Fay

Connie, That is great news from the U. S. Unfortunately, in Canada where we are, LC hasn't attained that status yet. Hope we follow suit soon! Fay

Hi Karma, My mom had 5 chemo treatments (1per week for 5 weeks). She had Carboplatin and Taxol, and her hair never fell out. Prior to starting treatment we went wig shopping and she got a cute short haircut so if it did come out it wouldn't be in long clumps, but it never did! Fay

After two days on the antibiotics, my mom thought she was maybe feeling a bit better. Last night she began having severe pain in the shoulder and back. My dad took her into emerg, and they did a cardiac work up on her, but that wasn't the problem. EKG, and labs came back fine, and nitro didn't help. They gave her morphine 5mgx2 which seemed to help. CXR didn't show anything. She went home with the pain killers. The ER doc. wasn't quite sure what it could be. Maybe from the radiation? Maybe from laying on a not too good mattress for too long. Bone mets weren't mentioned to my dad, but I'm praying that it isn't that. It sure is hard being so far away. My dad is going to try and talk her into coming home (to Canada). Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks, fay

Some of you may have visited it already. It is dedicated to Lung cancer awareness. There are some stories of hope from three female LC survivors and it has celebrity promoting awareness. I wasn't able to view some of the promos due to the age of my computer. It did look interesting though. http://www.lungcancer.org/

The doctor seemed to think it might be pneumonia. They did a CXR, but the doc wants me to send her last film down for comparison, I guess he found it difficult to read. He has put her on a couple meds. Hopefully there will be improvement in the next few days. I can relate to how those of you that are far from your loved ones feel, it is much harder to be involved by distance. Best wishes to all, fay

My Mom is almost 8 weeks post chemo/radiation. Her next CT is in about 8 weeks. My parents went down to Arizona for a while. On Weds, after eating out, she started feeling yucky. Thought she had ate too much. She had night sweats and just felt bad. The next two days was much the same. She is clammy, her esophagus is bothering her again when she swallows pills. (She had radiation esophagitis which seemed to be better) and she has a heavy feeling on her chest (not sharp pain), the same side as tumor. No fever though. No difficulty in breathing. My dad is taking her to see a doc down there this afternoon. I'm hoping it is just a flu bug or from something she ate, but she is not feeling nauseated, just sweaty. Any one have any ideas?

Hi Laurie, Zofran and Kytril are the same class of drugs, but never- the-less, maybe she will have better results with Kytril. What really helps though is adding the dexamethesone. Like you suggested, a stay in the hospital may help as well. They will be able to give her the drugs via IV and help her catch up on her fluids. We had to take my mom in one day, because the nausea and vomitting was so bad the pills weren't staying down, but they were able to get it under control after about 5 hours. My mom is now vacationing for two months until her next CT scan. We are praying for good results. Hoping the same for you guys, fay

Hi Ada, What great news, I was following your journey on the other board. My mom is stageIIIa also, and was told it was inoperable, so you have given me hope that maybe something can be done after all. She has had a response to both chemo/radiation. We are waiting to see what a repeat CT scan in March will bring. I wish for you continued healing. Fay

Hi, My mom had a bad spell with nausea as well. At the hospital they gave her various drugs IV to help. She got Kytril, dexamethesone, maxeran and gravol. When she got home she continued with Kytril, dexamethesone and maxeran. Her Oncologist said the nausea may have been due to her elevated liver enzemes. Have they done lab work as well? Hope you find a solution.

It is a brief article, but has valid point. Lung Cancer, unlike breast or prostrate cancer, doesn't have a ribbon or awareness week dedicated to it. Hope that changes soon. Read it at: www.pulse24.com/News_Features/Pulse_on_ ... 1/Page.asp NB where there are spaces, put in underscores, for some reason, when I previewed this post they didn't appear.

Barbara, Radiation went well for my mom. It wasn't painful. Sometimes it tired her out a bit, nothing an afternoon nap wouldn't help though. She did have radiation esophagitis though, a side effect of the site they were radiating. And her skin looked a little burned at the site, but they gave her a cream to help the healing. She toughed it out though. Not sure what you can expect for radiation of the arm, hopefully someone out there has been through it and can answer. Good luck.

My Mom (68 yrs) was diagnosed on Aug, 24, 2002 with NSCLC stage IIIA after bronchoscopy and mediastinoscopy. She started on Chemo (carboplatin and Taxol), once a week for six weeks, and concurrent radiation therapy five days a week for six weeks. Treatment ended Dec, 6, 2002. She had her repeat scans last week, and on Wed. we go for the reports. We are hoping to be one of the success stories that we love to read about on the board. Please send your prayers for positive news.