sophiesdaughter

Margaret, I am so sorry for your loss. I will pray for you and your family during this very hard time. Rana

Does anyone on this site know when Tarceva is expected to be approved in Canada? My Mom, who lives in Canada has had shrinkage with Iressa and we are hoping that she can keep taking it... But if not we would like to have other options... Rana

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. Prayers for you, and your mother during this very difficult period. Rana

I'm very sorry for the loss of your Mom. Rana

Nina, I'm very happy to hear your wonderful news! Rana

It's always great to hear such wonderful news.

Welcome, this is a wonderful site and you will get a lot of support and information here. I think it's great that your Mum is taking the supplements you mentioned and on the organic diet, my Mum did the same for a few months (she still is on the organic diet ), she also took the vitamin C IVs but was told by the doctor to stop them when she started chemo, and she took Chinese herbs (my sister is studying to be an accupuncturist and was able to help her with that). I believe all that helped keep the cancer more or less stable and strengthened her immune system which helped her recover quickly from the chemo. As far as prognosis.... I believe the statistics out there are outdated. There are some new drugs (Iressa as an example, and Tarceva currently in review by FDA) which are used for advanced stage cancer and to which for Iressa approx 10% of patients (30% of non-smokers) respond i.e. have => 50% shrinkage (some very dramatically), and proportion stay stable for several months to several years, these drugs have mild side effects compared to chemo. And as you see on this site that many of the members have outlived their prognosis. My Mum was told in June that they don't know if she will be around on Christmas, but now less than 2 months away from Christmas, she is in great shape, very active and energetic, has no symptoms, her tumor has shrank more than 30% with Iressa, and she is planning a trip to Switzerland for a couple of months to visit and take care of her 96 year old mother. It's great that you are so proactive with your Mum... I remember when my Mum was first diagnosed, I spent most of my days on the internet... I thinks there are a lot of options now and there are new drugs (such as vaccines) in the works, and who knows...maybe in the next few years there will be a cure for stage IV.

Cat, This is a great attitude for your fight with the beast! and a positive attitude is big and very important part of the battle! Rana

Hi CathyR The England trip sounds wonderful, I love England! And Maui is a great place (that's where I went for my honeymoon), Enjoy! My Mum started Iressa a month ago and had an x-ray done a couple of days ago which showed a greater than 30% reduction, and had no side effects apart from rash and dry skin. As you see a lot of others on this site have had sucess with it. I wish you the best of luck on Iressa! Rana

Heather, I think the Long Island event is the same distance as the South Jersey event, so I'll definitely plan on going to your walk/run. I look forward to meeting you and other members of this group. Rana

Heather, That's great that you are organizing this. Do you know if there is any Lung cancer walk/run in the New York City area in November? If not I'd love to go to your rally. Rana

I just wanted to share with you the good news. My Mom had her appointment with the oncologist today and the x-rays showed 20-30% reduction after being on Iressa for only a month. She has been feeling great since she started it and apart from a rash on her face and very dry skin has no side effects. We are very excited and are praying that it continues to work. I wish everyone who is on Iressa that best of luck. Rana

Paddy, Prayers for David that Iressa will work for him. Rana

Cat, I will be thinking and praying for you and wish you the best of luck! Stay strong and positive. Rana

I would like to introduce myself. I have been reading the e-mails on this site for several months now and feel like I know a lot of you. You seem like a wonderful, compassionate group of people, and it amazes me how kind, caring, and supportive you are to other members in spite of the hard times most of you are going through. I also have learned a lot from this site in the past few months. My mom was diagnosed with NSCLC in January 2004, she lives in Canada and couldn't get started on chemo until June, the chemo caused slight shrinkage, but she was really sick and weak from it and didn't want to do more. Fortunately after she stopped chemo, she regained her strength and energy and 2 months after she stopped the chemo she was back to how she was a year ago (minus the cough which was her only symptom from lung cancer). She started on Iressa 2 weeks ago and feels great, she has a mild rash and her energy level is even better than before so we are hoping for the best. I wish you all the best of luck in the battles you are facing and will be in contact with you now that I am a member. Rana