mandileigh

Martha I am so very sorry to hear of your mothers struggle and your pain. I know how difficult this is to see your mother like this. Prayers are being sent for the both of you.

I don't even know where to begin. My mother passed away October 30, 2005 and I miss her so much words can't describe. She was the most precious and sweetest mother ever. I know everyone is going crazy inside, especially my dad. He is a mess. I am 20 years old and my parents are 47. My sister is 23 and expecting her first child at any time. I would have never thought one year ago at this time my life would be this way. My mom lived about six months after diagnosis of Stage IV with mets to the brain and liver. Even after her diagnosis, I just knew she was going to make it through. I never expected losing her and now I don't know how I'll live the rest of my life without her. I really feel for my sister because I know how much she wanted mom to be her when the baby comes. I feel for the baby because he/she will never get to experience the love that mom shared. I get so angry sometimes, I just don't understand why this happened...or why it happens to anyone. I have been reading posts for a while now and decided to share my feelings. I am truly sorry for everyone here who has lost a loved one.

Thank you all so much for the information. I still feel lost though. I'll try to answer some of the questions that were asked. I live in Franklin Co. Virginia and my mom is receiving treatment from Lewis-Gale Clinic in Salem, VA. I know we should have received a second opinion but we were all scared and thought she needed treatment immediately. She has had symptoms since January and went to doctor after doctor. They would tell her she had acid reflux, then maybe a hernia, her gallbladder was checked. Finally after four months they found out she had pneumonia and then everything started to unravel. The pulmonary specialist who did the biospy said we could obtain a second opinion but he was positive of the diagnosis. We felt confident in the doctors and wanted to trust their judgement. When she was diagnosed with LC they had done a biopsy of her lung tissue and a PET scan. The oncologist said because she had the brain lesions and needed radiation, he didn't want to start chemo yet. So instead he wrote her a prescription for Tarceva. This was on a Friday, and none of the pharmacies around had it. So we had to wait until Monday for it to be ordered. The Dr. had a few Iressa pills and told her to take them until the Tarceva came in. She took 4 days of Iressa and then started the Tarceva. The next month when her CEA had dropped to 900 (originally 11,400)he said the Tarceva was working and she would just stay on that and evaluate each month with bloodwork and a chest xray. The second month the count had only dropped to 811 so he started giving her Gemzar treatments. She was taking chemo, once a week for two weeks, and then off a week. She had four treatments total. (She also had to skip a treatment because of an infected toenail)After the first set of treatments her count dropped to 400. Then three weeks later it went back up to 850 and he said the chest xray showed growth. The Dr. said he wanted to try the Iressa for two weeks. So we go back Thursday. I hope maybe this is a little clearer than my first post. Anyone please feel free to send me any comments. Thanks for everyone who responded-God bless you all!!

Hello, I'm new to the board and my name is Mandi. I have been reading postings for a while now so I decided to post. My mom is 47 years old and was diagnosed with Stage IV adenocarcinoma in the right lung and lymph nodes, that spread to 4 places on her brain and one in her liver. This was a HUGE shock to my mother and my entire family. She has always been super healthy and never smoked a day in her life. She started receiving treatment the first of June. She had 12 radiation treatments for the brain lesions and was put on Tarceva. Her oncologist measures the cancer by a CEA count and chest xrays. Originally the count was 11,400 and dropped after the first month to 900. The second month dropped to 811, so he decided to add Gemzar with the Tarceva. Her count dropped once again to 400. We were all soo happy. But three weeks later it has went back to 850 and the chest xrays showed some growth. We were all very upset because she had been doing so well. He decided to switch her to Iressa for two weeks and redo the blood work. We go back this Thursday. My mom has handled the treatments pretty well so far up until the last two weeks. She's very depressed and cries all the time. It's very difficult to watch her go through this. All we know to do is to be there for her and support her. If anyone has any advice or knows anything about CEA numbers please let me know. This board has given me a lot of hope and I will continue to pray for all of you guys!!