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Sarah, I am sorry to her about your mom. There is no cancer that can not be treated. You need to get a second opinion and find a doctor that believes that he can help. Fifteen months ago I was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer with a pleural effusion. I was told that there was no cure, but after 3 months of chemo I was cancer free and have been cancer free since November 2005. There is always hope. Ask about Tarceva. If there is a problem with money contact the manufacture of whatever drug they suggest. Many of us will be praying for you and your mom. Stay positive, Ernie

Suggested by Katie, For soar mouth or throat I find Water to help me the most. If I keep to my 8oz glass of water for every hour I am awake, then I have the least trouble with soar throat. Ernie

What is your favorite food to maintain weight? Toasted whole wheat English muffin covered with lots of organic Almond Butter. I gained 20 pounds during chemo after loosing 4 pounds the first week. Ernie

Dawn, Welcome, you will find all the support we can give you here. When you are first diagnosed it is always frightening. I had one of the worst prognoses; stage IV with a pleural effusion inoperable and no radiation. I was told that there was no cure and that the chemo would make me very sick. Well here I am 15 months later. I am cancer free and I never had a sick day. I just thank the Lord for all of it. My daughter is a little older than you, but what a help she was and still is. As a survivor I think that if you keep your plans don’t feel guilty and be part of your mom’s team, she will feel best. I felt the more plans I had the harder I would fight. Your mom will have more tests before they will know the best action to take. There are many new drugs and treatments that have had very good results. Praying is a good thing to do. I had many people praying for me and it is good to know. Keep us posted and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Use the PM or e-mail if you do not want to post it. Stay positive, Ernie

This is a link to Sloan Kettering herb site where you can find out a lot about your favorite herb, supplement, or spice: Ernie http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11570.cfm

I will start with an easy one that will put a little garlic and Turmeric in your life. Healthy Deviled Eggs, Split hard boiled eggs lengthwise Remove and discard yolks Fill with your favorite Hommus You can sprinkle a little Paprika for color You can buy plain Hommus or make your own. You can add whatever you like to the Hommus. I add crushed garlic and some Turmeric that will make them yellow.

On this forum we can post are recipes and tips on cooking that we think will benefit all of us. Each recipe or tip will be a new post. Then people can comment on the recipe, give suggestions on how to improve it or post their own recipe for the same thing. A post can be made about a certain ingredient or herb and people can add to each one. I plan to come up with a system for each to store the info on their computer in an orderly fashion. All suggestions on how to improve this are welcome. Just name the post improvement This should be a lot of fun for all, plus being healthy. Posts in these forums should not sound like advertisements or medical advice or they will have to be removed. Anything provided needs to be informative in nature and not biased or based on medical advice. Purported uses of herbs or spices etc. should not be part of the posting. For this information you can surf the web. Ernie

I am just happy to be here and stand in line.

A heart, with a good heart you can keep on giving to others.

Liz, Welcome, you will find many here ready to help. You sound like you have got what it takes to beat this, attitude and fight. The tip on drinking water is good for any chemo, I try to drink an 8oz glass of water for every hour I am awake. I went through all of my treatment and never had a sick day. I think that is because I am so stubborn. They told me that I would get sick and loose my hair. So you can do the same thing. Let me know if I can help. Stay positive, Ernie

Jen, I would not feel bad about not being able to post for a while. Maybe you are trying to do too much. I see that you have over 4 posts a day that looks pretty high to me. I too have been blessed by becoming cancer free and I read some of the post and just don’t know what to say. Sometimes I feel guilty I have never had a sick day and others have had such a bad time. I want to try and help all I can, but sometimes the words just don’t come. I think when the time between checks get longer is a good thing but the waiting to find out can be a little trying. My next scan results are November 15th and the last one was in May. We have to just pray for a good report for your dad. We are supposed to put it all in the hands of the Lord, but sometime that gets pretty hard. Post when you feel like it. Don’t feel guilty if you have nothing to say, but do let us know how you are doing. Katie told me that a new forum was going to start soon on cooking and recipes. I am looking forward to it. It might be place a to post a little away from the cancer. I love food as long as it is healthy. Relax and enjoy your family and post when you want. Stay positive, Ernie

I have been taking Tarceva 100mg for a little over a year. I take a lot of supplements and herbs. I try to drink an 8oz glass of water for every hour that I am awake, I exercise 6 times a week (need to work up a sweat) and I sit 15 minutes a night in a hot tub. If I slack off on my water I will get a slightly soar throat and if I miss some of my exercise I will get a slight itch on my lower legs. Get back on the water and do my exercise, then it gets better. A couple of things I take are AHCC 2 grams three times a day Melatonin 20mg at bed time. If anyone is interested in what else I take just pm or e-mail me. Ernie

Valorie, Welcome sorry to hear about your problem. Until you get all the results of your tests, you can’t know for sure what you have. As far as how sick one gets, each one is different and there are a lot of variables. I was very fortunate in that I have not had one sick day, so there is always hope. Please keep us advised as you learn more, and we will pray that there is no cancer. Ernie

Muriel, I have been on Tarceva 100mg for over a year. I have very little side effects from the Tarceva. If I slack off on my water I will get a slight soar throat in the morning. If I slack off on my exercise my legs will itch a little. Both of these clear up with exercise and water. I try to drink an 8oz glass of water for every hour I am awake. I also take a lot of supplements. AHCC and Melatonin I think help with the side effects. I take 2 grams of AHCC three times a day for a tatal of 6 grams and Melatonin 20mg before bed. If you have any question let me know. Hope this helps. Ernie

