AnneBurris

Deanna, I know I'm a little late in replying to your post but just now realized your mom passed away and wanted to give my condolences. You were one of the first faces I remember seeing when I first came in May 2003 when my mother was diagnosed. She passed away December 13th. It is so sad. Take care, Anne

Has anyone received word from Janet W from Appalachians? She had four young children and I think she was looking into alternative therapies. Anne

I forgot to sign in, just wanted to let you know that last post was from me

Hi Cindy, I was wondering what ever came of your CT scan? I think of you often and was waiting to hear of your news. Take care, Anne

Dear Natalie, Hello, my name is Anne. You and I are in very similar situations because my parents were married for the same amount of time. My 54 year old mother just died in December and she was my father's entire life. I worry about him as well because he and my mom weren't the most social people and I worry that he doesn't have anyone other than myself and siblings to comfort him. But...... I was pleasantly surprised when he began attending church with me recently. He has started to fill the void in his life with God's love. I'm not trying to be preachy, but it really has helped him. I asked him why he started looking for God all of the sudden, and he said it's because he wants to make sure he spends eternity with my mother. I thought that was so sweet. Jesus really does fill that void. I hope you and your father know the same peace. Family is so important. Your dad is very lucky to have you for a daughter. I know my dad is also glad to have me in his life. We are our mother's legacy. God bless, Anne

Norme, My heart goes out to you. My mother was also very restless, moving positions frequently. I hope you are getting enough rest. When my mother was ill my father, sister, aunt and I shared duties of watching my mother because she was restless at night, I hope you have some help as well because you also need rest. My prayers are with you. ((HUGS)) Anne

To all who have sent sympathy cards to myself or my family - THANK YOU. I lost my mother on December 13th and we received many cards. My father was so amazed at the kindness - he hasn't been to the board so he couldn't understand how I knew so many people, he was touched as was I by your kindness. It's been over a month now that my mother has passed away. As I have stated before, she and I were very close, I saw her every day. I have been very surprised at how well I have handled her passing. I almost feel guilty for not having more grief. I think I actually did most of my grieving while she was still alive. I cried nearly every day for the 7 months that she lived since her diagnosis. So, I have a hard time understanding why now I seem to have such peace. It's strange, I guess everyone is different. The time that I do cry is when I go to her grave. I think it's because I know I'm standing 6 feet close to her body, but yet she isn't actually "there". So close but yet so far. I love my mom, and I do miss her. Life is still good and I know that she would want me to be happy. God has really blessed me with His peace. I don't think I would be at peace if I didn't feel secure about obtaining eternal life. If I thought that this time on earth was the only time to be with loved ones I probably would be much more grief stricken right now. Thank you again for your kind cards. May God bless you. Love, Anne

All, I imagine you've been wondering what has happened recently concerning my mother. With great sadness I report that she passed away Saturday at 1:35 in the afternoon. She died at home with all her loved ones around her. Yesterday (as well as today) have been beautiful days. Winter is her favorite time of year. All of the trees are capped with snow, very picturesque - she would be happy. I'm not usually one to preach to people, but I know this post will get a lot of views so I just wanted to say this one thing. Death and end of life can be a frightening thing if we are unsure of what it holds. If you are fearful or anxious, ask God to come into your life, He really can provide a lot of peace and comfort. Thank you all for your support and messages. This message board has been the biggest help to me through all of this. All my love, Anne

I'm very sorry about your father, I know you are in pain. He was fortunate not to have to suffer from a long process of dying. Take care Anne

I am also surprised about the quickness of his passing especially since he was able to get on the message board and type just yesterday. Its a blessing that he didn't go on suffering too long like my mother is now. My prayers are with his family. Anne

Karen 335, In response to your question, no we aren't able to get her to take the Gleevec anymore. They are 4 lbig pills to be taken twice a day and she can't even do that, she can barely drink water right now. She's able to take her morphine pills still only because they are very tiny and easy to swallow. She can hardly sit up to drink, and the ensure isn't really an option anymore either. I think though that if her health held out a little bit longer for her that the Gleevec would have added some time. I would encourage everyone who is eligible to inquire about it. Thanks for your response. Anne

