Ghita419

Gene passed away yesterday at about 3pm. We're still not sure why it happened because his scans were scheduled for today. It turns out, it was his blood gasses. Every time we went to the doc, and had just been to the doc the day before, I kept insisting that I thought he was hypoxic. But they'd do a sat and he would sat 93-95%. Yesterday, I woke up and found him unresponsive and Cheyne Stoking. I sat him up, made him breathe, he came around but was confused. He walked to the bathroom, sat down in the chair, gave me an "I love you smile" and hugged me. My son and a friend of his helped me get him to the car and took him to the ER. The minute he laid down on the gurney, he again started swirling the drain. He began Cheyne Stoking again. His sat on the pulse ox was 94% at the same time they were drawing ABG's. The gasses came back with a Po2 of 44 PCO2 of 68. The doc put him on 2L O's nc repeated gasses in 20" s and they came back with a PCO2 of 89. He turned the O's down to 1/2 L. Gene had a living will and did not want a ventilator, if they could have assured me he would come off the vent, I would have done it. It was so hard to make that decision, not knowing why this had happened. He stayed in the ER from 9am to 3pm, breathing one or two breathes a minute the whole time. He had no pain and finally slept away. I will never have his arms around me again. He was my everything, and he was since the day we started seeing each other. My heart, my soul, my friend, my husband. Ghita

I have Boost, Carnation instant breakfast, ice cream, pudding, pie, chips, just about everything I can think of, but he just says he can't eat, he takes one bite and is full. I've got a call in to the doc and am waiting for him to call back. I'm wondering if there's any medication that will increase his energy and appetite. He's not complaining of any pain, but I have noticed he seems to be coughing more. Ghita

Hi, I've read all your posts, but now I'm so afraid that, "Yes, the other shoe may be dropping now". Ever since he finished is PCI, he's been so fatigued, weak, and anorexic. He's down to 138# this morning. He walks around like a zombie, is irritable, gets upset with me for trying to force food on him. We saw the doc 2 days ago, all is lab work was fine. I'm wondering if he's not NED anymore. His last chemo Rx was the beginning of October. I'm planning on calling the doc again tomorrow because he's seeming to get worse, not better. I'm very afraid. Ghita

As the others have said, I think we all felt the same way upom initial diagnosis, but we are all here for you. Living alone will make it difficult to share your fears, thoughts, and feelings, but this board can help tremendously. When I first found this board and asked a few questions, I received many heartfelt replies and information on how others experienced the same problems but got through it. Now, I'm finding myself interested in helping others by answering questions that my husband and I have had experience with. You are now in for testing to find out what type of cancer it is as the treatments are different. So, after your scan, you'll probably be getting a biopsy to determine the treatment whether it be surgery, chemo (and what kind) radiation, etc. Keep posting whenever you have questions or fears. Everyone is here to help. You're not living alone, but living with all of us!! Ghita

Crossing my fingers, toes, and eyes for a good outcome for you, I'll add you to my prayers this evening. Ghita

From what our radiation oncologist said about the number of treatments (10 treatments vs more), they use the same amount of total G's for the treaments, but some docs increase the number of treatments and reduce the G's per treatment to achieve the same total G's. In this way the patient has fewer effects but has the same outcome because they receive the same total G's. Ghita

Connie, I forgot to mention what our doc tol us about PCI. He said, "SCLC has an affinity for the brain and since chemo cannot cross the blood brain barrier, it won't do anything for the cancer cells up there." When my husband's brain MRI came back negative just prior to the PCI beginning and I again questioned PCI as you are doing. He assured me, that SCLC has such an affinity for the brain that, "Yes, it's there, as micrometasesis, many small mets that have not yet formed a tumor, but will. Those are the cells that have to be knocked out. As I said before, go for it, the studies show a much better outcome. Ghita

Dear Connie, From what the docs told my husband (LD SCLC), it definately will make a big difference in his outcome. So, we elected to have it. He finished his PCI On December 3, 2007. He experienced severe fatigue following his PCI, to the point of where he was so tired he was making some very poor decisions. He filled his diesel truck (which he's had for a bazillion years) with 60 gallons of gasoline. On the bright side of that incident, I did get to ride in my first tow truck. He's always been a really good capenter, but after his PCI we decided to add a coat closet to our frontroom. He made mistake after mistake on it, to the point of where he's putting it up now for the 3rd time. I was unsure of, where do the effects of PCI leave off and become, "Maybe this is something else?" so we bumped up his Dr. appointment and saw the doc yesterday. I was thinking hyponatremia (low sodium) which can cause the same symptoms. Well all the lab came back WNL and the doc assured us that this is from the PCI and maybe a little chemo brain. He said it would get better over time. I presented this question to the message board here and got the very same answer. One person wrote nd said it took her husband 6 months to get his head screwed on straight. Don't fear PCI complications. As my husband has learned, you need to measure twice and cut once. He's learning to take his time making decisions and it really is getting better. Now that he looks back, he was sleeping almost all day, every day in the beginning, where now he's down to one short nap a day. I really don't think the PCI affected his judgement. I think he was so tired, he couldn't think straight. Get the PCI...the outcome is enough better that it's definately worth the fatigue that follows for a short time during and after the treatment. When and if the severe fatigue develops, it can be dealt with as my husband is getting better a little bit, every single day. When I presented this question to the board here, I had many responses, one of which said "It took my husband 6 months to "Come out of the fog". We're looking at it as a minor complication, as there are much worse complications of other treatments like severe N/V, pain, etc. Go for it!!!! Ghita

