chrissy63078

Hi Barb- My mom's cancer has been removed. She does not have any current evidence of disease in her body at the moment (hopefully never again). So we know the pain that she is having cannot be from a tumor. I hope this made sense. Check out my profile for more explanation. Thanks, Chrissy

Hi Everyone- My mom has just had her second Session of Chemo. I have a question though. After her first round she has been experiencing chest pains. She describes the pain as being very quick lighting bolt pains. They only last for a couple seconds at a time, but she gets them several times a day. The oncologist says not to worry about it. Any suggestions on what this could be. My mom does not have any tumors, so I couldn't be from the cancer. Can chemo do this? Thanks, Chrissy

I would think that if they found cells it is not yet considered mets. I know with my mom they did a blood test to check for circulating cells. The test came back negative, but they are giving my mom chemo anyway because the doctors still believe she could have cancer cells.

Hi there- Sounds like the typical cold that is going around. I have had this same cold you are describing for about 2 weeks now. I'm a caregiver, so I can tell you that what you describe sounds just like the cold that I have. The doctor said that if the cough didn't go away by this week I need to get antibiotics.

Hi everyone! Thanks for all your support! Well my mom is feeling better know. About 2 days after the Chemo (which by the way took 8 hours!!!) mom started feeling really horrible. It is now 7 days later and my mom is feeling really good now. She is having mainly joint and muscle aches and pains. Anyway just wanted to let you know. Does the chemo sessions usually last that long? My mom will go 6 times every 3 weeks. Thanks, Chrissy

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

I am very sorry for you loss. My prayers are with you and your family.

Hi everyone! It's been awhile for me. Well the last time I was on here was when we were still waiting on the results of the Segmentectomy. We have since found out that the mass they thought was a tumor was only scar tissue. My mom has gone through extensive testing and they have not been able to find the primary tumor. In a way it is good that they can no long see any cancer in my mom's body. On the other hand it has been very hard for the doctors to pick the right Chemo to give my mom because they are not sure what king of cancer she hase. My mom has been rediagnosed with Cancer of an Unknown Origin. She will be starting Taxol, Carbboplatin and Avastin this Thursday. They are using this coctail to treat my mom for both Lung and breast Cancer, since they are not sure which cancer she has. My mom will then receive Radiation to her Axillary Lymph node as a precaution. Sorry this took so long. Just wanted to give you an update. Chrissy

John- I don't understand what this means... "I think for lymph nodes in the lung PET is about 85% accurate"

Thank you John. It's been hard for me to find much on CUPS. It's been very frustrating for my family not knowing and understanding this. I could use anyone's insight on my Mom's situation. The only tumor that has been found is the Axillary lymph node in the armpit. That is the only site where cancer has been detected. The doctor wants to treat it with Chemo like Lung Cancer. I am nervous about this because they are not sure it is lung cancer. They are only going on the Pathology results which suggest lung cancer. We have a second opinion scheduled for Nov. 1st and hopefully they will have some more information maybe something that her current oncologist missed. Thanks, Chrissy

My mom has had an xray after the surgeries and nothing showed up. She has another Pet scan schedule on 11/13 and a follow up Oncologist appt. the week after to determine what to do next. The Oncologist has pretty much said that they are confused. They are relabeling my mom as Metastatic Adenocarcinoma with CUPS (Cancer of uncertain primary site) with it being a possiblity of Lung Cancer. The whole thing is just soooooo frustrating. Does anyone know if there are certain areas of the body that Cancer can hide or just not show up on the Pets scan? Thanks, Chrissy

Looking at the report it does say the following... This is for the biopsy of the Axillary Lymph Node. the neoplasm is strongly positive for cytokeratin 7 and TTF-1, and shows patchy faint staining for cytokeratin 20. Gross cystic disease fluid protein immunohistochemical stain is negative. The results of morphology combined with immunohistochemistry favor a primary lung orgin of this neoplasm.

I'm just confused because he said she is still being diagnosed as stage IV lung cancer and they want to start chemo in a few weeks.

The pathology report came back as non-cancerous on my mom's lung mass. They are calling it cups. Has anyone heard of this. They still want to diagnose it as Stage IV Lung Cancer because the axillary lymph node mass was cancerous and they cannot deny nor confirm that it is lung cancer? They said that the stains on the pathology report from the lymph node lead to lung cancer. I don't know what to do. Can anyone recommend a doctor for a second opinion in Pittsburgh, PA. We are currently going through UPMC Cancer Center. Thanks, Chrissy

Thanks you Everyone for your support and thoughts. Waiting for this Pathology report is really hard and all of you make it a lot more bearable. Chrissy