MsC1210

Hello Claudibird and welcome I would most definitely call the doctor regarding these new symptoms ASAP. Please keep us posted.. Warmly Christine

Denise, Thank you for updating. I wondered how things were going. Please let us know what the blood workup shows. Warmly Christine

Hello Stephanie and welcome to the "family" I am so sorry you've had reason to find a site such as this but very happy you have joined us and shared your story. As you can see, this is a very wonderful site, full of support and hope. Please let us know how we can help you and know that we will do our very best. I like the advice Judy gave you about how far treatments have come! And remember, there are new breakthroughs every day, too! Hold tight to the Hope! Warmly Christine

Hello Joanne and welcome!! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful success story! We all love the inspiration these stories give us! Please stick around and keep posting. I am sure you can offer tons of hope to many members here! Warmly Christine

Aww sweetie such a full plate you have right now. As for Mom, I am sure the oncologist has her best interest at hand when he tells her that they cannot operate... Lets concentrate on treatment to shrink it and keep it at bay at least for now. I am SURE that you will get some much better information on GRACE later... Now... CONGRATULATIONS on your new baby!!! How much did he weigh? How long is he? What did you name him??? HE will be one of the biggest joys in your Moms life and one of her biggest incentives to fight this damn cancer with all she has. What a blessing for you all!!!! Now, I cannot wait to see pictures!!! Keep the hope Jackie and remember you need to take EXCELLENT care of you right now. Life is so overwhelming for you now but we are here for you and we will continue to be here for you... Just keep posting as you can and let us know what you need. Lots of hugs!! Christine

Ellen Ta~Ta's are boobies... another organization that deals with breast cancer, savethetatas.com Warmly Christine

Rob Congratulations on this great news!!!!! Warmly, Christine

I've just skimmed through the site quickly this morning and compiled a list of commonly used acronymns. I posted it as a "sticky" in the INTRODUCE YOURSELF forum. Hopefully, since I am sure I missed more than a few of the abbreviations used on here, members will post additional information on that thread. ~Christine

Here is a list of commonly used acronyms that are found throughout this site. I am SURE I missed a lot so I hope that as others come across more they will add them to this tread. Warmly Christine lc, lung cancer sclc, small cell lung cancer nsclc, non small cell lung cancer SOB, shortness of breath NED, no evidence of disease Dx or dx diagnosis Tx or tx treatment B-I-L, M-I-L, F-I-L, S-I-L, Brother, mother, father, or sister in-law SO significant other DH dear hubby ONC, oncologist PCP primary care physician METS, metastasis VATS, video assisted thoracoscopic surgery WBR, whole brain radiation SUV, "standardized uptake value," which is based on the amount of metabolic activity resulting from the pre-scan injection of irradiated sugar

Awesome news Becky~~~~ Best of luck with your new path!! I have no doubt you will do just fine! Hugs Christine xoxo

Hello Candy and welcome.. Here is a short list of some of the common abbreviations you may find here.. this is from an earlier post in the Introduction forum from our Muriel. I'm in a hurry, but here's a quick list of some of them: Dx or dx diagnosis Tx or tx treatment B-I-l, M-I-L, F-I-L, S-I-L, Brother, mother, father, or sister in-law SO significant other DH dear hubby ( I think) Onc oncologist. Might also find an abbreviations for pulmonologist PCP primary care physician I will add, SOB is shortness of breath I'm sorry you've had the need to find a site like this but I am glad you've joined us! Please keep us posted and let us know how we can help! Warmly Christine

Also, I hope this information might be helpful... Q&A: Helping Children of adult Cancer Patients From CancerWise, June, 2005 Should a child visit a parent with cancer in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)? How do you explain the disease and treatment in a way that he or she can understand? One person who regularly answers these questions is Martha Aschenbrenner, pediatric outreach manager at The Children’s Cancer Hospital at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. For years, Aschenbrenner directed the M. D. Anderson Child Life Program that provides emotional support to pediatric cancer patients. Now she runs a new program that supports the healthy children of adult cancer patients. Below, Aschenbrenner discusses her role and offers tips to family members on helping children cope. How can family help children of adult cancer patients? Be honest with kids in an age-appropriate manner. This means you will give more information to older kids, but for younger kids it will be shorter bits of information and in a more concrete manner. Tell children: The name of the disease Treatment basics What physical changes might happen How their routine might change What they want to know about death How do you handle questions from children about death? Don’t be surprised if children ask if their parent is going to die (this is normal). Don’t answer that question with any absolutes. Generally, it is best to tell kids, ‘We hope not. That is why we came to the hospital. The doctors and nurses are providing the best treatment and medicine.’ But never promise children that their parent will not die. This is a good opportunity, if they ask about death, to bring up the topic that all living things die, including people. Sometimes when parents are worried about how much information to give their children, I ask if they would rather their kids get their questions answered from the Internet or from them? If a child does not ask questions, is he or she OK? If a child isn’t asking questions, it doesn’t mean he or she doesn’t want information. Sometimes it helps to sit down with children and say something like ‘You know, if my dad was in the hospital, I think I might wonder about ______. I was wondering if you have thought about that?’ There are times that kids are either afraid to ask questions, or they don’t know what questions to ask. And then sometimes, they really don’t have any questions! So just remind them that any question is OK, and no topic is off limits. How do you help younger children understand and cope? With younger children, age 2 to 5, play or books work great. By playing with kids you build a very special relationship with them. Sometimes through play we can visit with kids and find out what they understand or misunderstand about the disease. We can see how they might be feeling. Child life specialists and psychologists alike use play as a way to converse with kids about what is going on. Reading stories gives younger children an opportunity to talk about the illness while relating it to the character in the story… very safe for them. For older children, ages 7 and up, I encourage regular family meetings to discuss the latest doctor visits or any new information. I also recommend keeping a notebook someplace central, so kids can write questions or concerns they think of when parents aren’t around, or that they aren’t quite comfortable voicing yet. It gives them a safe place to communicate their concerns. Should a child be allowed to visit the ICU? At what age? Children younger than 5 are restricted from the ICU because they cannot understand what they will see. Otherwise, it is good for children to have an opportunity to see their parent, especially if the parent may not recover. I prepare children for what they will see in the ICU with the actual equipment. Patients are often sedated and I tell them their parent will look like they are sleeping, but might be able to hear them, so they can tell the parent about their day. I also reassure kids that they can leave the ICU at any time. What book might help cancer patients with children? How to Help Children Through a Parent’s Serious Illness by Kathleen McCue.

