticky tongue
    ---Increased thirst
    ---Decreased urination
    ---Increased weakness
    ---Increased pulse rate
  • Dizziness/lightheadedness (especially when rising to a standing position)
Latest Cancer News
HPV infection rates similar in men and women

October 10, 2008 — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although men are at high risk of acquiring human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, most last no more than a year, about the same time this sexually transmitted disease persists in women, researchers report in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Cancer common after liver transplantation

October 10, 2008 — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who undergo liver transplantation, particularly children, are at increased risk for developing cancer, Finnish researchers report in the journal Liver Transplantation.

Lung cancer in non-smokers a separate disease

October 10, 2008 — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Japanese investigators say that survival rates are better for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who never smoked than in NSCLC patients with a history of smoking. Other disease characteristics are different as well between the two populations.

Select news items provided by Reuters Health