raneyf
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Posts posted by raneyf
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Good news - Hope you have some fun things scheduled these couple of months.
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Did they ever tell you if she was getting Avastin or the placebo? I'm sorry about the progression and the talk from the oncologist. Hope they get right on 3rd line treatment and it works. You guys are due for something good to happen.
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I go to Mayo in Phoenix and Scottsdale and am very happy.
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I don't think you're hormonal - it would be a big deal to me too. I told my husband if I die and he remarries, I don't want the boys to call her mom.
I have a grandma/grandpa that divorced before I was born. They both remarried and I called their spouses by their given names - Lou and Dottie. It didn't change my feelings for them - Lou was more my grandpa than my real one and I recognized it. But it also made it easy to explain our family history.
I agree, talk to your dad and ask him to slow down. Good luck with the new baby.
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What wonderful news - Congratulations. Never, Never, Never Give Up - For sure!
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I'm sorry Tanner. I hope this is just a temporary set-back. I'm with you and Karen. I want my life back too. Try to get in with the doctor tomorrow, and try to see the positive. If this came on kind of quickly, maybe an infection or something? Good luck and your family is in my prayers.
Raney
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I don't know - I'm 3 weeks out from my last treatment and my memory is kind of bad (and I'm only 30). For example, if I have a few things to do each day, I have to continually repeat them to myself so I don't forget one of them. My husband also says he tells me stuff that I forget. I would say it's my short term memory that's affected. I haven't had my brain checked since October, but my vision has been fine, no headaches, and I don't think I'm confused. I'm pretty good at monitoring this sort of thing for myself, I think, because I'm paranoid about what the next bad thing is going to be. That's my long way of saying I'm pretty sure I don't have brain mets, but I am forgetful and I'm blaming the chemo.
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I just finished this chemo and found it not too hard at all. I did have a bit of nausea and vomitting one treatment because my doctor didn't pre-med with Zofran. I also found that whatever I ate during the chemo treatment and later that day through when I went to bed would make me nauseous to think about or eat any time in the future. Even right now, if I think about one of those foods, it makes me feel sick. So, my advice would be to feed him stuff he won't miss during the day of treatment, at least the first time. He might not have the same problem, but just in case.
Also, the Avastin will get shorter each cycle until you get it in 30 minutes. This will shorten your days up eventually, but the first treatment will be a long day.
Have him wear comfortable clothes, and if he does not have a port, make sure he drinks a lot of water before he gets there and keeps his hands and arms warm. That will help with getting the iv started.
That's all I can think of for now. I was really scared of the chemo before I went, but it was nowhere near as bad as I thought in reality. Good Luck!
Raney
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My bone pain didn't really "shoot". It was a constant burning ache, would be how I describe it. Not sure if that's the same for everyone. If it is bone pain, radiation helped me and took away 100% of my pain. I was taking 600mg Ibuprofen round the clock, plus 20 oxycontin in AM and PM, with the 5mg fast release used sometimes too. Now I'm not taking any pain medicine, and haven't since my radiation was complete. Good luck - hope she figures this out and gets some relief.
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He has a blog listed at the bottom of his posts that I checked. He updated it a few days ago and seemed to be doing o.k. going into his second cycle of the Alimta/Gemzar (I think) he was starting on. If you search for some of his posts, the address is there if you want to check. Glad he sounds allright on the blog.
Raney
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Yay! Good for you guys! That makes it a "precocious met" or whatever, right? Potentially curable, I think? Thrilled for you guys.
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I don't know how your mom's feeling, but if she's up to it, I might give it a try. Side effects are rash and diarrhea, but both can be managed. I don't remember - has she never tried it before? I think I remember she was stable on chemo + avastin for a while, then the brain problem popped up. I think I would want to try it if I were in her place, but I'm not there yet, so I would leave it up to her. Good luck - it's great of you to try to help your parents so much.
Raney
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Hi Steph,
It's wierd how we look and feel good, but have this "horrible" disease. I don't really get it either, but I'm happy not to be having symptoms. Praying for a cure for us all.
Raney
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I don't really want to fight with anyone here, and I know you're having a bad day. But I just have to say, don't be cavelier about rather having stage 4 lung cancer. I would give anything - seriously anything - to have your problems and not be dealing with this disease.
So I know the gist of your post is that you're overwhelmed and I'm really sorry for that. It sounds like you've had a hard life with your mom - makes me hope my kids lives turn out o.k. somehow. Best of luck to you both.
Raney
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I think it will be a great uplift for your sister to see her family. I lived with my sons through chemo and only caught one cold. That was through the winter with my son going to preschool where they catch everything imaginable. We were very careful with handwashing and purell, but never wore face masks. I think it should be fine unless your sister's counts are severely compromised or something.
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Great news!
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I was at 50 on the Thursday before I got my last chemo. A week later I was back up to 130 or so and they went ahead and gave it to me. My platelets seem to rebound pretty good if I have a few extra days of rest. No mention of a transfusion to me. I was bruising pretty bad though. My nurses told me your body knows it needs platelets and pumps them out in cases like that. Hope your mom's bounce back too.
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Just wanted to thank you all for your suggestions and ideas. Our banner and booth turned out great. I think it was the best one there, but I might be biased. My son and I did the banner. It just said "Healthy Lungs" which was our team name. We used stencils and outlined the letters in purple with the middles white, like the ribbons for our cars. Then we decorated it with trees, rainbows, clouds, flowers, stick people, ponds, and fish. Our booth was covered in artwork made by kids too, all of the same sort of stuff. Some of the kids wrote inspirational sayings on their work. (I'm glad I have a lot of Mom and Teacher friends!). I also made some clouds and inter-mixed them in with different lung cancer facts written on them. I was asked to speak at the last minute as a survivor. I got through it without crying and I'm told I did a good job - my family wouldn't lie to me would they?
Thanks again for the ideas and inspiration.
Raney
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Good for you! In my 6 month experience so far, I've realized that you have to do a lot of legwork and develop a lot of knowledge yourself when dealing with insurance issues. It makes me feel very sorry for people without resources.
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Such good news - I needed a positive Avastin only experience today - Thanks!
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Sorry it was not great news. Try to keep your mind off it until you get to meet with your docs. Keep us posted on the plan.
Raney
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I've noticed a lot of tension in my jaw a few times - like I want to grind my teeth or something. Also, weird muscle/joint aches that go away within a week. Has it been very long that its been hurting? I've never had anything tender to the touch though. Could it be some sort of dental infection or something going on?
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I've gotten the shot every cycle and have noticed some weird joint pain in my good hip and a shoulder. I don't know if it's from Neulasta or chemo, but it's certainly not unbearable. I don't need meds for it and it goes away after a few days. My grandma had the shot 1 time when she was sick a few years ago. She said it was the worst pain she ever felt. So, like everything else around here, everyone seems to be different.
Waiting on test results is horrible....
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Crossing everything for you - Try to distract yourselves if you can. I try to schedule fun activities with the kids and hubby, since I'm still pretty active. If he's not feeling up to going out, maybe watch some funny movies together or order dinner in and have the kiddos over. Just a few ideas, that's the only way I get through testing time. Good luck!
Raney