[Update on my Dad]

I just have one quick question.....What exactly is pleaural effusion? I'm not even sure if I'm spelling it correctly.

My mom is currently on carbo/taxotere treatments .... hasn't suffered many side effects except fatigue and dehydration this weekend.

Hope things continue to improve ..... you are all in my prayers!

[Surgery/2nd Opinion]

Once again, thank you all for the replies!!!

As I said, things have been going a little bit better at the house. My mom had her first Carboplatin/Taxotere chemotherapy treatment on Wed. On Friday things started to taste very salty, and then yesterday, she was extremely nauseated. So nauseated that they finally took her up to the hospital and this is where she remained all night due to dehydration. She is currently on an IV filled with fluids and anti-nauseaus meds.

Has anyone out there had that type of chemo treatment? She doesn't have another one for 21 days, but the docs already have a mapped out plan of what she will experience and when she will feel things. Can anyone share their experience?

I myself and having my own time coping in Arizona. I really just want to be at home with her, but due to my job, I can't. We are all trying to take things one day at a time, but gosh, this is so hard ...........

Does anyone out there take any vitamins/herbs/tea --- other supplements? I have been reading a great book titled, "Cancer Diagnosis - What Next?" It has some great suggestions about supplements. Just wonder what some of you took?

Thanks again for the replies -- I'll keep praying for everyone!

[Surgery/2nd Opinion]

This is only my 3rd post to the message board, but after reading a few of the new topics, I felt I had to post.

As I had explained before, my mom is a 47 yo mother of three girls. Over the summer she had been experiencing re-ocurring blood clots, when they finally did a CT scan to test for malignancies in the body. She saw a pulmonologist who concluded after a biopsy that she in fact did have Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with possible spread to the lymph node system in the middle of the chest. Obviously, this came as quite a shock and we immediatly went to Mayo Clinic in Rochester for a 2nd opinion.

Mayo Clinic turned out to be nothing but a nightmare. Upon arrival she was immediatly hospitalized with a deep vein blood clot in her right leg and in her neck. This in turned slowed testing down. The oncology department was so full that she was placed on the "dirty blood" floor and oncologists had to come to her. Everytime they came in the room they came in groups, and it seemed as though everyone had a conflicting opinion. One doc. would say this, one doc. would say that. Some gave her hope, and others completely dissmissed it. Finally, on the last day of her stay they were able to do a PET scan which concluded that her cancer was in a small spot on the left lower lung, in her lymph nodes in her chest, in two lymph nodes behind her esophogus, and two nodes in her neck. They turned her away with a chemotherapy perscription to "bide her some more time." The considered her inoperable as well.

Needless to say, the family was CRUSHED. My dad and sisters and I had felt like we already lost our mom. This lasted until Wed. of this week, when she went in for her first chemo treatment in Bismarck, N.D. There was assigned a new oncologist for her treatment. This was where the ray of HOPE came in.

She met with the new oncologist Dr. Amin -- he felt that the PET scan they had done in Mayo was inconclusive. She had SO many blood clots in her lungs, legs, neck that the PET scan may have picked these up as tumors. He feels PET scans pick up things that are not always cancer. She was not staged at the Mayo Clinic, and this new doc. felt that if she was still considered a stage III they were going in to operate. He felt she had a VERY good chance of beating this cancer and moving on!

After hearing this good news, she went in for her 1st chemo treatment consisting of Taxotere and Carboplatin. It took 3 hours long and she has another treatment in 21 days. He feels they have to do the chemo 1st in order to shrink the possible tumors to help relieve her of these blood clots. After 4 chemo treatments he is going to go in with another biopsy procedure to take a look for himself, and then possible surgery. It was our 1st good day in a month!

I just felt I had to share this story with all of you out there. It seems as though every doc. says something different and we are all dealing with the same disease! Something needs to be done!! My mom claims she was so dissatisfied with Mayo that she WILL NEVER GO BACK!

Sorry this was so long, but I had to share!!!

[Chemo questions/support]

I just wanted to say thank you for the advice on the chemotherapy questions. I spent about 2 hours one the phone last night visiting with my mom about her first chemo treatment this upcoming week. She is taking medication to help her blood thin out and the dr's were worried about putting a "port" in for the chemotherapy. Thankfully, they did in the end, decide to put a port in her upper chest area for the chemo. From all that I've read in books and on the internet, the port is the way to go for chemo.

My mom does have tons of support at home. I am currently in Arizona with my job, but my family lives in a small town in western North Dakota. The whole community has rallied around my mom, as it does when anyone is sick. She also has tons of friends that have cleaned the house, brought over meals for my family, visited, and dropped off cards. So the support is definitley there!

