LuBelle

My dad had a doctor appointment with his oncologist on Thursday. According to his X-ray report that he did that morning, the entire lung is better than it was last month... even the cancer. She told him whatever he was doing, to keep doing it. His lab work was also better. He had been anemic last month. He has received no treatment whatsoever. The only meds that he takes is for his heart, sleep meds, and pain meds for his back. I hope this isn't just the calm before the storm, but for right now, we are elated. I believe that he has made the right choice for not having treatment. He feared taking treatment and feeling bad much of the time and also having to take time from his life from the doctor appointments etc. Right now, he enjoys each day and feels fairly good for an almost 83 year old man. I just wanted to post our update and pray that others may be blessed with the same. I'll stay in touch and keep all of you informed. I'm still open to any input anyone else has on this disease.

Carol, thanks for posting. I just said a prayer for your continued improvement. God is good.

Is anyone dealing with Mesothelioma (cancer of the pleural space surrounding the lung)? My dad who will be 83 next month has it and doesn't want any kind of chemo treatment. Right now, he feels fairly well but I hate just waiting for the cancer to take over. We are enjoying him now, though. I support his decision and know that if he were taking chemo now, he may be sicker a lot sooner with the same outcome. I can relate to those of you who are so sad in knowing the inevitable. What a horrible disease cancer is.

I need any input that anyone can give me on the question of whether to do chemo or not. Pros and cons with an almost 83 year old man who is active, with reduced kidney function and a little heart disease and heart valve regurgitation. He had a pleuradesis last month and is still recovering from surgery, otherwise asymptomatic as far as the mesothelioma goes. I really hate to be so pessimistic, but I also want to be realistic. Please tell me if I am not right about what I am thinking about all of this. In the case of Mesothelioma, I know that they say it is incurable. Chemo can slow it down, maybe shrink tumors and keep the cancer from metastisizing. My question is, (as pessimistic as it is, I'm sorry).... Won't these things eventually happen anyway? Won't the cancer take over eventually while so many people take the chemo and are sick for a good part of the week in which they are receiving treatments and possibly risk getting infections etc.? I want my elderly dad to be able to make the right decision and I certainly want to keep him here, but I don't want to push him into something that may very likely make him worse. He only weighs 127 pounds and doesn't have much of an appetite now. Chemo, I would think, certainly wouldn't help that. The doctor told us that if he does Gemzar alone (because of his kidneys), his life could possibly be prolonged to a year. I don't know what it would be without the chemo. Any comments are welcome. Thank you.

Thank you for replying, Lisa. I am also sorry about your mom. It's so sad. I really hate to be so pessimistic, but I also want to be realistic. Please tell me if I am not right about what I am thinking about all of this. In the case of Mesothelioma, I know that they say it is incurable. Chemo can slow it down, maybe shrink tumors and keep the cancer from metastisizing. My question is, (as pessimistic as it is, I'm sorry).... Won't these things eventually happen anyway? Won't the cancer take over eventually while so many people take the chemo and are sick for a good part of the week in which they are receiving treatments and possibly risk getting infections etc.? I want my elderly dad to be able to make the right decision and I certainly want to keep him here, but I don't want to push him into something that may very likely make him worse. I may post this also in a new post so more people will see it. Any comments are welcome. Thank you.

Dear Dr. West, I can't tell you how happy I was to recieve your response. I do appreciate it SO very much. We feel very alone with all of this. I will tell you the details of my dad's illness and medical history and I would like an honest opinion from you as if he were your dad. Dad has a mitral valve leak, diffuse small vessel disease, only 20% kidney function, and now, the mesothelioma at almost 83. He has been very active and has seemed to be much younger than his age... dancing on weekends, going to the casino, etc. The mesothelioma covers a good portion of his pleura, I think has started to grow somewhat into his chest wall and possibly is on his pericardium. Right now, he's pretty much asymptomatic. His right lung is picture perfect at this time and as far as we know, the cancer has not spread anywhere else. There was evidence of a pleural effusion in April of 06, so the oncologist told me that he probably started with this around May 06. I haven't been able to talk to the doctor in private, but have been wanting to ask her about how long she thought maybe Dad has. I don't want Dad to lose hope and depress him with gloom news, but my siblings and I would kind of like to have an idea. The onlcologist plans on using only Gemzar on Dad and says that the side effects are very minimal and that she could possibly prolong his life a year (which I thought was VERY optimistic and maybe even realistic) but she knows more than me for sure. She said that if he feels badly after the first or second treatment, he would stop it. I wonder if damage will already be done, though. ?????? ANY input at all regarding my information and questions would be so very much appreciated. We are so afraid and I wake up every morning so depressed and worried knowing that I am slowly losing my dad and I don't know how to help him and don't know what to expect. I worry about the pain that he will maybe be in and if they will be able to control it and I worry about him not being able to breath, etc. The doctor said that some people actually feel better on chemo. ???? Thank you so very much for your input on this. I respect so much what you are doing to help others. I will be waiting for your response.

Hey, Lisa and Dr. West. My dad is 82 and was dianosed with pleural mesothelioma last month. I am so scared for him. I don't know what to expect. He had a pleuradesis 3 weeks ago due to the large volume of pleural effusion that he had experienced. They also wanted to do biopsies. He will start Gemzar in a couple of weeks unless it makes him sick. He is still trying to recover from the surgery and he only weighs 127 pounds. I believe that he is wanting to concentrate on quality of life more than anything right now. Lisa, I hope your mom is feeling better by now.

My dad is 82 and has been diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma. He has had over 2 liters of fluid drained from his lung and it began building up again. He had a pleuradesis and biopsy surgery three weeks ago. He did fine and so far, the fluid has not returned. He is still in pain from the procedure due to the fact that they also did a thoroscope and had to go between his ribs to do it. I think his ribs are bruised, but luckily, he won't have to deal with the fluid anymore, I hope. From what I had read before his surgery, the procedure is not real risky and the success rate is about 85%. I wish you all the best.