Christinex

Thanks, guys, for responding. I'm now going to stop my premature freaking out.

Howdy. After 6 rounds of chemo to treat my stage 4 nsclc my oncologist put me on 150 mg. of Tarceva to be taken once a day. Today is my third or fourth day on it but I haven't noticed any side effects yet - no diarrhea and no rash. Should I have noticed something by now or does it take a while for the drug to build up in my system? Christine

Thanks, everybody, for all of the helpful information on Tarceva and the encouraging words about battling this cruddy disease. I feel very fortunate to have stumbled across this website and I don't think it was an accident that I did. You're all very inspiring and I've already read some great stories of perservance and survival. Thanks for being here. Christine

If someone from this area is also a member of this board, by all means let me know. I'd love to be able to call someone nearby. Christine

Hi guys, I saw my oncologist the other day and actually got some good news. The first 3 chemo treatments have succeeded in shrinking the tumor and a PET scan did not reveal any "hot spots" on my spine. We're going to do 3 more treatments and then another round of tests. If the tumor shrinks some more, I'm going to go off of chemo and on to Tarceva. Naturally I'm happy about all of this. While I was there I summoned up the courage to ask what stage I was and was told "stage 4 incurable." This doesn't mean that I am doomed, right? It means that the cancer will always be there and must be managed, right? I'm glad I asked him the question but the reply is proving a bit hard to deal with. Over the weekend I'm going to comb the message boards and look for postings from other stage 4s but in the meantime I wouldn't mind hearing from somebody about this. Incidentally, is Tarceva a pill and is it usually administered on a long term basis? Thanks, Christine "goat whisperer"

Thanks for all the kind and supportive replies. I hate to use the word empowered but let's say I feel strengthened by knowing that there are so many people out there who are going through what I'm going through. It makes my load feel lighter. I can't remember off the top of my head but I know some of the drugs I'm being pumped with are taxol, carboplatin and avastin. I believe I'm a stage IIIb or IV. Honestly, I've been afraid to ask because I don't know if I'll be able to handle hearing that I'm a stage IV. In any case, I had some scans done this past week for restaging purposes so I'll find out Wednesday if there's any improvement. Wish me luck. Christine Hudson, FL

I found out at the end of August that I have NSCLC adenocarcinoma. I am 36 years old and thought I was in reasonably good health despite smoking a few cigarettes a year. What a shock my diagnosis was. This Wednesday I'll be undergoing my 4th infusion of chemotherapy. I'm looking to meet other people who have this disease so we can share ideas and support one another. Thanks, Christine