wondermom

Thanks for your response. Believe me, I want to hold on to any bit of positive news I can. I am also just on edge with my mom's PET scan coming up. I was doing great and thinking the best until I talked to my mom today and she doesn't feel like things are getting much better. It just kind of burst my bubble and then to have my aunt call right after and to have to tell her that it might not be as easy as she was hoping for. Just kind of got me down. It seems like I am doing fine until I have to tell anyone something that is new to them. Or if I have to tell someone about my mom who doesn't know yet. I practically had a nervous breakdown at my doctors appointment the other day. I just broke down and cried through the whole thing while the nurse hugged me. My mom says I am her rock and that she feeds off my strenth and optomistic attitude. I am sooo glad I can be that for her but thank goodness for this board because I do daycare for a living and 4 year olds aren't the best people to talk to about this. My husband tries to be there but he just doesn't really understand the depth of the hurt and what this is like. On the outside I try to be so strong and optomistic for everyone involved but on the inside my heart is breaking and I still can't believe this is happening. Thanks for listening.

My aunt just called me and was asking me questions about mom (her sister) again. She (and others) always call me because she doesn't want to ask my mom. She doesn't understand that stage IV lung cancer is not curable but it can go into remission. She was questioning me on it and I really couldn't give an explanation. She said," Why can't it be gone for good when it is gone?" I don't really know what to tell her. It is so upsetting to me that my family members come to me for information and then they just end up getting upset as well. I am glad I can be helpful but...it does take a toll on me too to have to keep rehashing the details of this whole thing. I hate to be the bearer of bad news and I am hoping as much as or more than anyone for a long remission for my mom but I also know the reality. My aunt really believed my mom would be "cured" after 4 sessions of chemotherapy. She doesn't want to hear anything else. I just tell her I like to think of it as more of a chronic illness with lots of ups and downs. She may go into remission and then it may come back and we need to treat again. Any advice on how to handle this? Thanks

I just talked to my mom and asked her when they would have the results of her PET scan on Monday. I was already nervous about it but feeling like things would be looking pretty good since she "seems" to be feeling better. She hasn't needed oxygen for about a month and has been working full time. She was Diagnosed stage IV nsclc on Dec. 5th. I told her I had a good feeling about the scan and she then told me she doens't think it will be much better. She said she still has irritation in her chest when she takes a deep breath. Maybe she just seems better because the plueral effusion is resolving? I am just so scared. Has anyone else ever felt like their scan wasn't going to come back so good only to find it was better than they were expecting? Looking for hope.

Has this been done yet this week? If not, how about Thursday at 10:00 a.m.?

I am in too! This is especially good timing as my mom meets with the radiologist on Thursday. I think they are doing a brain scan to see how effective the WBR was. They will decide if she needs more radiation.

I was reading about Lung Cancer on the University of MN website and they said one of the treatments was biological therapy. Does anyone have any experience with that or know what it is? Just curious so I am a little more infomed when I talk to my Mom's oncologist.

I was just at my mom's chemo session today and we were talking about her doctor appointment she had before I got there. She said they are doing a PET scan in two weeks before she has her next chemo treatment. I am sooo nervous for her because she hasn't had this done yet and I am afraid they might find more cancer. They know there are two tumors in her brain that she has recieved WBR for. She is having a brain scan next week. If it is already in the brain, is it likely to be other places as well? Her blood work as been good. No signs there of damage to liver, etc. I suppose no one really knows but I am just looking for some encouragement I guess. My thinking is if anything shows up chances are it was already there before we just didn't know it because this is her first PET scan. Mom is doing sooo good though. I would hate to think things would be worse.

My mom just called me to tell me she went to get checked out at the doc today because she has a rash on her chest and back. He hadn't really seen that before but just told her to take some benadryl. She will be recieving her 3rd chemo on Thursday and has been getting taxol/carbo. Anyone seen this before? I guess she also had a little temp. She also just tapered off the steroids from her radiation. Not sure if that would cause anything like that.

Thanks Donna! That is extremely wonderful to hear. Do you know where his mets were that made him stage 4? My mom's are in her brain. She has two small ones. Jill

Just wondering if anyone was diagnosed stage 4 nsclc and told no surgery was possible and then ended up having surgery because the chemo or whatever treatment you were having worked well enough that surgery then became an option?

I am on it too! I just wrote on another post about writing to Oprah but it seems that has already been done unsuccessfully. I will definatly try this route as well! Thanks for the info.!

Does anyone know what kind of lung cancer Dana Reeves had?

It is horrible. My mom was just diagnosed in December and I am just horrified to learn how underfunded lung cancer research is. I feel so hopeless and wish desperately that there was some way I could raise awareness or help to raise more money. I was feeling so strongly about this that I recently e-mailed Oprah's producers on her website last week to suggest she do a show on raising awareness about lung cancer and lc research! Not sure if anything will come of it but I figured what have I got to lose. I think I just needed to feel like I tried to do something...anything. Maybe if everyone on these boards wrote it too it would get more attention. I know it may sound kind of corny to ask Oprah to help but, seriously, that woman knows how to get the message across!

Just wondering if it is possible to be restaged from stage 4 to something better? My mom is currently stage 4 and it is disheartening to see that many clinical trials are only for stage 3 or up. If she would respond well to her chemo/radiation, would it be possible for her to be restaged or once you are diagnosed are you always stage 4 even though you may roller coaster back and forth? Do the clinical trials only look at your initial diagnoses when deciding to allow you in?

My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 nonsmall cell lung cancer in early December. She has since lost between 15 and 20 pounds. Right after diagnosis she didn't have much appetite. Partially I think because of being sick about the diagnosis and partially because of the loss of appetite that comes with treatment. However, now she is eating quite well. She makes herself eat because she doesn't want to lose anymore weight. Unfortunately she can't seem to put the weight back on even though she is eating very well. Why might this be? She is currently tapering off steroids that she was taking during the brain radiation she was recieving. She will be done with the steroids on Wednesday of this week. Could that have something to do with it? I just hate seeing her wither away, especially when she is really eating and feeling pretty good. Her main problem is being worn out and fatigued from the chemo but she really doesn't have a problem with nausea.

Has anyone heard of this or tried it? I think their main treatment center is in Arizona. Just wondering if anyone knew about it. Jill