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CaroleHammett

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Posts posted by CaroleHammett

    Post Lung Surgeries

    in NSCLC GROUP

    Posted

    Mary: "Proper exercise is a big key to better breathing..."

    Hi, Mary.

    I'm back from trip, having seen pulmonologist right before I left. She said same thing as you, that #1 is exercise, particularly walking.

    Because of the Prednisone-induced osteoporosis I developed last summer, I have been under doctor's orders not to walk (due to multiple stress fractures), which is why I've been so intent on breathing exercises.

    On the other hand, by December, we (my doctors and I) knew that the probable primary caiuse of stress fractures (all sacral) was not walking, but sitting (two of the fractures happened after long road trips and the third after two two-hour sitting sessions in Rocky Mountain Cancer Center conference room--the fourth was due to a "coughing fit").

    I'd been playing it cautious ever since, but while on this trip I walked like crazy (not to mention a half day's sailing on a 75 foot boat, during which I took the helm for at least an hour) with no damage done, so I've now decided to heck with it and am taking up walking again (I was walking 2 mi. daily pre-osteoporosis).

    I will continue to do my daily breathing and hot tub exercises (on my way out there now), but am sooo glad walking's back on my agenda (this is a beautiful old town and walking--rather than driving--has long been a pleasure for me here).

    Hope you and your hubby are both doing well.

    Affectionately,

    Carole

    Vacation Pass (Sorta Kinda)

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Hi, all and thanks for well wishes, etc.

    I am back home and slept in my own bed last night and boy, did that feel good! :D

    Lynn: We ended up skipping the Zoo (I went there last year with grandkids, but don't recall Macaws as there were so many animals to see!).

    Instead of Zoo, we went to lunch at the Old Town Mexican Cafe, followed by a leisurely walk through Old Town San Diego, having met up with old friends who drove down for the day. We ended the day on Coronado Island, which was great--I hadn't been there in years--and then after we got back from cruise, we went back there, the second time to the Coronado Hotel (as vs. just the beach).

    Tomorrow, my hospice team will be here to sign me up (I was technically on palliative care before); and I will begin looking into some of the homeopathic remedies available (including Vitamin C infusions and V.I.B.E. machine); plus I need to catch up on postings, both in general and to the "Healthy Living" forums--not to mention several writing projects (I'm just too danged busy to die yet! :D)

    In the meantime, my energy levels remain high (I slept well last night, napped well today, and then my daughter and I went out to an Etown recording tonight that included Taj Mahal and Martha Wainwright).

    With love and affection to all.

    Carole

    IGF Inhibitor Boosts Chemo Response in NSCLC/incl. Squamous

    in LUNG CANCER IN THE NEWS

    Posted

    Just a quick note to let you know that Dr. West did reply to my query (see above link), but basically said, Sorry, but no banana. :(

    I suppose I could try contacting Pfizer directly, but it appears that the problem is not limited to Pfizer, but extends to FDA as well; i.e., a no-hoper. :(

    Will keep you posted if anything new, but the good news in the meantime is that despite spread, I'm still feeling great! :D

    Carole

    Dream as if you'll live forever; live as if you'll die tomorrow.--James Dean

    PET Scan Results

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Hi, all.

    Just a quick note to thank you yet again for your wonderful messages and to let you know that my vacation went extremely well:

    My overall health and general strength continued to improve throughout the two weeks (recovery from the Alimta debacle) despite the PET scan showing the cancer is spreading quickly; i.e., I remained relatively pain- and fatigue-free.

    Once we landed in San Diego on the 2nd, I did not have to use my supplemental O2 again (due to being at sea level). In fact, some days it was as high as 97-99%! I cannot tell you how much this did for my spirit (psychologically, not having to "wear" the O2 was like having an umbilical cord cut!). In fact, because of no supplemental O2, I was actually able to swim a few strokes in the "real" swimming pool (as vs. the hot tub). I actually felt like a "real" person. :D

    The trip was magical in every possible way, but perhaps the greatest was in Cabo San Lucas when I went sailing on New Zealand's 2000 America's Cup contender and--once we left the bay--the skipper let me take over the wheel! Not in a million years could I describe to you how wondrous a feeling that was, having been a racing skipper myself in earlier years, and assuming that my sailing days were over!

    Please note that I had to lie like crazy on the disclaimer form I had to sign re my health conditions in order to even get on the boat! :lol: I managed to do so without feeling a single compunction. :D The two main concerns were my heart and my osteoporosis (racing pulse and stress fractures), but neither kicked in and in fact after I was back on shore, I walked all over half of Cabo (adrenalin racing! :D), a fact that had both my mother and my daughter in shock! (When they met me at the dock afterward, they'd brought my walker and memory foam cushion so they could keep me comfortable in case we had to wait for ambulance! :lol::lol:)

    I am feeling the best I've felt since Feb 08 when I started the Tarceva (followed by the Alimta--with both of them toxic), which just goes to show--as far as I'm concerned--that whether or not Quality of Life improves Survival Rate (as numerous studies show)--the main thing for me is that it definitely improves the life I have left.

