sophiesdaughter

Janet, I'm very sorry for the loss of your Dad and the very hard year you've had. I will pray that Ron will be okay and next year will be a much better year for you.... Rana

Heather, This was wonderful, very touching. I'll be praying for you that the nodules are not cancer. Rana

Janet, How much blood has she been coughing up and for how long? My Mom coughed up blood a few months ago, it lasted for a few days with the most blood being the first 2 days and a negligible amount the next few days, they did a CT scan and broncoscopy and found that it wasn't related to cancer. It hasn't happened since then and we never knew what caused it. Coughing up blood is scary, but I don't know if it's a sign that she is close to the end? What does your doctor say? How is your mother feeling otherwise? how advanced is she? Rana

My neighbor who has been very kind and supportive about my Mom, just found out that her Mom also has stage IV lung cancer, and she would like to get her treated at MSC. Can anyone recommend a good lung cancer oncologist? They still don't know whether it is SCLC or NSCLC. Thanks, Rana

Don, this is wonderful news. Lucie is a tough lady!!! and off course the great support that you give her helps too!

Jim, This is wonderful news! Hopefully we will hear from you soon that you have NED. Rana

Don and Lucie, Congratulations!!! I hope you celebrate many more anniversaries... You are both a remarkable couple. Rana

Joanie, I am sorry that you are going through that. The remarks of the 2 bosses are totally uncalled for, especially sice you weren't sleeping (even if you were they should not mention that publically). I have been awhile on this site (although I rarely post) and have read many post from you where you say you are unhappy at work. Can't you try and change jobs? contact a recruiter, or send out your resume. At least try, you won't lose anything... Good luck. I really feel for you. Rana

Fay, I'm so glad you're back! Keep up the good spirits and keep walking!! Rana

My parents now live in Canada and are thinking of moving to London (both my sisters live there now and my parents lived there for many years when they were young and they loved it). My Mum has been on Iressa since September, and it's working very well for her. I have some questions what is the status of Iressa in UK? What about Tarceva and Avastin and Alimta? Are there good cancer centers in the London area? is there a long waiting time to get appointments? in general what is your experience in terms of the cancer care in London? Please PM me if you prefer. Thanks so much, Rana

Mary, I am so sorry to hear about your Dad, I will pray for you and your family. Rana

Andrea, I am so happy to hear about your Mom's recovery. She is a remarkable woman. I like the part about your eyebrows and her Channel cream... Rana

That is lovely. I'm very happy for you. I hope that Mike gets stronger every day. Rana

Welcome to this board and sorry you have to be here. I don't think that chemo and radiation is all that can be done for your sister, most people on this site go through second and third line chemotherapy, and there is also a drug called tarceva (tablet taken daily), which works very well for some patients and has milder side effects compared to chemo. Your sister is still at the beginning of the battle. I wish her the best. Rana

Andrea, I really hope that whatever your mother has, it can be taken care of. Prayers for you. Rana

Curtis, Sorry to hear about this mess. Graduate school is so stressful even for students who have no other responsibilities/stresses such as you have, especially at the end of the semester, and you have so much going on in your life. I'm sure the isssue with the Ph.D. program manager will be resolved, you can meet with the assistant dean when you are calm, there are also some student groups that you can talk to who basically are there to protect the rights of the students (omsbusman (sp??), something like that..). As for the take home exam, maybe if several students sent e-mails, the professor will cancel it; otherwise: relax today, forget about it for a day and plan to spend the weekend working on it. After the weekend the semester will be over and you can celebrate. I graduated 10 years ago (Ph.D. in stats, your favorite subject) and I remember so clearly the stress, and the power the professors had over the students.. I wish you the best of luck. Rana

Karen, We also got some confusion about results of my Mom's CT SCAN: my mother was out of the country and coughed up blood (it has now stopped) but she got a CT scan and the radiologist said it was scar tissue and not active tumor, I didn't think they could distinguish scar tissue from active cancer on a CT scan, so we will definitely get another CT scan done when my Mom gets back to Canada, a broncoscopy also showed no cancer cells. In your case, maybe there is only scar tissue left since it hasn't changed in 2 years??? I hope so. Good luck Rana

Heather, This does sound very exciting and makes a lot of sense. I like the idea of starting the day with gentle exercises. I wish you the best of luck in your change in lifestyle and I hope that it will give your body the strength to heal. By the way, my Mom was also told to stay away from dairy products especially cheese, she drinks rice milk and occasionally rice cheese. Rana

Andrea, I hope everything works great for your Mum. Thoughts and prayers for her. Rana

Cathy, Enjoy this precious time with your children; and I hope you have a better week than the last. Stay Strong. We are thinking of you and praying for you. Rana

Bill, Correlation of rash to response doesn't mean that EVERYONE without rash (or whose rash disappears for a while) doesn't get a response. My Mom is on Iressa (where there is a similar correlation) and Iressa is still working for her, but the rash keeps coming and going... Good luck to your wife and I hope that Tarceva works for her for a long time. Rana

Beth, that's great news. I'm so happy to hear that!! Enjoy planning the pool party... Rana

Melanie, I will be thinking of you, and hope that you get stronger on hospice so that you can continue treatment. Rana

Jen, So sorry to hear your news. I can imagine that you are in shock now, but after a few days you'll be ready to fight again. It sounds like there are a few treatments planned, and if you get another opinion he/she can suggest something else. Don't give up, this is definitely not the time to do so!!! I'll be praying and thinking of you. Rana

I've been hesitant about posting this because I know that many people are skeptical (and I partially am). But, this will probably be of special interest to those who live in Michigan (see the attached link). It is about a man who uses ki (energy) to heal. I took my mother there a year ago for a one week intensive healing session, I remember he told her at the end of the week when she asked him how she was doing 'Don't worry you'll be okay'. Now a year later, she is okay, most of the cancer has gone. Off course I'm sure most of the credit goes to Iressa, but I also think that the energy he gave her has helped her fight the disease. I'm not saying he does miracles, but at the very minimum he could help with the pain. Please feel free to PM if you have questions. http://www.ryokukai.com/articles/eccentric.htm