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mhutch1366

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Posts posted by mhutch1366

    please pray with my family

    in HOPE

    Posted

    Linda,

    Apologies if I sounded sanctimonious about pain relief.

    Truly.

    I was in pain, terrible pain, quite a while before diagnosis, and couldn't get them to x ray my shoulder/chest. So I'm a little overreactive about pain.

    Sorry, again,

    I hope you can resolve the problem so your dad is comfortable.

    XOXOX

    MaryAnn

    Post Pneumonectomy Syndrome?

    in NSCLC GROUP

    Posted

    Did any of you all have physical therapy for the shoulder area following your surgeries? I think that stiffness which is likely muscle healing after the surgical insult/tissue removal is what is referred to, and I had a boatload of PT afterwards to help with this ( I also lost a collarbone, so I had double trouble, hence the PT). Similar PT to what is done with women after mastectomies. It should help the stiffness//restricted movement. Won't cure it, but may help a little.

    My two cents.

    XOXOXOXOX

    MaryAnn

    Great News (I think)

    in INTRODUCE YOURSELF!

    Posted

    Hey!

    Your mom should celebrate her good fortune.

    Not a big deal to be out a rib or two. I'm out five.

    If it's a structural thing they put in a bit of goretex, which is pretty stiff.

    She's liable to be a little sore -- pulled muscle or arthritic type sore -- for a good long time-- due to the clipped ribs, but it's a small price to pay.

    As far as seeding the other area, it's been done for other cancer types, most commonly as far as I am aware, prostate and breast cancer. Not a new procedure at all, and very effective, better for the rest of the lung area than general radiation as there is less radiation scatter and more concentration of the good effects.

    Wishing your mom well and good luck for surgery,

    XOXOX

    MaryAnn

    Allow me a "Tiny" Rant

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Becky,

    I know what you mean. I got off easily too, vis a vis consequences.

    And as for smoking 2 packs a day for 27 years, I get cancer that one doctor told me was NOT smoker's cancer -- the pancoast.

    So shoot me.

    I paid my money and I took my chances.

    Blaming it on what I breathed and when doesn't change the fact of my disease, or what needs to be done to deal with it.

    As one of my friends put it, we all played..... by chance, I had to pay.

    Thank God my doctors and my family were not judgemental. Well, maybe my mom a little, but not so it mattered much. She was mostly supportive.

    So most of the "you got what you deserve" attitudes I have gotten secondhand, from y'all's stories.

    Same kind of grief and stigma given to HIV patients... too many of the good old guys I guess got a wink and a nod about vd with their antibiotics.

    I am fortunate to live in a very progressive region of the country. Small minds will fight to remain small, regardless of the battlefield.

    I do continue to pray for all those with lung cancer, and all my friends with other cancers, regardless of what type it is. Awful disease in human cost, and apparently a consequence of our biology as much as anything else.

    I'm done. Thanks.

    XOXOX

    MaryAnn

    please pray with my family

    in HOPE

    Posted

    Linda,

    After the initial adjustment, morphine for pain does not make you 'out of it'. I take morphine every day for pain, and live a reasonably coherent life, drive , work for a living, raise a child, etc.

    Don't deny your dad the comfort of much needed pain relief.

    One gets "out of it" when one is overmedicated. I trust that that won't happen in dealing with the very real pain your father is experiencing.

    I say this with compassion for anyone in pain.

    I've been there.

    XOXOX

    MaryAnn

    New CT due/pleural effusion

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Last month's routine CT/MRI series showed a small amount of fluid inside the prosthetic chest wall (goretex instead of 5 ribs). I go back Tues Mar 9 for a second CT and chest xray, and on Wed Mar 10 the surgeon will evaluate and decide if he wants to do a surgical tap with cytology.

    He hopes it is due to inflammation, and will not show up on the new scan. This is new, 3 1/2 years post surgery. Fingers and toes crossed.

    When I asked him if it was a lot of fluid, he said not much, less than 200 ccs.

    I'll let you know next week what's happened.

    Meanwhile, as always, all y'all are in my prayers.

    XOXOXOX :)

    MaryAnn

    Bits and Pieces

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Dean,

    Please don't think that by taking pain meds you're conceding anything, or losing anything.

    I have to take serious pain meds just to get about day to day (morphine). I drive, I work, I take care of what I have to.

    Pain is not the enemy, nor is it my friend. it just is.

    and today living with pain is unnecessary.

    So go for the relief!! and live with minimal pain, and enjoy what you have..

    XOXOX

    MaryAnn

    Mortal thoughts sared with my close family

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Dan,

    When it truly is my time, I look forward to crossing from this plane into the next, because I believe.... I have faith that there is something on the other side.

    I am a biochemist by training, and spent too much time in the halls of logic. It took almost losing my life to cancer to find my humanity, and my faith.