    I'm still not home yet (flying back to Denver this a.m.) and it will probably be days before I even begin to catch up on reading, let alone posting, but in the meantime, I just had to check in and tell you it was the greatest vacation of my life! :lol::lol::lol:

    With great love and affectioin,

    Carole

    Targeted Medicine: Healthcare's Next Big Thing

    in LUNG CANCER IN THE NEWS

    Posted

    she believed "they were not coming up with a cure in order to keep the money shovelling into the system."

    In my Hi, Barb.

    In my not at all humble opinion, that's about the stupidest thing I've ever heard (although not knowing what kind of lung cancer you have also ranks right up there :().

    My own thinking has more to do with the fact that the pharmaceuticals are loaded with megabucks, leaving no explanation as to why they can't run limitless clinical trials for these new drugs.

    I realize that they have to answer to the FDA to a certain extent, but that doesn't explain why I can't be given a drug that may have a 78% chance of slowing or stopping progression of my cancer according to their earlier tests.

    And then we have the FDA telling me the pharmaceuticals can't give it to me because it might kill me (based on fact that the pharmaceuticals haven't proved it mightn't) when I'm dying already! Arrrrggggh!

    Affectionately and with my sick sense of humor still intact,

    Carole

    A year is approaching

    in GRIEF

    Posted

    I can only imagine how difficult it must be to see a surviving parent dating again, but I thank you, Shannon, for what you wrote so beautifully. I'm sure that I'm not the only one touched by your words.

    Affectionately,

    Carole

    unhelpful sibling

    in GRIEF

    Posted

    Well, heck. I'm not even dead yet, but I can already relate! :lol:

    Seriously, since my dx, I have watched various of my family members go off in completely different directions in terms of how they handled the news. There are some whom I am just dying (pun intended) to choke, but I keep telling myself they can't help it (and also keep trying to convince myself that this is a legitimate excuse).

    I have absolutely no advice for you at all, Leslie, other than to take the advice of the others who have posted here who have been in your shoes.

    What I can and do give you, however, is huge hugs and sympathy.

    With much affection,

    Carole

    Vacation Pass (Sorta Kinda)

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Hi, all.

    Just a quick update to let you all know that we're back in San Diego, having disembarked yesterday morning from the "Mexican Riviera" cruise ship.

    While in Cabo San Lucas, I sailed on New Zealand's 2000 America's Cup entry, including taking over the wheel once we had sailed outside the bay. As a former racing skipper, I cannot begin to describe the magic! :D

    I will write more after I'm back home and rested (we fly out of San Diego for Denver in the a.m.), but wanted you all to know that the Quality of My Life this past two weeks was a whopping 15 on a scale of 1 to 10! :lol:

    With love, hugs, kisses and great affection to all,

    Carole of the Sea

    Mental Health Hall Pass

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Sorry, Judy, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to make a formal request to the Hall Pass Honcha to deny your request! :D

    After all, I just got back and after two weeks closeted with my mother and daughter, I need not a mental health hall pass, but a mental health therapist! :(

    Actually, if forced to be truthful, my sanity (such as it is) appears to still be intact and the vacation was great. Nevertheless, if I'm back, I need you to be back, too... otherwise, I, too, will need a mental health pass.

    Seriously, Judy. No one other than those of us who are in the thick of it understand how crazy-making all the ups and downs and twists and turns are. So chin up, girl, and hang in there. Everything's going to be okay (one way or the other).

    With Much Love and Affection,

    Carole of the Seas (and now an America's Cup boat skipper!)

    IGF Inhibitor Boosts Chemo Response in NSCLC/incl. Squamous

    in LUNG CANCER IN THE NEWS

    Posted

    Hi, all.

    A middle of the night post from Mission Bay, San Diego preparatory to dozing back off so as to be able to jump on "Mexican Riviera" cruise ship tomorrow... :D

    1. Dr. West at cancergrace.org has posted on the subject of CP751871 (see also my frustrated comment there) at http://cancergrace.org/lung/2008/08/06/igf-1r-for-squam-nsclc/

    2. See also http://lungevity.org/l_community/viewtopic.php?t=37534 for my posting of 2008 ASCO abstract (referenced above).

    3.. More research shows that the above-referenced Dr. Angela M. Davies probably criticized the proposed CP751871 clinical trials (for which I am ineligible) due to the fact that she's pushing Tarceva (at least one of the three trials will be comparing CP751871 to Tarceva) so she's not a CP751871 resource.

    Having a great time... wish you were all here!

    With Mucho Love and Affection,

    Carole "Quality of Life Prevails" Hammett

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