gchang817

Well my father doesnt look to be doing too well. His oxygen saturation levels are at about 94 with 2L of oxygen per minute. There seems to be no signs of mets, no pain no confusion. How will it be in the end? Will it be that he suffocates? just wondering how it will go

I dont really know what to think. He is in no pain his breathing isnt terrible. His blood levels are very low and when procrit was used the hgb level did not go up. He has not gone for treatment since late december, it has been about a month. His CEA level was at about 5.1. His blood pressure is low (90's to 115 / 60's to 80's). I have been trying to get him to a second opinion but he seems very disinterested in seeing any doctors. So we are enjoying his company everyday. We had a good time looking over old photos today. Why is it in only times like these do we remember all the good times.

Well the time has come to be part of this group in the message board, one way or the other. My father is unable to go through anymore chemo treatments, and any other treatments would just make him more sick and less coherent with little chance of effectiveness as he has not responded well to treatments. What are some items that i need to take care of before the time comes? He is not fully aware of the prognosis, the doctor has hinted at what is happening and we have brought up the subject in round about ways but he does not want to accept it. But he no longer wants to see other doctors as well. Financially i think that we are taken care of because all accounts either have a beneficiary or are held jointly. The house is not held under his name and we have transferred ownership of the cars. We are beginning to set up funeral arrangements just to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead. I have been thinking about introducing the idea of hospice and have told him about the program. It is difficult to convince him to think about it because he is in no pain, just labored breathing and he is on oxygen basically 24/7. I am trying to look for the right program but it difficult as i need to tend to his current needs and it is difficult to do the research. He is also of sound mind and judegement as far as i can tell. I am trying to talk him into getting a dnr or set me up as the health care proxy, the one thing that he has always said to me is that he does not want to suffer. I believe in new york we need to have a physician sign off on it and thats it. I am speaking very matter of factly, and i do not want to come off as callous. It hurts me to death that we have to end up here right now. But if this is where we have come i want to take care of everything quickly and efficiently so that i can get back to enjoying my father and the last days i have with him and making him comfortable. There is always this stupid practical side to this insidious disease.

I began looking at his records from previous biopsies and discovered that the lab report on the specimen said that he had squamous cell lung cancer. He had also been treated previously for his prostate cancer with taxol/taxtotere. It just leads me to believe that his oncologist made a lot of errors. I am trying to get him to switch doctors now but it may be too late. His blood counts are constantly low. I am afraid to tell him that he is in bad shape. He does not want to see anymore doctors nor does he qant to go through anymore tests. I just dont know if he understands the depth of the situation, feeling really helpless and hopeless.

I know there are a lot of great caregivers here, awesome advocates. What do you do when you feel like you made a lot of mistakes along the way? Small oversights the doctor may have made in his treatment that truly effected him, and probably caused suffering or less chance of survival? Just feeling an extreme sense of guilt lately that I was not more careful in researching these topics. I feel like i found this great resource of a website too late. How do all you deal with the results of your decisions?

His cbc levels were low, even after two weeks of procrit and his platelets were very low as well and continue to remain low. He is just tired and no longer wants to see any doctors. I just dont know if he fully comprehends what is happening. It is difficult to talk to him about the issue because he hates going to get scans and that he is tired of it. I just dont know if he knows the serious of the matter or if he is just avoiding it.

Posting this here because i figure some of you might "get it". I am impressed and in awe of those who seek treatment and push on through thick and thin. My father was diagnosed in June of 2007 and the lung cancer was caught early but was told that it was inoperable due to location. It was also inoperable because he had previous metastatic prostate cancer. I regret in a lot of ways not asking for a second opinion at that time, but now im trying to deal with his current situation. He had his last infusion of Cisplatin Gemzar on December 17 and was sent to the hospital later on in the week due to low blood pressure and high pulse. Spent about 3 days in the hospital. The next week on a visit to the oncologist they pulled me aside and told me that my father probably had only weeks to live and that she would no longer give him anymore treatments because he was too weak. Now it has been about a month since then and he has been improving, i am sure that it has a lot to do with the fact that he has been off the chemo for awhile. He has gained weight and is in a generally better mood. The whole thing is i dont know if he wants to fight anymore. He is tired of the scans and is thinking that he is feeling better and thats ok. Its just so hard, and i feel like the onc. put me in a bad position by telling me the prognosis and telling me they were not going to do anymore treatments, but did not tell my father. The oncologist says that he doesnt believe that my father could handle it mentally; that he would breakdown. He says he is willing to fight but his actions do not always mirror his attitude. I dont want to bully him or threaten him that if there is no treatment that the cancer would grow uncontrolled. He had a case of edema this week and refuses to goto the doctor early, he just wants to wait until our appointment next week. I tried to reccomend tarceva to the oncologist and dad when we had our last appointment, but the oncologist just wrote it off as the fact that i could not accept the fact that my father was dying and there was nothing they could do about it. My father trusts the oncologist because she has helped him through prostate cancer stage 4, and he has been a survivor for 5 years. It just so frustrating waiting for the shoe to drop. Waiting until my father spirals down. I am so caught up in the daily care for my father its hard to find the right doctor for a second opionion and i dont want to choose a doctor that would just make the situation worse. Thank you for reading this long post and allowing me to vent a little bit. Its just so confusing to know where my place is. My dad relies on me a lot for care and help guide him through the treatments. We are an immigrant family where i grew up in the states and i guess sometimes is difficult to communicate through our cultural differences. Its such a difficult balance between hope and devastation. I know that there is always hope that my father's body can push through and fight this on its own, but reading the stories on here i do not believe that it is enough.

