LindaMRG

Dear Friends, I posted some of this in another forum, but Im posting here to ask for prayers. My father is now under the care of hospice. He is taking Iressa and does have the itching. But, he is weak. He cannot get up and walk. He eats but not a lot. He has staring like seizure activity sometimes. I am praying for a miracle or that God will allow the Iressa to work. He has been taking it for 30 days now as we just refilled the prescription. I believe Jesus and Mary can heal him. While he is here I will pray for a miracle and not give up on him. Could you pray along with me. I posted in another thread a little more about my father, so I wont repeat it here,except to say he is the most wonderful, unselfish, compassionate man in the world. He devoted his life to teaching Catholic school, always stood up for what is right, decent and moral. I am begging God to save his life. Thank you for any prayers offered for my father, Matthew Rossi.

Lillian is mentioned by name in special prayer.

Dear Friends, This forum is so timely for me as I mentioned in another post. My father has been under the care of hospice for three weeks. He does take Iressa. We are praying for a miracle or that the Iressa will work. He can move his legs, but cant walk or get himself up off the chair. The cancer is not in his bones, though. He is eating but not a lot. He has some seizure like staring sometimes. He doesnt cough, but right lung is shot, left lung doing all the work. His breathing is fine, not labored at all. Why is he so weak that he cant walk? I tell people that someday I will have to live without my parents, but while he is here and breathing I will continue to pray for a miracle. My sister is supposed to get married this year. My mother will be retiring soon. They deserve time to do things together. They worked and struggled for so many years. Its their turn. I love my father so much. He is my favorite person in the world. I pray constantly. My children adore their "Papa". He taught them to play cards, practices piano with them, studies with them. Thank you for listening, my heart is so full tonight.

Dean, Thank you for starting this forum. It is so timely for me since my father is under the care of hospice. He does take Iressa. This is the most difficult time of our lives, this board is such a continual blessing for me. God Bless.

(((((((((DEAR PEG)))))))))))))))))))))))))) I told someone recently that I will have the rest of my life to deal with the loss of my parents, there is no reason I need a head start. While my father is here I will continue to pray for a miracle. Bill is on my prayer list by name. Love to you.

Yep, I was going to say dehydration, low blood, heavy duty meds, and also oxygen level. My father's right lung is shot and he is not moving around a lot and they told us that he might not be getting enough oxygen to the brain so he should take deep breaths, theyve prescribed a breathing mask to help too. My father did have brain mets back in November, but this was not his symptoms.

First, let me say Im so sorry for what you are going through. Next, the above mentioned Lasix is very good at releasing fluid. Also, massaging upward to push that fluid upward, and you can do this in a very warm foot soak with Epsom salts. Although my father gets too "woozy" from tranquilizers, Ive heard they can help. Or, they have just prescribed a "breathing mask", he hasnt tried it yet, but doc opted for that. I dont know if this is drastic but what about a tube inserted into the stomach? Can she swallow at all? Those Ensure nutrition drinks are good. Is she in hospice care? My father is and they take care of everything and their top concern is the patients comfort and what will help achieve that. Let us know if we can help.

Thats great news!

My father had an autologous stem cell transplant for non hodgkins lymphoma on his 62nd birthday 9/4/01. He went through chemo - every day for a week in May, every day for a week in June, July they harvested his cells, 3 more days of chemo in August, then 9/4 he had the stem cell transplant. He never had radiation for this disease. They basically wipe you out to build you back up again. He did have infections after the chemo but got through the procedure as well as could be expected. That disease remains in remission. Unfortunately, that is why he could not tolerate high dose chemo for this lung cancer, his bone marrow was too weak, even with the chemo at lower doses. My brother in law just had a stem cell transplant in December for non hodgkins lymphoma. If I can be of help to you in any way just let me know.

Please pray for my father, Matthew. We are trying to find a drug that will take away some pain and anxiety without making him "out of it". My mother is trying Xanax today but nurse wants to use morphine. I dont want him to have that and be out of it. We are praying the Iressa is working, he has the itch. But he is weak and not getting around. PLEASE pray with our family for a miracle, because nothing is impossible with God. Thank you, friends, I pray for all of you too.

