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blaze100

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Posts posted by blaze100

    Want Your Valued Opinion

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Yes, this doctor is ignorant. But he will stay this way until the day when he or someone he loves gets cancer (despite doing all the right things). Then he will have a change of heart. Live and learn. Live and learn. Barb

    Need help in finding some answers

    in LC SURVIVORS

    Posted

    Hi Barbara, Here is interesting article about radiation and heart problems.

    http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/full/42/4/750

    I'm not sure how they will put in your stents. They inserted a tube into top of my right thigh in the femoral artery and then ran a wire up my arteries until they got into the heart. From there they were able to plant two stents, each 3 cm long, in my Right Coronary Artery.

    Some of the risks are possible stroke if they knock some plaque off and it lodges in the brain. I watched the whole thing on a TV over my bed when they did it. It is not much different than going to the dentist.

    I had to stay in the hospital overnight to make sure my leg stopped bleeding. I had to lay on my back and was not allowed to move or get up all night. They released me the next morning. I was out hiking in Yellowstone a week later.

    Good luck with your doc appointment Barbara.

    Barb

    Need help in finding some answers

    in LC SURVIVORS

    Posted

    Hi Barbara, My situation was similar, I think. I had 100% occlusion of my Right Coronary Artery which was, guess what, just adjacent to my radiation field. They warned me when I had radiation that it could cause heart problems later down the road. Also, radiation to the mediastinal area is well documented to cause possible heart problems.

    So I had the stents put in. Easy procedure. It helped my breathing right away.

    So far, so good. But I am on blood thinners (Plavix) for last three years. These are expensive drugs for long term use.

    Because my stent run was 6 cm long, I will be on Plavix a long time. The problem there being that the extra bleeding puts me at risk in the event of a car accident etc. Even just a routine colonoscopy is a big deal because I have to stop my blood thinners for a week before in case they need to cut out a polyp.

    I am sorry this happened to you. It sounds like your situation is different though because it involves the large veins in the chest instead of just the heart. We've been painted into a corner now because of LC treatments.

    Barb

    Taxotere Therapy

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Yes, the taxol stuff is especially strong with lots of side effects I think.

    And it is common for people to have allergic reactions to it when they start the drip. So if your sister opts for taxotere, be absolutely certain that someone is there to watch for allergic reations. Sometimes the nurses get busy watching too many patients.

    Just a few drops of taxol made me stop breathing. Luckily the nurse was watching me closely and stopped the drip right away. Everyone started yelling Code Blue, and two doctors came running. The doctors gave me massive dose of benadryl, started shaking my shoulders and yelled " breathe dam-it" and I started breathing again. Anyway, that was my only experience with taxol and something I'll never forget.

    LC is such a crummy diagnosis. I wish your sister the best of luck in her treatment.

    Barb

    9 years out today

    in LC SURVIVORS

    Posted

    Thanks everyone for the support. I know it must seem weird this far out, but I get scared every year about this time. The sun shines at just the right angle, and the wind smells just the same as when it happened, and bingo - It's like I'm re-living the whole thing.

    I went in on 10/2 and they finally let me out 10/13. I started chemo and radiation a few weeks later....

    The cancer center had an open house/survivor reunion a few years ago. I thought it would be good to see the old place again. I took the hubby inside the radiation room to show him the big plants that grow on either side of the machine. Plus he'd never been in there. But then I started crying when I saw the machine. I had no idea that was going to happen. :)

    Barb

    9 years out today

    in LC SURVIVORS

    Posted

    Nine years ago today, I got up at 5am and took my shower with the special soap. Then I got put on a shirt and shorts, and flip-flopped my way across a cold dark parking lot into the hospital lobby for surgery.

    Boy, I had no idea what I was in for...... :):):)

    Barb

    Yoga Research Study

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Congratulations Barb. Yoga is great for keeping your shoulder flexible, and the breathing is so good for the immune system.

    Was it Hatha yoga?

    I've been yoga-ing on and off for 9 years now since I was dx'd. I will be interested in what the study finds too.

    Nameste, Barb

    H1N1 vaccine

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Hi Patti, I always get the flu shot, and will probably get the H1N1 too.

    I think the pneumonia shot is best. The hubby always gets hard colds with cough every year, but it usually skips over me.

    Barb

    Radiation

    in LC SURVIVORS

    Posted

    Hi Renate,

    They zapped my right lung and mediastinals too. I thought radiation was easier and less scary than chemo.

    They said it might burn my throat - so I drank iced green tea on the way to radiation and had a large vanilla shake immediately after radiation. My burn in my throat was minimal, but I couldn't eat pizza or cranberries.

    I also used radiacare gel on the skin and did not get much of an outside burn.

    Hope you come through with no problems. Barb

    Test results

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    I was having occasional pain in my ribs right below the chest tube scars. I was worried it might be rib mets. I went to the pulmonary doctor.

    They pushed on my chest tube scars and that hurt, but couldn't be sure....So they ordered CT and bone scan.

    The CT report came back OK, but the bone scan report was the usual troublesome, worrisome, suspicious crap.

    After some consulting amongst the pulmonary doctor and radiologist, they said to go away and come back next year. Happily! :D:D:D

    That makes me 8.5 years out.

    Barb

    Do you have trouble sleeping? Need Advice

    in LC SURVIVORS

    Posted

    I've noticed that my breathing becomes very shallow and very slow when I fall asleep. Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep because I have to take a few deep breaths every so often to get caught up on my air.

    My family doc did an O2 overnight on me and I was below 89 sat level 25% of the time.

    My pulmonary office thinks it is sleep apnea, but they seem to be diagnosing everyone in their office with sleep apnea lately. I think it is lucrative business. :D

    The husband says I do not snore at all and that I make almost no noise at night. In fact, he has watched me sleep and he says my chest barely moves every so slightly.

    Does anyone else have this problem? Thanks. Barbx

    Lung cancer on Dexter

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Not only has Kate been dx'd with LC on Days of our lives, but last night someone close to Dex was dx'd with LC followed by much contemplation about life and suffering? I think Dex is going to do a mercy killing.....

    Did anyone else catch it? Barb

    Days of our Lives

    in JUST FOR FUN

    Posted

    Kate had some coughing, thought it was a cold, then started coughing up blood. She is trying to minimize the seriousness. The doc told her she had LC, but only based on the scans. So maybe they will do a bronchoscopy next?....I have a feeling if it is confirmed LC she will try to keep this secret.

    Barb

    Lung Cancer Survivor Kit

    in LC SURVIVORS

    Posted

    Hi Jamie, I remember an overwhelming and immediate need to read about long term lung cancer survivors. I wanted to read everything I could about how others who have survived and how they did it. I didn't care about other cancers, just LC. Part of me truly believed that everyone who got LC died from LC. So a book of LC survivor stories - even if it is just homemade xerox pamphlet about local LC survivors.

    I really liked the Belle Ruth Naperstek visualization tapes. I got these from my counselor after I started chemo....but would have been better to have before surgery and before starting chemo. I listened to Belle Ruth's cancer/chemo visualization tapes every night.

    And I read over and over, Greg Anderson's book, 50 Essential Things to Do When the Doctor Says it's Cancer.

    These were some of my security blankets.

    Barb

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