my father has been spending more and more time in bed and his recliner, are there anyways to prevent bed sores beside constantly moving around. He gets so SOB after the slightest movement.

Thank you for sharing that beautiful message. I am just a young man of 26 years old but hope to one day be half the man your husband was and, if im lucky, marry a woman as heartfelt and strong as you.

Holidays are tough.... please keep your head up. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. My family began this journey about months ago. Trying to make the best of each and every moment.

I have not really told him about what is going on concerning the past treatment. But i have convinced him to get a second opinion at this point. I know that whats done is done. At the time i was working and taking care of my dad. I finally decided to quit my job and take care of my dad full time now. Doing the research is sometimes frightening. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR RESPONSE AND SUPPORT!

Some history for my father.... He was diagnosed with nsclc in 07/07 in the upper right hilar region and began radiation treatment and then proceeded to AVASTIN Taxotere and Carboplatin. We were told he was not a surgical candidate because he had metastatic prostate cancer diagnosed in 2001 and there were residual mets in rib cage but were not active or spreading. He developed a blood clot and pulmonary embolism. He had a case of acute hemoptysis after 4 weeks of treatment. Hospitalized for 5 days. A new ct scan showed that he had a new growth in the left lower lobe. They did a bronchoscopy for the new mass and finally diagnosed with squamous nsclc. Now through the research i realized that he should never have been given avastin due to bleeding risk. He now has chronic SOB since the pulmonary embolism. He still has casses of hemoptysis occasionally. I am devastsaed that i did not catch this earlier, everything was moving so fast in the beginning and I didnt do my research. I should have pushed for a better diagnosis. I should have got a second opinion, THEY CAUGHT IT EARLY AND I COULD HAVE BROUGHT HIM TO ANOTHER SURGEON AND HOPEFULLY CURED HIS DISEASE! I have not gotten any sleep last night after i made this realization!! My questions are, has anyone else heard of something like this? Is there anyway to reverse this process of bleeding (hemoptysis) from avastin? Another thought that ran through my head, is this considered malpractice? I have not told my father yet as he is so loyal to this oncologist after being treated so well for the prostate cancer. We placed a lot of trust in this doctor because of the survival from hte advanced prostate cancer!! ALWAYS GET A SECOND OPINION!

Been trying to read all the posts about tarceva. Father recently had progression after 3 months of carbo/taxol/avastin. Was suggested either give up treatment or gemzar and cisplatin. Unsure of what to do. Hear a lot of people have had success with tarceva,, but onc never mentioned anything about it. Any info on what may be a better option? Dad was a smoker for 30 years and quit 3 years ago.

My father had his first pet after avastin taxo/carbo combo had started. Avastin every other week. Had 20 radiation treatment ranging from july to end of august. CT scan beginning of sept showed some shrinkage. The latest CT scan showed that there was a hollow cavity in the middle of the original tumor. Anyone else have any experience with this? the tumor remained the same size but there was a strange cavity in the middle that the onc. could not really explain, anyone have any info?

Been visiting this site for a couple of months now. My dad has been living with metastatic prostate cancer for approximately 5 years. He is 65 years old and smoke for about 40 years. In July of 2007, my father was diagnosed with nsclc. It was difficult to stage due to the mestatices of the prostate cancer. The cancer was in the upper right lobe and was inoperable due to location. He underwent 20 rounds of radiation to the site, and grew too sick to take anymore, he could no longer swallow and take in any food. Spent three days in the hospital in order to get fluids back in the body. After which he was doing better. He has been on Carbo/Taxol for 3 treatments over the last month with Avastin. He has had a blood clot as well as thrush. The most recent CT scan shows spread to the lower left lobe. The last pleural effusion showed no signs of metastaces. It is a comfort to read this forum and all the people with such great outlooks on life.