Yorktown Linda

I took Wellbutrin for hot flashes -- supposed to be the best for that. Did my research later -- what a mistake! Once you are on this stuff, it's supposedly almost impossible to get off of it.

These guys are terrific. They really seem to know what they are doing.Not just the big things, med-wise, but the little, comforting things. Such as drinking through a straw -- I was having choking issues. I wish I could talk my husband into in-patient hospice as he seems so over-whelmed at times, but I guess he would miss being there. Anyway, I can unequivocally (assumming I've spelled that correctly, what's it worth in Scrabble?) recommend these guys. They've been there, done that and they're very good at what they do! Linda i

Didn't mean to sound like I wanted money for it; just wanted to find it a new home. If you have any ideas, please let me know. Linda

I have a $1000 wig from Tiffany Wigs, insurance paid $500. Won't need it much longer. Does anyone know someone who could use it? Linda

So I woke up choking and couldn't catch my breath. My husband gave me some morphine and ativan but I still had trouble breathing. After some investigating, it seems that one of the cats (I suspect Bert) had chewed through the oxygen tubing. I don't know know when. Right now I've turffed them out -- except for fatty, he just lies there and purrs. Anyway, the cats keep me going and give me joy. I don't want to get rid of them. Has anyone faced this? What have you done? Linda

Thanks to the hospital nurses who kept ignoring my complaint of constipation, I left the hospital not having gone in over a week. The hospice nurse de-impacted me when she brough me home but there was still much to come. The nurse increased my meds and spoke to my doc about other options. She and the home health aide are due in abour an hour. But I woke up covered. Need I say more? My poor husband. Don't see how my daughters (29 and 26) would have coped with this. I know he says it goes with the territory but this is so unfair! Linda

(((((((Marci))))))) She and I seem to have made this journey together. She knows you were always there for her. Take that with you as you go forward, Linda If there's anything I can do in the time I have left, please let me know.

When I first started reading these boards, Dr. West was discussing a patient who seemed to be sleeping more and more and he seemed to feel that at some some point she would just slip away. I remember thinking, yes I can do that when my time comes. Well, it seems my time has come. On my cruise I seemed to get shorter and shorter of breath. The day after I returned home I was admitted to the hospital. While I did have some fluid on my lungs (310 ml drained from the right side), this was not the main problem. Rather I seem to have more and more tumor and less and less lung. I am now home on hopsice care with morphine, oxygen, prednisone, etc., etc., etc. Anyway as I said at the beginning, I think I can cope with slipping away. But I have had a few coughing/choking attacks. The thought of choking to death, sort of drowning on my own lung, scares the hell out of me. I t is the most unpleasant feeling and I'm not sure I can take it -- not that I'll have any choice. So I guess I'm hoping for some reassurance that as things get worse they'll increase my meds so that maybe I won't be aware of what is actually happening. Any possibility of that? I'm so scared, Linda

I've been on alimta (in combo with other drugs) every 2 weeks since the end of May '08. The neulasta shot was scheduled automatically -- changed to neupogen when I switched from paraplatin/avastin/alimta to taxotere/avastin alimta. My blood work has always been good so I can't say if the neulasta was necessary. As it it no big deal for me to get to my onc -- about 20 minutes away and my semi-retired husband is happy to drive me -- I don't mind going for the shot. Good luck, Ned! Linda

I saw my oncologist yesterday. He said I seemed much improved and okayed the cruise, though he will keep me on biaxin for the duration. Yay! I'll be sending you all warm thoughts. Linda

Marci, I first had paraplatin/avastin/alimta then taxotere/avastin/alimta. As you know, like your mom I did not react well to the taxotere. I had no real side effects before the taxotere, so I guess the alimta was rather easy on me. I hope your mom has the same result. Linda

[quote They are taking her off also. It really did a number on her out of all the chemo's she has ever been on. Get well soon- Marci Marci, What's your mom on now? Linda

Great picture. Thanks for sharing, Linda

Hi all, Okay, saw my oncologist yesterday. I’ve been extremely weak and short of breath. My cough is back and I’m hoarse. I have constant back pain, which is exacerbated by coughing. All in all, not good. He listened to my lungs and sent me for a stat chest x-ray, wet reading. He also said that he thought the hoarseness was caused by a swollen lymph node pressing on my vocal cord nerve. He called my first surgeon and asked him to stand by in case I needed to have fluid drained from my lungs. Uh oh! The radiologist said I had some fluid in my lower left lung (no longer have an upper left and the right was okay). She also said there was some consolidation (infiltrate) and the lung was partially collapsed. She didn’t feel that there was enough fluid to merit tapping or draining and sent me on my way. I called my oncologist, who set up an appointment for tomorrow, started me on a new antibiotic (biaxin), said it appeared that the chemo was not working, said we should be thinking about changing drugs( gezmar instead of taxotere), and suggested that I think about cancelling my cruise – Feb. 1st through the 13th. Well, I am not willing to cancel my cruise, so I guess I’m going to have a fight on my hands. Fortunately, we are sailing from NJ (about an hour’s drive from home), so air travel is not an issue. If, as it appears, my long term prognosis is not great, it’s definitely time to have some fun and create some good memories. Before I saw the oncologist yesterday, I was thinking of stopping the chemo as I agree that it is not working (tumor markers continue to rise) and I haven’t have a full day out of bed for months. It appears now that many of my symptoms are from the pneumonia and not the chemo, so I’m willing to reconsider. Bu I want my cruise first!! I can always take some biaxin with me in case the cough comes back and if everything goes to hell in a hand-basket, I do have insurance so the Coast Guard can airlift me to a hospital somewhere – don’t really expect that to happen though. Anyway, that was yesterday. Today my hoarseness is gone! So I guess, if it was a swollen lymph node, it was swollen with bacteria and not cancer cells. My back pain is better, coughing a little less, and I feel a bit brighter. Don’t think I’ll go out dancing – I’m watching the inauguration in bed – but maybe I’m not quite as weak as I was. Hooray for antibiotics! So that’s where I am. Short term, things are looking up. Long term, maybe not so good – but I’ll think about that tomorrow. I hope be in the southern Caribbean for the first two weeks of February. I’ll send you all warm thoughts. Linda

Barb, My oncologist usually gets the results the day after the scan and phones me to tell me what's what. There really shouldn't be any delay in finding out what the scan showed. Linda