jessopy2

Thanks again everyone. My sister has made it very clear to the docs/ nurses that my mom/our family wants a positive atmosphere around her at the hospital and that she'll accept no less. My mom has been getting a little worse the last 1-2 days and I'll be heading back to my mom's city -- can't wait to see her! We're starting the Tarceva on Thursday and are thinking the best for her. Thanks again for your support.

Thanks so much for the kind, uplifting words and the support. This has been a long uphill battle and I'm working almost a 1000 miles away and keep going back every couple months for a few weeks to help my siblings/dad....but whenever I'm back here at home and hear my mom's in the hospital miles away ---even though she gets back out and is at home again a few days/weeks later --- it hits me hard since i can't see her and know how she's doing for myself. I'm going to push to have the Tarceva started as quick as possible too. Thanks again - your posts helped alot Jessopy

My mom (stage 3b/4 - nodes new to abdomen) has been in and out of the hospital alot recently due to pneumonia/pleural effusion/ fibrillation and is waiting to start Tarceva. We are noticing that the doctors in the hospital for treatment of these issues that are arising keep discussing palliative care options with my mom, while her oncologist hasn't really ever called her treatment that. I know in some cases it's just semantics, but it makes my mom really upset and she gets quite frustrated with the doctors/ nurses regarding this. Is our own oncologist just not telling us something or are these doctors jumping the gun here? My mom has deteriorated quite quickly in the last month but we are really hoping that Tarceva will help to stabilize/improve things. Has anyone had doctors like this, do the semantics really matter, does it change her care/ approach to her care? Any thoughts would be great.

Thanks very much everyone, I'm glad to hear all those positive responses....we need some positive vibes right now.

My mom started to experience an increase in SOB about 2 months after radiation finished....they were mixed about whether it was pneumonitis or pneumonia or something else....but after a little while they decided it was pneumonitis. She was put on prednisone and has been on it for about 9 months...every time they tried to decreaase the dose of the steroid, her symptoms worsened...so they've kept her on it and her respirologist said it could take 1-2 years to decrease her off of it. Hope this helps and that she's feeling better soon!

Hi there, My mom has Stage 3b squamous NSCLC - she is starting her 3rd line of treatment tomorrow - Tarceva. I've read Dr West's posts on this drug and know that everyone is different in their response...but can any one tell me how long after starting Tarceva did you notice improvement/changes if it did work for you. Any help would be appreciated...we're all anxiously awaiting some symptom relief for my mom's shortness of breath/pain etc. Thanks very much.