tatlyn
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Posts posted by tatlyn
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God bless and comfort you and yours.
Lynda
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((((Marie))))
Lynda
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Dad's first chemo treatment is set for February 1st. I wish it was sooner. The mass in his lung was found on November 23rd and it was on the 21st of December that the surgeon gave him the, "months only to live" speech. To me the time from first diagnoses to the first chemo seems long...oncologist seems to think not.
Dad hasn't been feeling well...says he's nauseous and just feels crappy. He had a very strange episode a few nights ago where he was throwing up and dizzy...laid down on the couch afterwards and the next thing he knew it was 24 hours later!!! I didn't find out about this until after the fact. He's not thrown up again since but says his stomach still feels upset. He's not one that you can easily fuss over and he doesn't want to do anything about this right now. He says he will wait until he sees the oncologist on the 1st to mention this, if he still feels unwell then. I'm just feeling like I don't know what to do and wonder if this is the cancer, or maybe worry and lack of sleep catching up with him. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Thanks everyone for listening.
God Bless,
Lynda
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Hi Heather. I'm new to this forum as well. I've learned quickly though that you WILL be able to find here the support and friendship that you are looking for. Welcome.
Lynda
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Beth, hoping that the words of love and kindness you find here will provide you with some measure of comfort at this sad time.
Lynda
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Don, I am so rooting for Lucie!! You are both inspirations to me and Lucie's story, from the first day I came here, has filled me up with hope for the journey that my Dad is just beginning. I'm so happy to hear your good news!!
Lynda
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I'm so glad you feel better after having received the responses that you did here. You are NOT a loser in any sense of the word. Your reaction was perfectly normal and the only losers I can see in this are those nurses!! How does anyone find another's expression of sadness worthy of gossip and more incredible, seem to find it out of place??? It defies logic. Keep your chin up and don't let them get you down.
I'm also very glad that your Mom is feeling more herself after getting the fluids...seems that's what she needed.
((((Hugs to You))))
Lynda
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I apologize if this seems like a dumb question or one that should be obvious to me at this point but I've been wondering by what criteria is lung cancer deemed incurable? Is it that the cancer has spread? Does inoperable always equal metastases and thus incurable to the cancer specialists? Dad saw the radiologist oncologist on Monday and though, like the medical oncologist, he didn't give any doom and gloom predictions or try to put a time table in place, he did also use the word incurable.
I had asked the oncologist about instances where I've heard radiation and chemo are combined for treatment and he said that was only done when they are trying to cure the cancer??? When we got home my husband expressed his confusion over that statement as it sounded to him like they didn't want to cure my Dad. We know (I would assume) that's not the case but I could see where my husband was coming from.
I should also say that I tend to over think things a lot of the time and the answer probably doesn't even matter because we are going to take this one day at a time, one treatment at a time, but I also don't want us to be complacent or follow blindly down a path because we are told it's the right one. We did that unwittingly with my mom and I'll always feel that if we had been more aggressive and not been of the attitude that, *doctor* always knows best, she might be alive today instead of having died from an infection that in hindsight the cause of should have been quick to zero in on. O.k., now I'm rambling, so I'll stop
God Bless.
Lynda
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Hi Jen, I'm new as well. Welcome. I think this is a very special forum and I hope that you find all you need here.
Lynda
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Hi Everyone,
My Dad had his first visit today with the medical oncologist. As you might recall from my introductory post, I was very much dreading this visit, not knowing what to expect. I'm happy to report that I am feeling much better now, more hopeful, as so many of you predicted that I would. Thank you again for your words of support, advice and encouragement.
I think we are all going to like this Doctor very much and his nurse seems to be an absolute sweetheart. Before we left she gave both my Dad and me her card and said that if we ever have any questions or concerns to not stew or fret about them but to call her right away.
The Doctor was not doom and gloom like the surgeon had been. He said that although he cannot cure my Dad, he will help him to prolong his life. I thought this was a fair statement and actually, I was comforted by it because it said to me that the Doctor had a plan and a goal. He began by telling us that at this time he can offer my Dad something more than the usual first line treatment. There is a Tarceva trial starting next week and once my Dad finishes the first line, he can go into that!! Is that as good as I think it is? The Doctor also told us that because he works for a cancer center and is paid a salary versus an oncologist in private practice who bills the government and so doesn't have the resources or time to go beyond the norm, we would have the advantage of trials and new research. He said that they would take very good care of my Dad.