Kathy, I am in your exact situation right now, except that my mom was diagnosed in May. Just a few weeks ago we were Christmas shopping and now she is hanging on by a thread. I know that she is dying now. She hasn't eaten in two weeks, is VERY thin, weak, and really can't speak. She can barely drink water. It's terrible watching her go through this. She lays in bed, constantly jerking because of the morphine side effects. This is torture. I keep doubting our decisions. Decisions like whether to put her in a hospital, give a feeding tube, sign a Do Not Resesitate, call loved ones from out of town (we did already), and so on. It's very, very difficult. I'm asking God for his Mercy and just waiting. I just try to hang in there. Anne

Things have changed from bad to worse very quickly for my mom. Her last chemo therapy was at the end of October, she did very well through all of that. She was put on Gleevec 2 weeks ago, its a drug in clinical trial and we've been very hopeful because other LC patients at her Onc office have been stable with it. However, it takes a few weeks to start working well. Unfortunately, my mom's body isn't giving her the time for it to start working. The last real food she ate was Thanksgiving dinner, and even at that point she was vomiting every day. She had a few spoonfulls of Jello every day up until about 4 days ago. The good thing is she's no longer vomiting. She is eating nothing now, and can barely even drink to take her Morphine. We got liquid Morphine today. The Hospice nurse has been coming to check on her. I'm here every day with her and my dad has now taken off work because we think she's in her final days. We also have liquid Adavan (tranquilizer), because although she is so weak and can barely walk, she is very restless and often gets bursts of energy where she has to get up and walk around. She always going to different bedrooms in the house and lying on different beds. Its strange that on the one hand she can have the energy to do that, but barely have the energy to speak or drink water. Just when we think she's so near death she gets up. All of her siblings live out of state, and my sister was finishing up a semester at college and was in the middle of finals, so it was hard to know whether or not we should call people to let them know of the finality of things, because we ourselves don't know when it will be. We asked the Hospice nurse what she thought and she said "it could be a couple of days or a couple of weeks". It's so hard to know whether or not we are making the right decisions here. Someone asked why she wasn't in the hospital or why we didn't have her on a feeding tube. All I could say was that we asked her if she wanted to be in the hospital and she doesn't, I think the same goes for the feeding tube. Are we making the right decisions here? I've never been mad at God or thought that it was unfair that she die or that I lose my mom. But, yesterday was such a long day here waiting to see if she was going to die that I thought for sure God would be merciful and take her peacefully in the night, because it is exhausting going through this. When I woke up this morning and saw that she was still with us, I became very upset with God. I just want a little mercy here for her and all of us watching her go through this. Thanks for listening, please let me know if you think we are making the right decisions. Anne

Cindy, You are such a blessing to this board. I can't believe 3 Christmases since your diagnoses! That is so great. I'm so glad to see that your are doing so well. Anne

My mom is sick with SCLC, she's been really sick just recently. One thing that has been bothering me is that she seems to not want to be bothered by anyone. She doesn't want to talk to anyone that calls her on the phone (she doesn't even answer it anymore). When I used to go and visit with her 4 month old grandson, she would light up, now she seems to care less and just seems to prefer not to be visited or bothered at all. Yesterday I gave her a hug and she sat there motionless, not hugging back. Has anyone else experienced this with their loved one who is sick? How did you handle it? I'm not sure what to do. I want to see her everyday or everyother day, but don't want to feel like I'm bothering her. Thanks for your input. Anne P.S. I added a poll question to this post. It's a question that my mom actually posed to me. She continues to smoke after her diagnosis and wondered how many people are actually able to quit after their diagnosis. It isn't meant to be offensive, just a curiosity.

