Shelley (MLC)

Grey's Anatomy and 24. Seinfeld reruns are still pretty good! Shelley

Grace, I am so very sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. the poem below has meant a great deal to me. Shelley God's Garden God looked around his garden, And found an empty place. He then looked down upon the earth, And saw your tired face. He put his arms around you, And lifted you to rest; God's garden must be beautiful-He always takes the best. He knew that you were suffering, He knew you were in pain; He knew you would never get well on earth again. He saw the road was getting rough And hills were hard to climb So he closed your weary eyelids, and whispered, "Peace be thine." It broke our hearts to lose you, But you didn't go alone, For a part of us went with you, The day God called you home. ~Author Unknown~

Thanks so much everyone! For those of us new to this site, I'd like to say how much we appreciate all the great advice, thoughts and prayers that everyone gives. I have no doubt this will be a tough fight, but we will give it our best and thanks to all of you and this site, we have new hope. Shelley

Thanks Heather. It always helps to see that others have had similar advice. Since everyone in the family is counting on me to get the answers, (I'm the oldest and also married to a Physician) I'd hate to miss something that could help her. Good luck to your husband with his treatment. It looks like he's been through quite a bit already. Shelley

Hi Ernie, I thought that Avastin sounded very promising also. On our first oncology visit, mom's Dr. said that he wouldn't recommend Avastin for her because of the history of smoking and the fact that her cancer was squamous cell and one of the larger masses was cavitary...at least that's what I believe his reasons were. He said because of this, she would have a very high chance of severe bleeding. He said he would be happy to do whatever we wanted though. Did you have any problems with the Avastin? Shelley

Thanks Trish! That's so good to hear. I was going to push for it anyway as I had read so many positive things about it. As long as there's no downside (or is there?) I think Mom's Dr. should give it a try. Shelley

My mother is a former smoker (she quit about 7 years ago) Is tarceva an option for her as a second or third line treatment? Shelley

Thanks Dr. West. It would be very hard for her to wait through 4 cycles for the scan. Her Oncologist seems very open to our suggestions. I'll see if we can't get the CT scheduled a little sooner. Shelley

My mom's Oncologist told her that once she was stable, she would have a monthly CXR and a CT scan every 3 months. I know it's so hard to wait. I'd have my poor claustrophobic mother in the cat scanner every week if I could! Shelley

Hi, my mother had her first chemo treatment today. She is on a 3 week cycle of carbo/gemzar for 4-6 cycles total. Her Dr. told us that he would order a CT after the 4th cycle to see how well the treatment was working. I thought I had read (perhaps something on Dr. West's site) that CTs were done after 2 cycles. Is there a "normal" timeframe for this? Also, I am hoping that my mom will be interested in joining this site. She is on her computer all the time (emails) and I think she would benefit greatly being able to talk with everyone here. She doesn't seem to want to know any of the specifics at this time, so I am not pushing her. I read everything I can so that when she is ready, I will hopefully have some of the answers she is looking for. You have all been a source of hope for me and I'm sure she'd feel the same. Shelley

Thanks to all of you for the info and support. My mom lives in Upstate NY near most of my family. I live in Nevada. I flew in for a few weeks to accompany her to the MRI, PET and two Oncology appointments. Part of me would just like to bring her out here where I have "connections" in the medical world. I don't think that would be a fair option for Mom though. Most of our family and all of her friends are in NY and I know she will need so much support while she is receiving treatment. I have shown her PET/CT to Physicians out here and will be speaking to an Oncologist also. I felt like treatment had been delayed so much already. (she had her Chest CT on december 20, which showed the masses....it seems like there was a week or so between everything else she needed to have done before we could see the Oncologist). Anyway, I will look into having them add the tarceva to her chemo. Thanks again for the good thoughts and helpful info. Shelley

Hi, my wonderful 67 year old mother was recently diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell cancer. Chest CT and PET shows 2 large masses in the right lung and 2 nodes in the left lung. NED elsewhere. We are all very worried about her and a bit overwhelmed. As the oldest of her children, everyone, including mom is looking to me for the answers. I made sure she was evaluated at a University Thoracic Oncology Center. They have told us that surgery and radiation are not options at this time and that chemo (palliative) was what they would recommend. She is starting carbo/gemzar on Monday. I asked about other agents such as Tarceva and Avastin, but they didn't recommend them for mom as she was a smoker for about 40 years (she quit about 7 years ago) Anyway, I wnat to see if there's anything else I should be doing now. Is Carbo/Gemzar a usualy first line treatment? I have read quite a bit on this site and elsewhere on the internet, so I think I have a pretty realistic idea of what is ahead. Mom has a great faith in God and she doesn't want to know her "prognosis" at this time. I am very thankful for your site. Shelley