Who has used Keytruda? I know Live With Cancer has been on Opdivo, I know I remember some of you pos

GregP_WN

Is it an injection, a pill, a drip like chemo that takes hours?
Side effects? Harsh, not much, not at all?

I will be getting this in Nashville, it's a 3 hour trip back, Sweetie might have to drive home.

LiveWithCancer

Keytruda is an infusion, like chemo, but generally so much easier on you than any chemo you ever had. The infusion shouldn't take more than one hour ... I know Opdivo is given over 30 minutes and they finally got it so that you only had to have one treatment per month ... but I'm not sure about how long it takes to get Keytruda nor how often you have to have it.

Donna might have to drive home though I always drove myself home - I had about an hour's drive, always in rush hour traffic.

I guess everyone reacts different ... and I had Opdivo, not Keytruda (but they are VERY similar), but I felt fatigued after the treatment, but not so much that I couldn't do things like drive. I didn't really want to drive home and then cook dinner, though.

Good luck, Greg. I am glad that if you have to have treatments, it is going to be immunotherapy. I'll be praying you have the same or better results than I (I have stable tumors ... or did the last time I was scanned - they didn't all go away, but I'll take stable!)

GregP_WN

Thanks Live, I am not sure when I will start this, but I'm ready to get it going. I am guessing that it won't be this coming appointment on next Thursday since it's a 5 PM appointment. I read up on Keytruda a little and all of the information showed the vile of medicine and it said it was an injection. I never did see if they were talking about injection as into an arm or injection into an IV.
Jimmy Carter had Keytruda for his stage IV melanoma and it wiped it out. Mine is a different cancer of course, but that gives me hope.

omaalyce

My 80 year old uncle has Melanoma which spread to his lungs and liver. He is in great shape, goes to the gym every day (wish I had his dedication, I don't). He lives in Las Vegas and flies to Texas to MD Anderson for treatments. The Opdivo put his lung cancer in remission but did not help the liver so the doctor put him on Keytruda which is shrinking the tumor. He does get tired and says he usually takes a nap during the day. He still goes to the gym and works out and flies to Texas for his infusions, it was every 3 weeks but I believe it's every 6 weeks now. If you have questions for him let me know and I'll get in touch with him. Wishing you all the best.

LiveWithCancer

@GregP_WN, I never have heard of Keytruda being given any way other than through an IV or a port. It is not a shot that you can get. What I don't know for sure is whether it takes 30 minutes or an hour to inject. I think it is a treatment that is given every 3 weeks, but I haven't been keeping up with treatment protocols much lately and my memory is like a sieve.

What I do know is that you will likely be pleasantly surprised by how easy the treatment is on you. Just watch for unexplained rashes or weight gain ... it took me forever to convince my oncologist that my weight gain was not normal (but that was before they realized that the immunotherapy often affected thyroid function). I hope you'll be one of those who experience complete remission from the treatment, but even if it just stabilizes things, it is a good thing!!

I was able to quit treatments a year ago even though I still have tumors in my lungs. Provided I get a clean scan in a couple of weeks, the immunotherapy has continued to work even though I am not getting regular infusions any longer.

GregP_WN

Thank you all for your feedback. Live, I hope it's weight gain and not a loss. I was reading someone else's experience that they lost weight, lost appetite, related. I had a terrible time with weight loss in all of my previous dx's. Sores in my mouth and throat caused me to not want to eat. So far what I read it's promising.