antoinettev3

To all of you that have replied to this topic, I am very touched by the outpouring of love. Thank you all so much! A memorial service was held for Antoinette on 9/30 and an mp3 recording of it is available at the following address: http://www.aliencows.com/antoinette_memorial.mp3 Once again, thanks for your prayers, warm thoughts and good wishes. Love, Eric (Antoinette's husband)

It saddens me deeply to inform the members of this forum that on September 21 at 3:15pm Pacific time Antoinette passed away. She went very peacefully while surrounded by loved ones. There are none who knew Antoinette who did not love her. And she lived to help people as her posts on this forum bear witness to. We will all miss her. Eric (Antoinette's husband)

If you are not looking for anyone one in particular to answer your questions you can just post them here in the general forum or one of the others and you'll be more likely to get a response right away. It may not be the specific answer you're looking for but at the very least people will acknowledge it. Try not to be too frustrated, you're probably doing everything right it just takes time for email and PM replies. Like RandyW if you want to test it out you can either email or PM me and I'll respond to let you know that it's working. I'm online all day. Antoinette

For chronic pain or cancer pain this is not high at all. I currently take 10 mg Oxy 3x day and 7.5 -10 mg Percocet every 4 hours and somedays it barely keeps up. If she is getting relief and the side effects are not causing problems don't get hung up on the numbers. Also bare in mind that one develops a tolerance for all narcotics overtime necessitating raising the dosage even if the disease is not worse. If she is not seeing any difference or relief then she might want to consider other med combos like the patch for long acting and the fentanyl lollipop for immediate relief. I pray that she will get relief. God Bless. Antoinette

http://www.popcap.com/gamepopup.php?theGame=ningpo Pop Cap Games is a safe site and has many enjoyable and addictive games. Antoinette

Do you have no insurance at all to cover the drug or is it that your insurance co. won't pay for it? The Tarceva website can help you fill the 'script if you're having trouble with your ins. co. Some of the other drug co. have programs to help those who cannot afford the medication. I thought Genentech was one of those that did. Have you tried contacting them directly? I will pray that you find a solution and be able to try Tarceva. God Bless. Antoinette

I had the same exact problem last year when I was on daily Decardron. The heaviness was from muscle weakness and the edema in my upper thighs. I barely had any range of motion. Squatting down to pick something up was IMPOSSIBLE. Sadly it took me several months to shake all the side effects I developed once I got off the drug but they did eventually all go away. I'm currently on Decadron again 2mg every other day which is such a double edged sword. I had hoped to get through this course of radiation without it but the inflammation was too painful and this was the only thing that worked. So far the leg heaviness has not returned and I'm only showing mild signs of Cushing's (moon face, bloated belly). I hope that your Mom is able to wean herself off the Decadron soon. It can make you feel SO good but as time goes on the side effects outweigh the benefits. I was on it for 6 months last year and that was 3 months too long but it was the only way to manage my pain at the time. God Bless. Antoinette

My heart is broken for you. When I saw the post my heart just sank and I could not read past the first sentence from the tears. There are no words to express how very sorry I am. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May His grace be upon you. You are loved and cared for by SO many. You are in my prayers. Antoinette

1. arm 2. leg 3. lung(s) 4. heart 5. pinkie toes 6. nose 7. knee 8. elbow 9. ear(s) 10.hands 11.lips 12. 13

Hi Lee, There's an old yiddish saying: Man plans, God laughs. Just when you think you've got a handle on things, something will come along and throw a monkey wrench into the works. I grew up in NY and all my schools had asbestos in the ceiling tiles. In high school I remember having to brush crumbled ceiling tile off of my desk everyday in one of my classes. The school was brand new but the materials were of the poorest quality. It was quite the scandal back then. I don't know of any other classmates who developed the disease but so often it gets misdiagnosed that it's very possible others have it and we just don't know. I also participated in some home renovations where I was exposed to drywall dust, joint compound and attic insulation that contained asbestos. I only recently developed tumors. I have two that are located toward the center of my chest. One is in the fissure of the left lung and the other is in the lining of the upper left lobe. They're both about the same size, 3x2 cm. For most of my battle I had some blunting/thickening at the base of my left lung with a pleural effusion that would come and go. In '04 I developed pleural thickening. Recently this thickening has doubled in size. My pain is mostly in my shoulder and shoots up into my neck. They suspect this is referred pain from the pleural thickening at the base of my lung. I also have pain at the base of my lung but that's not as bad as it was last year. I'm going to start radiation sometime next week. I went in for the simulation yesterday. I had radiation last year which gave me tremendous relief from the pain. I'm praying to have the same success this time around. Are you seeing anyone for pain management? I pray that you will get relief from your surgical pain. I've been in contact with several people who have had their chests cut open like that with several ribs removed and it's a long healing process. But in ALL those cases the pain did eventually subside. Take care and God Bless. Antoinette

It took me 6 1/2 hours to get through a fine needle biopsy back in '04! Nothing went wrong it just took that long for them to run EVERY conceivable test before and after to make sure they wouldn't get sued in case something happened once I left. I was ready to bolt after 2 hours of various blood tests by overly cheerful and incompetent aides and nurses. They did a clotting test to make sure I wouldn't bleed excessively but couldn't get an accurate read since I would clot so quickly before they could do the measurement. Wouldn't you think that would be proof enough that I won't have any bleeding issues? They still kept trying to repeat the test. If she's going in for an open biopsy then she'll likely be under general anesthesia and that's why they're telling her it will be an all day thing. Praying her biopsy goes off without a single hitch and that there is good news to report. God Bless. Antoinette

Hi Lee, I'm sorry that you are dealing with mesothelioma and that you are still in pain from your surgery. I too have meso and was misdiagnosed with adenocarcinoma 11 years ago. I just wanted to let you know that there are long term survivors of this disease out here. Hopefully Jodi will be along soon and can share her experience with you. She had her lung removed completely so she can relate to the surgical pain you're experiencing better then I can. I believe she was only 26 at the time of her diagnosis. Please know that you are in my prayers and I hope that your remaining chemo treatments will knock out the cancer completely and that your side effects can be eliminated. God Bless. Antoinette

Praise the Lord! Tracy I'm SO happy for you. I pray that your next scan will show a tremendous response. God Bless. Antoinette

Extra prayers being said for this new development. God Bless Antoinette

Does anyone know how Paul Gleason was exposed to asbestos? I searched for articles on his death yesterday but couldn't find anything but the basic facts. Antoinette