    I have worries, too, and parents who are elderly, no siblings, no close family, and children who have not yet reached the age of majority. I don't have any one close to me either. An ex-spouse whose life will be simpler without me.

    My concerns are that I will be lingering and unable to support myself, and find myself on a charity ward someplace. I have faith that I'll deal with that if it happens.

    I get up in the morning glad to be alive to see the dawn of a new day. On my cupboard I have a poem, called I'm drinking from my saucer 'cause my cup has overflowed. and I have faith, to worry about my fears as they happen and not before.

    So much of life is what you make of it. I'm truly sorry you lost your wife. I know you miss her. You were fortunate to have someone to love like that.

    You have family here, as the messages show. Perhaps you are new enough you've missed Ry's pleas to make sure someone has your number in case you drop out of sight, so someone can call and see if you are okay. I think it is a good idea, as too many of our number have simply stopped signing in, leaving us to think the worst.

    You, and all the board, are in my prayers .

    XOXOXOX

    MaryAnn

    special need during chemo??

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Try small portions of everything. chemo left everything tasting waay off, but I needed to eat, so I did. small bites, had problem swallowing (likely radiation). soft foods went better than liquids. applesauce, yogurt. I had problems with things acidic, like coffee (oh, that hurt) or too rich ( couldn't LOOK at chocolate). Had a real thing for steak though. and chicken bothered my stomach. Go figure.

    Keep some of everything around, and eat when it strikes you. You can have more than one ensure or boost a day, and I can recommend Scandia shakes as having a great deal more caloric/protein value than ensure if you really have reduced solid foods.

    Good luck.

    XOXOXOX

    MaryAnn

    are some people unable to be caretakers

    in CAREGIVER RESOURCE CENTER

    Posted

    Hi,

    I share your concern, and feel your stress. The advice about the social services available through the community and the churches (or jewish social services) is good, and is an avenue that can be explored by telephone from a distance if necessary.

    When cancer causes major household up heavals like this, its just one more darned thing to worry about and add stress to an already stressed family, who has REALLY important things to concern themselves with.

    Do what you can, when you can, and meanwhile shake some of those church and social service bushes and see what you can start. Perhaps one of the offices at the church or social services can get on the phone for you, and see what can be done. Perhaps the American Cancer Society volunteers would help, or be able to recommend someone who could.

    You all are not alone. There is a world full of caring people out there, and somehow you just need to find the connection.

    I hope your family does connect with people who can assist, and lighten the burden you are carrying.

    You are in our prayers...

    XOXOXOX

    MaryAnn

    Surgery is most likely now

    in NSCLC GROUP

    Posted

    Andrea,

    I hope your mom's surgery goes well. The advice about the respiratory therapy was good, and I'll add the arm/shoulder therapy -- start as soon as the doctor advises, and stick to it so she doesn't heal with shortened muscles from the resectioning.

    There will be the numb spots for a while, some won't go away.

    The epidural for pain (indwelling) is great while you're there.

    Rib area will ache for a while.

    Let us know how it goes....

    XXOXOX

    MaryAnn

    No Close Family-No Way!

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    That makes me feel good too, y'all.....

    I am an only child and a single mom, my parents are still alive but a good days drive away.

    While I have envied TBone his family I haven't felt quite as lonely as DBerry's post seems... close but not there yet. Can't be like that with an 8 year old loose at the house.

    Thanks to my extended adopted family.

    XOXOX

    MaryAnn

    MRI Question

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    MRI with contrast, Heather, should be able to pick up tumor,blood flow, and who knows what all else. The MRI is the diagnostic of choice by my surgeon for brain, while the CT with contrast is good enough for the chest area. I suspect the doctor would be looking at nerve involvement/blood flow/soft tissue differences.

    Why don't you ask the techs? They are a wealth of information (as long as you don't ask them to peek and tell.....).

    Good luck.

    XOXOX

    MaryAnn

    T-Bone's Scans

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Hey T Bone,

    Drink plenty of water today and tomorrow. The days I do double scans with double contrast are usually leaving me feeling quite icky, and I am supposedly feeling "well" now. Rest up too, cause the contrasts are alot to take together.

    Hope the scans look good!

    XOXOX

    MaryAnn

    Radiation Questions

    in NSCLC GROUP

    Posted

    Please do -- get a second, a third, and even a fourth opinion until you are satisfied with the information you are getting, and the type of treatment options match your willingness to be aggressive with the disease. Research yourself too, so you have knowledge to ask appropriate questions. What you are asking may just not be possible. So get another opinion and ask, ask, ask those questions.

    Good luck to you, your dad and your family are in my prayers.

    MaryAnn

    Chemo all done for now

    in NSCLC GROUP

    Posted

    Hi Carlton,

    Did I understand you correctly, that the pleural effusion is the only evidence of disease? or are the other small lesions static and unchanged? Either way is good news, you can recoup and build up your strength now.

    Congratulations on a good scan!

    XOXOX

    MaryAnn

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