I finally did call he doctor and got his appointment for the 14th, bumped up to today. He said it could be a lot of other things as well. He's going to draw some lab. thank you so much for your input, Ghita

I'm getting water jugs out! Thank you for such a great message. Ghita

Hi, My husband, Gene, had his chemo and chest radiation completed Oct, 2007. In Nov, he finished his PCI. He had very few problems during chemo and chest radiation, but the PCI hit him really hard with fatigue. It's been 5 weeks now and he continues with the fatigue along with a drop of 10 lbs in his weight since October. He keeps brushing it off on the side effects of the PCI but I'm betting nervous. He's been so stubborn lately. Should I drag him to the doctor?? Ghita

Hi, I'm so sorry to hear that you are not well right now. But, keep your chin up and think positive! I'll put you in my prayers tonite/ Ghita

Hi Tami, I'm new here, so I didn't even know you'd gone I all seriousness, even though those symptoms don't sound like the cancer reoccuring, you need to get in to see your doctor. Hands and lips being cold and blue in the absence of any respiratory distress sounds more like it would be circulatory (like Raynaud's) Good luck with you visit to your doctor and do let us know how you are. I'll add you to my prayers tonite. Ghita

Katie, I added that to my notes as well. Thanks, Guita

Thank you all. This has really helped me more than you know. I appreciate every one of you. Ghita

Thank you all for helping me out with this. It seemed like a mountain to me and I couldn't think of the right words and then ya'll came along said them so easily. Ghita

Gosh, Teri you summed it up so well! Thank you, Ghita

I'm putting this in my "Notes" to read every week!

Keep your chin up and stay positive. Good thoughts and staying busy and active will help you more than anything. I will add your name to my prayers, Ghita

Hi all, I'm fairly new here but would like to says thanx to all of you and the support you give each other. It seems difficult especially for my husband because he now feels all the guilt from his past years of smoking. He says, "Everybody knows I did it to myself, why should I get sympathy?" I can't get him past this point of self blame. How do you others deal with this, and what do you say when the first response from a person is, "Did he smoke?" Hope you all have a happy and blessed New Year, Ghita

Hi, I'm relatively new here and would like to wish a happy and healthy New Year to you and everyone.

And thank you, Katie for the Dr. West suggestion. I did hop over there and left a message.

Wow, that's really great!!! I'm hoping my husband will match her although he is older and has the drawback of being male (from what I read, females have better success). I'll have to rub myself all over him and maybe some of my female will rub onto him for a little booster. thanks all!

My husband had two lesions when he was diagnosed, One in the rt. upper lung and the othe in the mediastinal lymph. Both were less than 1.5 cm. After obtaining a PET scan and seeing no other lesions, the doc was pretty convinced it was NSCLC. They tried a needle bx of the right upper lung and it was unsuccesful. After I researched it, I found that the efficacy of needle bx in a lesion that size is only 50%. We chose not to try again. The lesion in his mediastinum was in such a place that they were unable to scope it for a bx. So, it was surgery for a bx. They removed his rt. upper lung and the lymph in the mediastinum. He had a very stormy recovery due to the fact that his vocal cord was paralyzed and he couldn't cough effectively. He at one point begged for a ventilator but I kept telling him, "No, you can do it." I stayed with him in the hospital 24-7 which really helped because as you know, hospitals are notoriously short staffed these days. From what I read while he was in the hospital was that in Japan they are staging SCLC like NSCLC and doing surgery on small cell when it is in the limited (lung and mediatinum) stage. Their success rate is higher than the US who are using the old VA system staging of limited and extensive. Our doc said if they had obtained a bx and found the SCLC, he would never had had surgery. SCLC is not a isease of the lung necessarily, but a systemic disease from what he said. I'm trying to look at it as if he's in Japan and has a better outlook. Anyone else had surgery for SCLC and how were your results? Thanks everyone for all your replies to my posts. I feel a great weight lifted off me since I've been here talking to others, seeing, and learning to live with this disease.

Thank you for responding and the encouraging words. I didn't realize just how well people do in the year 2007 until I started reading some of the posts on this message board. I guess I just want my old husband back when he was healthy, this last 6 months hs been a real bugger. He also lost 75 lbs in the year prior to his dx. He was dieting and trying to lose it, but it was just too easy. Now he is underweight for the first time in his life and he just looks sick. Skinny also makes me nervous.