Jana, There are people that live a very long time with Lung Cancer. A man by the name of Richard Bloch (from H&R Bloch - noted tax firm in America) has lived 20 years. You can read his story and how he's beating cancer at blochcancer.org. They will even send you free books. So don't be discouraged. There are also other survivor stories at Alcase.org As for your family possibly moving nearby, If I were you I would welcome that if that's what they want. I quit my job recently to help out more with my mom (I live around the street from her as well.) I'm very greatful for our close proximity, it allows me to cook meals and run them over there or to visit as much as I want. I feel blessed. That's just my opinion though, everyone has to do what's right for them. Take care, Anne

Karen, Thank you for that info, you're the first person to respond in knowing someone who has tried Gleevec. From what my mom says the number of people involved in the SCLC clinical trial is under 100, so I'm not surprised that no one here hasn't been on it yet. Good to hear that your cousin's side effects were minimal. My mom has had severe vomitting since she's been on it. We don't know if its from the Gleevec or the massive tumor in her liver that is causing the nausea. Thanks again for your post. Anne

Flabet, I'm saddened by your loss. May your husband rest in peace. Anne

I'm sorry to hear of your discomfort. My mom experiences pain in her side also from her liver mets. I don't know if thats the same region your pain is in. She takes Lortab and Morphine pills. She prefers to take the pills and doesn't seem to have any problems with them other than the fact that she takes a nap once a day because they make her tired sometimes. Hope that helps. anne

Thank you everyone for your support. Right now my mom is REAL sick. I am so worried for her. The gleevec makes her vomit, even with anti-nausea pills, well actually now she's taking supositories (sp?) for her nausea. She is VERY weak and tired and has no appetite. I hope she pulls through. I've heard of others having real low times like this, but I'm beginning to wonder whether she will pull out of it. She doesn't seem to have much will to live right now. I'll keep you posted. Anne

Lillie, Your post was very touching, thank you for that. It sounds as if your mama went peaceully. She is with God now. My pastor said something interesting last Sunday at church - he said we don't spend our life on earth living to go onto death, but our lives are spent dying to go on to eternal life. Your mama has her eternal life to live now and you will be reunited again one day. Anne

My mom took the same chemo combo as yours. She did have positive results on her liver at the halfway or more point in her chemo treatment, so it was working for her. However, her CT scan after her 6th treatment showed the cancer growing back again in the liver and she has discomfort in that area. Right now she is on a drug called Gleevec, and we're just kind of waiting to see how this goes. Hope things go well for you.

I'm glad to hear that your dad finally started eating. My own mom has gone for about a week without eating anything, and it makes me think that she's on the verge of death. She can't keep anything down. Hopefully she'll start eating again soon, your post gives me hope. Sorry to hear about your dad's brother, that's such a shame. Take care.

Hi all, I posted previously asking if anyone had taken Gleevec because my mom was a possible candidate for the drug thats part of a clinical trial. She found out today that she qualifies for it (in order to take the drug you have to have a certain gene matchup). Anyhow, she is going to take that indefinitely. It's another source of hope anyway. We had been pretty discouraged because after 6 months of chemo, her cancer started growing back pretty aggressively and she's been very uncomfortable with the pain the cancer in the liver is causing. Anyhow, that's the news for now.

Dear Jennifer, Your story hit close to home with me, because I was also pregnant with my first child when my mother was diagnosed with Extensive small cell lung cancer and given 9 months to live. I was 7 months pregnant when she was diagnosed in May. I had to readjust my "take charge" attitude and really learn to calm down for my health and the health of my baby. I ended up going to the doctor as well for anxiety attacks and was worried I might go into labor prematurely. My doctor offered me anti-depressents that are safe for pregnant women - I didn't take them, but that may be an option for you. The good news is, my son is now 4 months old and I think that he has been a real blessing to my mom and dad, their first grandchild. I think it gives her something a little bit more to live for. We can't "control" everything that happens in life, we have to let go of things that are out of our control and just make the most of everyday. Congratulations on your pregnancy, motherhood is wonderful! God Bless.