TiffsMom

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update everyone but it has just been so hard. We are putting our energy and grief into helping others with this disease. Tiffany lost her battle with lung cancer on 7/15/06. Since then we have started the foundation that she wanted to start (had she won against this horrible disease) We are still working on the site and welcome suggestions and additions. We have put a link back to this site as well. I would be interested in knowing just how many young people in their 20's, 30's and 40's get diagnosed with lung cancer. Does anyone know? The site is at: www.tiffanykagergreen.org

Thank you all for your reply's, concern's and prayers. For those who wanted to know she is being treated by cancer centers of the carolinas, in Greenville, SC (where she lives with her husband). Her doctors consult with Duke University. I also forgot to mention that her doctor started her on Tarceva after diagnosis and she tried it for a month but the cancer continued to grow. The strangest thing was that she had no symptoms except a cough and pain on her right side when diagnosed. She had been treated with antibiotics because her GP thought it was a bronchitis infection. We appreciate all the prayers and have hundreds of people actively praying for her. Her spirits are good and she is still very positive despite all the pain and invasive treatments she has had to endure. She is a very special young woman and I rack my brain every day trying to figure out why and how this is all happening to her. She has a wonderful, caring and supportive husband who is her primary care taker. Her friends and family have all rallied around her for support and she never forgets to thank all of them for this. She calls herself blessed to have such a big support group and has said that when she gets through this she wants to help other young adults who have cancer.

Although I have been reading here for quite some time I have not posted until now. I had hoped that my daughter would be the one to post here and ask her questions but it seems she does not have the strength. Her doctors tell us that they have never seen a case like hers- first being diagnosed so young, as a non smoker with NSCLC adenocarcinoma and then finding it had already spread to her Brain, liver and bones. If anyone else has heard of this in one so young please let me know. She has WBR first and then Carboplatin and taxol. Then when the cancer was still growing very rapidly in her right lung- radiation. She developed a cancerous plueral effusion (please excuse my spelling) and had a chest tube for about 3 months - that has mostly cleared up and the tube was removed in march. Then Taxotere was started- every 3 weeks alnog with decadron. At first she had lost weight but with the decadron she began to gain apx. 10 lbs per week at first. She had headaches and an MRI showed the brain mets were back (after having virtually disappeared. After another 10 days of WBR she had several weeks where she was energetic and seemed back to her old self. Then the headaches and neck pain started. They did more radiation to her lumbar and cervical spine. The pain continued along her spine and this required a spinal tap- they found cancer and elevated protein and a pressure of 34 (15-20 is normal). She had spinal fluid removed to lower ther pressure- then two weeks ago they injected depocyte into her spine. Today they will repeat that chemo procedure again. She has a great deal of pain and is on fentanyl, dilaudid pump and oxycodone. She has also had some blood clots in her calves during her recent 16 day stay in the hospital. If anyone has any suggestions or similar experience please let me know.