I pray for Bill every night.

((((((((((((((((((((Sweet Norme))))))))))))))))))))))))) Hugging you through tears sending you love.

Absolutely beautiful.

I am sooooooo happy to see you posting in GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!

Berisa, My father's sleeping pill is Ambien. 5mg didnt work for him, so he takes 10mg. Also, Ativan, which is an anti-anxiety med makes him REALLY sleep, so much so that we dont like to give it to him, but I thought Id mention it.

Pier, A good Iressa story was exactly what I needed to hear tonight! I know your mom is having success with Iressa. My father just began Iressa about 10 or so days ago. He does have itching and a bit of an irritated rash on his arms, but is itchy all over. Doc said this was a good sign. Its not acne on his face like I read some people get. Did your mom have the side effects? If she had the rash, what was it like? Do the side effects subside after your body adjusts to the medicine? When did your mom start to feel better? Did she have weakness with it, my father seems to be weak and I read on the package that it could be a side effect.Thanks for any help you can give me.

Dear Lillian, I wanted to let you know first that your name is on my prayer list. My father has had many battles in this fight with lung cancer and we are not giving up!!! You can read them in my signature! There are options open to you that you can explore and even if not, you have read some of the posts which stated that the liver mets werent even a problem! When you get discouraged, think of all the people rooting for you and praying for you!

Dear Andrea, Ive been thinking about you and the scan. But as you can see from the above posts, there are options open to your mom. Youre right, once you digest everything youll be able to look into these things. Dont let the doctors time limits discourage you. You are a prayerful person, I am too. I will not give up praying. Your mom is on my prayer list.

I always look for your posts, Ginny. Im glad the Duke is holding his own. My father is also on Iressa now and is weak, and we were wondering if it was from the Iressa. He is itchy but no rash on his skin. Thanks for checking in with us.

My father has recently lost weight and while he was in the hospital they started him on Resource. Its similiar to Boost but since his sugar runs high this is for diabetics. Also, look into alternative treatments, try to find a doc who knows what he or she is doing. I found one here in NY and am trying to get my father there but he has been too weak. I am praying we can get there now that he is home.

I was so happy to find this post today!!!!!! How wonderful to take a long trip and do all the nice things you did. Your new picture is wonderful, I talk about Lucie a lot with my father, with all she has been through. Tell that lady she's quite an inspiration!!!

HURRAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, friends, trying to sort out some research here: 1. My father is itching with Iressa but dont see a rash yet, its been about a week since he started. Good sign? Onc's associate thought so, anyone else have itching? 2. What do you know about how far Tarceva is in the trials, and if it will be available soon. 3. What do you know about Avastin, Erbitux, or TM (Cary you have posted on TM and I forwarded it to onc, he said he wouldnt object to trying it with my father but he didnt seen overwhelming success with it, I told him about your father). 4. Is there real success with adding Celebrex to the mix? Thanks for any help you can give me with these questions.

Jana, Thank you for responding to my post. I went to the website and read about Ian Gawler - WOW!!! A good book I read about alternative treatments was "Beating Cancer With Nutrition" by Patrick Quillan.

I wanted to thank each one of you for responding to my post. Dean Carl, your post was so comforting and I shared it with my family right away. Im so glad hospice has been such a good thing for you. You have taken some of the fear out of it for all of us. Hollyridge, I think they dont consider Iressa a heavy treatment which is why you can use hospice. Counselor explained if he was ever strong enough to withstand regular chemo that would be a different story. Dave G - I have quoted you a few times already and it gives me great comfort what you said about hospice being about quality of life not end of life. Bless you for saying that. JC - thank you for including my father in the vigil, that meant a lot. Karen, Cheryl, Don, Peg, Fay, Karen, Katie, SamswifeShirley thank you for your kind words,prayers and comfort. God Bless each of you.