I am so sorry that things have reached this point. You might find some helpful information in the Path Less Traveled forum, as there are a lot of excellent posts there regarding Hospice and other end of life issues. Please keep us posted as you can and know we are here for you. Sending many prayers your way Christine

Hello, welcome and congratulations! I hope you will post more and tell us your story! We love to hear about successes here and it gives so much hope and inspiration to us! Warmly, Christine

Alyssa Thank you for the update! I am so happy to hear that your Mom came through the procedure so well!! Onward and upward now!! I have never heard anything bad about the Moffit Center. I truly believe that as long as your Mom is confident with her oncologist that is more than half the battle! If you are comfortable with the treatment plan then I say GO FOR IT and give it hell! Rylan is just beautiful and I am sure she will be an incredible inspiration for your Mom.. Keep us posted!!! Hugs Christine

Congratulations Colleen!!!!! Warm hugs Christine

I have another video that I am working on and will share the link to that one as well. I had so many pics that it seemed to make more sense to make some type of slide show rather than try and pick and choose just a few to share here. Thanks so much for the compliments. It means a lot Chris

Hello Wennot Thanks so much for providing that link in the advocacy forum. Stephanie is an amazing lady and I am so glad you shared this here!! As for your profile, yes it would be very beneficial for you to fill in your time line with dx and treatments etc. It gives us a better idea of where you are now vs where you have been! Simply click on the profile link at the top of the page and you can fill in all of the relevant information in the spaces provided. Again, many thanks for joining us! Christine

This is such a simple thing to do!! You will need to register and create a password, etc but it took mere seconds to take action! Every little bit helps and together we CAN and WILL make a difference! Christine

Hello Wennot and welcome to the family! I am sorry you had reason to find a site like this but glad you have joined us! Congratulations on your NED status! Your story is inspiring and I am glad you are here to share it! Please check out the Alternative Treatment forum as well as all of the others as there is a great deal of excellent information to be found! Warmly Christine

I agree!!! Sounds like things are beginning to move in the right and POSITIVE direction now... Lovely picture by the way, what a gorgeous baby!!!!! Christine

I think a lot of us have struggled with trying to vocalize our feelings, especially at times like this. To this day, I still write to Brad although it is through journaling, but it feels so good to be able to "share" the things I would have shared with him if he was still alive. I'm so glad you found this post and that it is helping! Warmly Christine

Alyssa There are a lot of members on here that have had this procedure done and it has gone very well and been very successful. You can use the search feature and type in pleurodesis procedure to see some of the posts regarding our members and their experiences with it. I know that several folks have posted about feeling so much better in short order afterward! Praying for you and Mom that will be the case for her as well. Keep us posted and let me know if I can do anything to help.. And hugs for that baby!!! Christine

Alyssa I am SO SORRY you are still having to deal with that negative doctor! I am glad your sister blew up at him. It sure sounds like he could use a few good lessons in bedside manner and a course in optimism! What a shame he has to be involved. You just keep focusing on the HOPE because there definitely IS hope. As someone else pointed out, once you get the treatments underway you won't have to deal much with a lung doctor and that will be a blessing! Keep us posted!!!! Hugs Christine

Researchers Learn Why Some Platinum Drugs Are Toxic to Ear Tissue Ototoxicity, or damage to inner-ear cells that detect sound, is a known side effect of platinum-based chemotherapy drugs. The damage is much more common with cisplatin than with oxaliplatin, though the reason for this difference has been unknown. Swedish researchers have now tested some of the possible explanations by comparing the activity of these two drugs in the inner ears of guinea pigs. Their analysis appeared December 30 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Cisplatin and oxaliplatin are thought to work by attaching to DNA and binding the genetic material so that it cannot replicate properly, thereby preventing cell division. But because the cells in the inner ear are already differentiated and less susceptible to this mechanism, the researchers hypothesized that cisplatin and oxaliplatin may also have an effect outside of the nucleus by generating reactive oxygen species, or free radicals. They cultured colon carcinoma cells and measured the extent to which each drug induced cell death, or apoptosis, and found that cisplatin is significantly more dependent on free radicals than is oxaliplatin for triggering death in these cells. Guinea pigs showed more signs of free radical-induced apoptosis in their cochlea after exposure to cisplatin than to oxaliplatin. The two drugs also showed marked effects on the transmission of sound signals from the cochlea to the brain, with cisplatin causing more damage to the hair cells that detect vibrations, and ultimately causing deafness, while comparable exposure to oxaliplatin did not. Cisplatin absorbed into the inner ear more easily than oxaliplatin did, and it remained in the tissues for a longer time. “[it] should not be taken for granted that human subjects have the same cochlear pharmacokinetics [as guinea pigs],” the researchers noted, though they believe that the major aspects of their conclusions are valid for humans.