Adverse effects of immunotherapy

About 2 weeks ago, on Thursday 12/18/2025,  I started feeling very cold around 5pm, and then started shivering uncontrollably for about an hour. I had a slight fever, and when the shivering phase was over I was very weak in my legs and arms which limited my mobility. My wife Yas called my oncologist and they said we should go to the Emergency Department. I was able to get down the stairs and into the car and Yas drove me to the Beth Israel Emergency Department. 

We went through triage quickly and they asked us to wait in the waiting room as there were no free beds available. So we did. There was a young women next to us who was softly crying the whole time. We didn't get into a room with a bed until 5am. Yas drove home and fed and walked our dog, Fezco, who had been in the crate for over 10 hours and was happy to see her. The doctor who examined me ordered 2 CT scans - of my chest and of my abdomen. Both scans showed a significant decrease in the cancer in my body. Some lesions just disappeared and others were substantially reduced, so to immunotherapy was working well, but they were worried about the fevers and weakness. 

The next morning, they admitted me to the oncology wing for the 5th time and they put a bed in the solarium of the 8th floor of the Feldberg building, which was a large space with floor to ceiling windows looking out in two directions, like a penthouse apartment. A nurse from my previous stay (Mia) stopped in to say hi, which was very nice. Then I met my current nurse Theresa who was very kind.  I also had lost my appetite, but I forced myself to eat and ended up vomiting up the entire meal. So they started giving me nausea meds (Zofran and Atavan) which helped. After 2 days in the solarium, I was moved to a private room (Feldberg 885) with a new nurse Grace who was kind and helpful.

Over the next 5 days they tried to figure out what was causing the fevers and the weakness. They also noted that another rash had appeared characterized by redness and peeling skin (like sunburn) on my hands, arms, legs and a little on my back and belly. The dermatologists were worried that this rash was part of an allergic reaction to the immunotherapy and that it could have internal consequences too, as my kidney and liver blood panels were abnormal. They prescribed hydrocortisone cream (2.5%) to be applied twice a day. Yas bought me an electric blanket so whenever I began to feel cold, I could turn up the heat and avoid the intense shivering.  If I were not having immunotherapy then the Dermatologists would have treated the rash by giving me steroids, but my Oncologists were opposed to that because oral steroids would suppress the immune system, and the Immunotherapy I had started in October was already showing great success in shrinking or eliminating my cancer tumors. The topical steroid creams did a good job on the rash (and didn't impact the immune system) and in the end my medical team decided to send me home with steroid creams.

I was discharged from the hospital two days before Christmas and we had a wonderful Christmas dinner with all three of my children (and Caitlin's boyfriend Scott). My step-daughter Shaye made a roast duck that was delicious and we had a nice memorable evening.

Now that I'm at home my goal has been to minimize the fevers and chills, and to try to rebuild my appetite and strength. My sense of taste has changed considerably, so I'm doing a lot of exploration to see what tastes good. One thing I've learned is that iced Ginger Ale helps me eat a variety of foods.  Also, the electric blanket works well but if I overdo it I'll get a high fever, so its a bit of a tight rope.  I'm back to using a walker most of the time, but I'm hopeful that I'll be able to rebuild my strength and get back to my quad cane and eventually no mobility aids at all. An unexpected issue is that the peeling of the skin on my fingers has changed my index finger enough that I can no longer login by using finger touch. I'm glad I remember my passwords.

I thought the immunotherapy phase of my treatment would be (pleasantly) boring, but alas, there can be many adverse effects which may send me the the oncology wing of the hospital many more times, so there may be some excitement with this phase of the journey too.