First line treatment will consist of Cisplatin and Gemcitabine 1 time per week for two weeks and then two weeks off. He will have a total of 4 cycles of this treatment. Does this sound reasonable? The Doctor also spoke to the radiology oncologist and it was decided that since my Dad doesn't have any bone pain, that he would go first with the chemo. Does this also sound reasonable?
We go next Thursday for a *teaching* day and then I believe the first treatment will be on the 25th of January. This will be approximately 2 months since the mass was first discovered by x-ray. I will let you all know how things progress for us.
Thank you all again for being here. It's truly a wonder that you all give so freely of your time and your heart in the face of your own struggles with this disease. God Bless you all.
Lynda
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Thank you everyone. I am overwhelmed by your welcomes, support and encouragment. I believe that a positive attitude and willing to fight as long as one can is half the battle already won. From reading your responses I can see that there is plenty of positive attitude on this board to go around and around again and again, as needed.
Gail, we are in the southern Ontario area, about an hour and a bit north of Toronto. 50 degrees and just a trace of snow would suit me just fine...very balmy whether indeed
Don Wood, I have read your wife's profile many times as it does seem very similar to what we are currently facing with my Dad. God Bless you both, you are true inspirations and your story gives me hope.
Kim (bauner95) yours was the first response to my post and I cried when I read it because you said exactly what I needed to hear. I was dreading this first oncologist appointment...not knowing what to expect. Thank you for putting me back into the fighting mode!!
God Bless everyone who is fighting this disease.
I know I am going to have a lot of questions and I'm wondering what is the most appropriate forum to post them in?
Lynda
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My 69 year old Dad is newly diagnosed with nsclc. My husband and I are his only close family support as my Mom died a year ago this past September. My Dad was called into his surgeons office a few days before Christmas, while my husband and I were out of the country, and given the news that not only was his lung cancer inoperable but that it has spread to his bones, he has only months to live, and that any treatment given would be for *comfort* only!! We were suppose to be at that meeting with my Dad but it wasn't suppose to happen when it did. My Dad asked few questions. I currently don't have any information as to the size, or the sub type of the cancer. Apparently there are also spots of cancer on the other lung as well. I understand that the primary tumor is in the left lung, close to the edge and, *dangerously* close, as the surgeon said, to a rib. We have an appointment with a medical oncologist next Thursday and then with a radiation oncologist the following Monday. Both these appointments were set up by the surgeon. My husband and I will be with my dad at these appointments. My Dad's attitude through all this so far, I think, has been amazing. He's carrying on, discussing plans for the future, as we are with him, and we talk about treatments and how despite a doctor giving you a *death sentence* people are surviving this, do survive this and are still here on this earth long after a doctor told them would be the case. But this is my deep, down fear...what happens if the medical oncologist says that there is no hope, that he doesn't plan any treatment because none is called for? Would he say that? What would I do then?...I am the cheerleader and I'm dreading facing a situation where I'm at a loss on how to proceed. I am being strong for my Dad, as I suspect he is being for me, but really this is just eating me up inside and I'm so scared. I am also humbled however by the stories I have read here and I'm inspired by the courage, love and support shown by you all to each other. I am so glad I found this board!! Do any of you anticipate that a doctor would simply say, "no treatment." Does that happen? We live in Ontario, Canada and the initial appointments are at the Durham Regional Cancer Centre.
Lynda
Worrying Today
in NSCLC GROUP
Posted
Thanks Trish...I needed to hear that. I feel so dumb and I bet you're right. Pre lung cancer, that is the first thing I would have thought of. Dad hasn't thrown up again since Saturday and he certainly had lots of rest when he was sleeping beauty...I'm sure he was thinking the worst as I was...we need to stop that.
The delay in chemo is apparently because the 1st of February is the soonest they have a spot for him. He is anxious to get going with it.