Does anyone have any nutrition ideas for chemotherapy and even after treatment is over? She has been struggling on the eating thing since she was diagnosed, and they finally gave her something for that. She has been able to eat right all weekend now. I'm trying to do as much research as I can for her.

Again, thank you all for the support. I have begun to take things one step at a time. Although this has not been easy for my family, I am slowly starting to digest things and get the ball rolling. Thanks for the help!

[Chemo questions/support]

Thank you all so much for the quick replies .....

This hasn't been the easiest weekend for me or my family. I recently started a job in Tucson AZ, and had only been here 2 weeks when I found out the devastating news about my mom. I immediatly flew home for two weeks, while we took her in for her biobsy, waited for the results, and then waited to be contacted by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Like I said before, our lives went from completley normal one day, to completely miserable the next day.

Now that I am back in AZ, I am really having trouble coping. I am here with my fiance ... we just got engaged in April, but I really wish that I could just go back to North Dakota and be with my family and my mom. I am struggling with anxiety, loss of apetite, trouble sleeping, and lack of motivation - especially at work.

My mom however, seems to be doing a bit better. She is currently in the hospital with a blood clot (doctors say due to the malignancy in her body) and is scheduled to begin chemo this Tuesday. Something of which she is deathly afraid of. DEATHLY AFRAID of! Last week, she was even considering NOT doing it .... but I think she has come around.

Is there anyone out there who can relate to being a family member and being far away from the situation. I am struggling daily with wanting to go back home and just be with her. Or anyone that has any "Chemo Tips" that I can give her. She keeps saying she would love to visit with someone who has had inoperable lung cancer and is living on a daily basis with it.... which many of you are.

Thank you all so much for listening and providing helpful advice!

[Mom recently diagnosed]

Thank you all so much for the quick replies .....

This hasn't been the easiest weekend for me or my family. I recently started a job in Tucson AZ, and had only been here 2 weeks when I found out the devastating news about my mom. I immediatly flew home for two weeks, while we took her in for her biobsy, waited for the results, and then waited to be contacted by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Like I said before, our lives went from completley normal one day, to completely miserable the next day.

Now that I am back in AZ, I am really having trouble coping. I am here wiht my fiance ... we just got engaged in April, but I really wish that I could just go back to North Dakota and be with my family and my mom. I am struggling with anxiety, loss of apetite, trouble sleeping, and lack of motivation - especially at work.

My mom however, seems to be doing a bit better. She is currently in the hospital with a blood clot (doctors say due to the malignancy in her body) and is scheduled to begin chemo this Tuesday. Something of which she is deathly afraid of. DEATHLY AFRAID of! Last week, she was even considering NOT doing it .... but I think she has come around.

Is there anyone out there who can relate to being a family member and being far away from the situation. I am struggling daily with wanting to go back home and just be with her. Or anyone that has any "Chemo Tips" that I can give her. She keeps saying she would love to visit with someone who has had inoperable lung cancer and is living on a daily basis with it.... which many of you are.

Thank you all so much for listening and providing helpful advice!

[Mom recently diagnosed]

Hello Everyone --

Just wanted to let you know that reading this message board has been a life saver for my emotional well being. My 47 yo mother was just diagnosed with NSCLC this August. She is the mother of 3 girls, and I am the oldest at 23, followed by a 16 yo, and a 13 yo. Needless to say, our family went from being normal one day, to a complete wreck the next day.

She had been struggling all summer long with blood clots in her legs and chest, when they discovered the lung cancer. As a matter of fact, she is currently in the hospital with a blood clot in her neck. She has a very small tumor in her lower left lung, but it has metastisized to her chest lymph nodes, a couple lymph nodes behind her esophogus, and to 2 nodes in her neck. They consider her inoperable, and are going to start chemotherapy this Tuesday.

Since the diagnosis, she has been struggling to eat and sleep, as we all have been. I'm not sure if we are all still in the "SHOCK" stage, but our normal life got shot out the door. I was wondering if you all had any advice about coping methods for my family as well as my mom. She is pretty much down in the dumps.

Another thing I wondered was if any of you had experienced blood clotting with your cancer. My mom is currently on heprin shots once a day and they just started her on Cumadin as well.

Wondering if anyone one has any advice to give. My family is so new at this and is hanging on everyone's next word. I am also struggling to carry on with my life as well. Nothing seems enjoyable to me anymore. We just need a little direction or positive words, which the doctors seem to be greatly lacking of! Also wondered if anyone has gone to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America ..... my mom is heavily looking into that option and may head straight there before any more treatment in North Dakota.

Thank you all so much, you all have been an inspiration! ---