Joe, The name of the nasal spray is Fluticasone Propionate 50mcg. I was told to spray one or twice in each nostril in the PM and am. I have just been spraying in the PM. I did not associate it with the Tarceva until I saw your post. I don't really get a dripping nose during the day, but I think it drips down my throat and I get an occasional cough. You can ask your doc about it maybe it will work for you. I am going to try it in the am and see what happens. Ernie

Joe, I have been on Tarceva for over a year. I have a slight problem with nasal drip. I was given a nasal spray I use before bed and it helps. I don’t have the name here at work, but when I get home I will mail you the name. I have very little side effects from the Tarceva. If I slack off on my water I will get a slight soar throat in the morning. If I slack off on my exercise my legs will itch a little. Both of these clear up with exercise and water. I try to drink an 8oz glass of water for every hour I am awake. Hope this helps. Ernie

Roberta, Welcome, you came to a great place to get info and find friends. I would like to invite you to join a lot of us on the LC SURVIVORS forum. Here all cancer patients discuss various topics and try to help each other. The LC SURVIVORS is A forum for anyone diagnosed with Lung Cancer, those in treatment and those who are not, to express their thoughts and issues from a patient's perspective. Ernie

Connie, I am fairly new to this web site. It does have the best activity of all the ones that I have been involved in. I think once some become cancer free, they don’t want to talk about cancer so they try to forget about it. I don’t think this is a good move, because as you know it may come back. If we keep up to date on all the new treatment we are better prepared for what ever happens. I try to find new people and I find them in different forums. I just happen to stumble on this forum. Maybe we should make a point of directing new people when they post on the Introduce Yourself forum. I can not come up with a new name except something that would include those that are just diagnosed and those that have been here for a while. The name that comes to my mind is Future Survivors and Survivors. I think each person will consider that they are a survivor at different times. Some after a short time and others might wait till they are in remission or stable, but everyone wants to be a survivor. Maybe you should call it To me it is important to keep every one in the most positive frame of mind. I have not seen it here but on another sight there would be some caregiver and I love caregivers. They mean well, but a newly diagnosed cancer patient does not want to hear negative stories. Sometimes they feel they have to point out the negative. If we could eliminate that by posting some guidelines it would be nice. I was on one site that would tell if the posting was a survivor, friend, or relative. I got so I would only read the postings of the survivors, because so many of the friends and relatives were so negative. I may have a different attitude than some, because I feel that helping others is a ministry. I also think that it was an answer to prayer; I actually prayed for a ministry, I guess I was not specific enough. But that is a personal thing. If I can be of any help let me know. Ernie

Joe, I had some numbness with my chemo. I was told that it might take up to a year before it goes away. I am at about 11 months and it is reduced to a little tingling in my fingers at times. I may have that before I was diagnosed. Mine was from Taxol. Ernie

Nina, Hi! Welcome to the board. You came to the right place. I don’t know how large your mom’s tumor was, but the fact that it did not grow is a good sign. A pet scan gives a better indication on whether the tumor is still malignant. I still have about 1.5cm of what looks like tumor but it is only scar tissue. Avastin is a targeted drug. I had chemo, Carboplatin, Taxol and Tarceva all at the same time. Both Avastin and Tarceva have had some good results. You might ask about Tarceva. A lot of times the doctor says it works best in non smoking Asian women. The last time I checked I don’t meet any of those qualifications. I was stage IV and after 3 months of treatment I was cancer free. I had no bad side effects from any of my treatment. I also took a lot of supplements; one of them was AHCC a mushroom extract that is used in Japan. I did check with my oncologist before taking any of them. There were some he did not want me to take within 24 hours of the chemo. I can send you the list if you want. Any questions I can answer let me know. Stay Positive Ernie

Candy, I had pleural effusion. They told me that it would not go away with chemo, but it did. Ernie

Ned, I had to take a pulmonary function test for the FAA. I was from 120% to 140% of predicted. The spirometric portion of the test was from normal to supernormal. So you can see you can regain full use of your lungs. I am sure you will be able to do the same. Blue side up Ernie

Tracey, I had a combination of chemo and a targeted drug (Tarceva). I had Carboplatin, Taxol and Tarceva all at the same time. I was stage IV. In 3 months I was cancer free. It's always good to get a second opinion before starting any treatment. Ernie

Miss Piggy, I respect your decision, but I can't help sharing with you what I was told when I was diagnosed with inoperable stage IV lung cancer with a pleural effusion. I was told if I did not choose treatment to go to Hospice. I choose to get the treatment. The same doctor told me that they would make me very sick; fortunately he was not my oncologist. I started chemo Carboplatin and Taxol with Tarceva in August 2005. I have been cancer free since November 2005 and I never got sick or lost my hair. My quality of life is better than before I was diagnosed. I just thought it would not be fare not to share this with you. Ernie

Hello Dar, Sorry to hear about you mom. Don’t be so positive about your mom getting sick with chemo. Be positive about your mom being cured. Many people have no bad side effects with chemo. This does not seem to get too well published. I had chemo and never got sick or loose my hair. We just have to pray that your mom will be one that does not get sick. I think it is important for her to know that many people don’t get sick. You will know a lot more after you go to chase. Keep us posted. Stay Positive, Ernie