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tammy_

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  1. Hello, From what I've read in other profiles it seems that most people get quite a few radiation treatments. We went to the cancer clinic today and they said that we'd only get one of 800 rads. Dad's really tired and unable to eat. I sure hope that the radiation is wiping out the cancer cells. Thanks for reading, Tammy
  2. Gail, I'm with my Dad now but will have to go back to Korea in a few weeks. I'm really worried about what's going to happen here while I'm gone. Mom's here too but I'm worried that both Mom and Dad are ready to give up while I still want to fight this thing. And if I'm not here I'm afraid that won't happen... Thank you, Tammy
  3. I've been giving my dad green tea, sang hwang mushroom tea, and korean red ginseng for the past 2 weeks, and have just started essiac tea as well. He seems to be feeling better but that could also be due to all the inhalers that he's been given. And the morphine. I'm not sure what's helping. I'm thinking of co enzyme q10 also but I've read that it shouldn't be given until after radio therapy, like some anti-oxident vitamins. I've also heard about bio feedback working. How about hypnosis? I don't think I"ve heard anythign about that but if biofeedback works I don't see why that wouldn't...I don't know. There's so much information and I have no idea what'll actually do anything... Thanks, Tammy
  4. Dad was admitted to the hospital and after testing the doctor said that they couldn't cure his cancer. The tumour is too big and it had spread to some lymph nodes. He said that nothing else would make the lymph nodes look like they did in the ct scan. So it's been set up for Dad to get 5 days of radiation next week to try and shrink the main tumor and then the following Monday we'll talk to a medical onc. But the doc said that chemo would be unlikely as it only really helped with limited sclc. That's different from what I've read on the boards here and I'm confused. 5 days of radiation seems pretty little. Will that be enough to shrink the tumor? Shouldn't we be trying some chemo as well? I'm giving dad essiac tea, sang hwang mushroom tea, and ginseng. Should I mention this to his doctors? Thank you, Tammy
  5. Thank you so much for all your responses. I wanted my dad to try chemo but him and mom were a little skeptical and this has really helped me to persuade them that it would be a good thing. That is if we can ever get to that point. The waiting is awful. We're still waiting for a surgeon to send his referral to another surgeon. And nothing's being done. Meanwhile, Dad's breathing is getting harder and harder. Now he's saying that even swallowing pills is getting difficult. But the surgeon told me that he'd write out the referral on Monday. Also, Dad doesn't have a g.p. here because he hasn't lived here very long and there's none that are accepting new patients right now so if there's a problem we have to just go to a walk in clinic. I'm hoping that a doctor will become available soon. Dad still hasn't gotten anything for pain except for some codeine that he had left over from before. And his breathing is pretty bad. Maybe he could get something to help. But the tumour is taking up so much room in his lung I'm not sure if anything could make that easier to bear. He's starting to feel pretty uncomfortable. Thanks for reading and thanks so much for taking the time to reply. Tammy
  6. I've heard so many different opinions about how chemo is so hard to go through that it's not worth it at all. Is it? From what I"ve read chemo can extend your life expectancy by more than double. But it's also hell to go through. Is chemo worth going through or should we just say no to chemo? I really need some advice...thanks, Tammy
  7. Hi, Thanks for the welcomes. I really appreciate having people to talk to who know so much about my situation. The amount of information out there can be overwhelming... Dad's living in Kelowna, BC, Canada right now and he was working in AB before his dx and I was working in South Korea. From x-ray to ct was 8 days and from ct to report was 2 weeks. Almost 2 weeks from then to bronchoscopy. And it's been another week since then. This thursday will be 6 weeks since his x-ray. It seems so long to go without doing anything. Not having a plan is driving me crazy... Tammy
  8. Hi, My 68 year old father has lung cancer. I don't know what kind yet. He had a ct scan on Dec 23 showing bronchogenic carcinoma replacing most of the left lower lobe with mediastinal invasion and subcarinal lymph node metasteses and suspicious looking enlarged periaortic lymph nodes. He's been a smoker for about 50 years and had asbestos exposure at work when he was younger. He had a bronchoscopy done on Jan 16th but there's no result yet. Because of breaks in the Christmas season and doctor moving offices and long waits to see doctors in BC, Canada this is taking forever!!! I'm so worried and fed up with waiting. We have no treatment plan yet. I'm feeding my dad ginseng and sang hwang mushroom tea that I brought from Korea when my dad got his ct scan results and I feel so helpless. His tumor is just getting bigger and bigger. He says everything feels so 'tight'. From my reading it seems that doubling size is about 3 months and it's been a month since his ct and the tumour occpied 1/3 to 1/2 of his left lung at that point. It must be even bigger now...I managed to get a hold of our temporarily officeless surgeon in OR and he says he'll get back to me today or tomorrow with the pathology. And either we get referred to a thoratic surgeon or to the Cancer center for maybe chemo and radiation. I've been researching all sorts of chemo also. I think maybe the tumor's too big to operate and it's very close to pressing on his heart if it's not already. So it'll likely be chemo, I guess. From my research into that I can't tell if there's one type of chemo that's better, it all seems to be about the same: kind of a crapshoot...I'm so overwhelmed with all this...I'm sorry this is so long and thanks for reading my rambling... Tammy
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