mhutch1366
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Posts posted by mhutch1366
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Kristi,
I hope that whatever you decide to do, your mom can get some rest and devote some energy to healing and regaining her strength to fight this darn dratted disease.
Prayers for you both.
MaryAnn
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Dave,
Hang in there. Keep your chin up. Things are as gloomy as you allow them to be.
Miracles happen every day. I am one. I was too ignorant of the facts to know that I was supposed to die, so I didn't. I stuck around. I figured I didn't have an option.
Guess what? You don't either. You're sticking around.
Believe in miracles and prayer, and have faith -- strong faith -- that you and modern medicine together will beat this yet, taking it one little step at a time. Your job right now is not to get gloomy, but to count the very small blessings, and keep counting, until you start to look up from down. Okay?
I will if you will.
Love and strength pouring from me to you.
MaryAnn
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Oh, sweetie,.......
(((((((((((((Cheryl)))))))))))))))))))
You have my deepest sympathies.
God bless and keep you close during this difficult time.
MaryAnn
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The only other thought I had was maybe some hard candy, sometimes the chemo leaves a funny taste in your mouth. Wrapped hard candy, rolls of life savers, stuff like that.
The open and eat soups sound like a great idea.
Also reading material. Maybe crossword puzzles, if she likes that stuff.
Maybe a small pillow like on airlines.
And I know having your own chemo blanket can be really really nice.
(And I had my chemos in the summer!!)...
That's a nice thing to do for someone. Just remember to keep it light if it is supposed to go everywhere with....
MaryAnn
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I have to tell you, I had a bad reaction to levaquin, I got dizzy and had wierd dreams, walked into walls. The MD changed my antibiotic after 5 days.
Hope your mom feels better.
You could tell the doctor she simply cannot tolerate this antibiotic, and request that he prescribe something else. I would.
MaryAnn
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Sick
in NSCLC GROUP
Becky,
I hope you feel better real soon. I truly do.
In addition to what good advice has already been posted, I want you to know that there is a throat spray called Chloraseptic that numbs the tickles that make you cough so you can get to sleep. Doesn't help anything else, but it does tame the tickles and let you get some rest.
Wish I could chase that virus right outta there!!
MaryAnn
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Gee, how about that!
Doug, I had to take prilosec for a year or so to keep a lid on the esophagitis. That was partially due to the chemo and partly the radiation. That part gets better, at least it did for me.
The numbness. Well, dear, when I woke from surgery I had full range of my left arm immediately (18 hrs later). By the time I had hit 48 hours out, I had no feeling at all in my left arm, and it was effectively dead weight.. I had pt for a year, and recovered most of the range of motion. Still some numbness in my fingertips and arm and my shoulder.. Armpit/chest area is absolutely numb. I have spoken to others with small tumors removed, and when they go in the front, the numbness is a consequence of surgery.
Pain -- Dear, I take 30 mg extended release morphine every morning and every evening, and neurontin 300 mg in the morning and 600 at night. That's since the spinal curvature increased last year about this time, putting pressure on the nerves in my neck. I had been able to get down to 15 mg morphine in the morning,and 15 in the evening prior to that. The entire time, I have also been taking 50 mg vioxx every morning, for pain.
Not only does the lung shift, but the rib cage will shift subtly as well. As I am also missing a collarbone, the shift down and in is more pronounced. Many of the anchoring ligaments and tendons are gone.
I am still short of breath at times, mostly in connection with a mild cold or worse. I did smoke for 27 years, and I have some COPD. Also some is obstructive, from the irradiated bronchial tube, and radiation scatter into the resected lobe. Some is restrictive, from the "dead" space my diaphragm has to pull before the lungs starts to expand. I had initially after surgery 'reactive airways', where my breathing would be very bad if I got a cold, and my chest would become very restricted, either down deep or near the bronchial tubes or sometimes both. That's when I'd get the course of prednisone.
Doug, in honestly, you will likely always have some numb spots. You may need to take pain meds for a long time, because when they put you back together with goretex and all, there are nerves cut, and connections that just don't go back to normal, even in the hands of an excellent surgeon.
I amaze myself at what I have to take just to function. I hold a full time job, am a single parent, drive, shop, do laundry, etc etc etc. This is what I have to do to make it through the day. Each year has gotten better than the year before. I am now 3 1/2 years post diagnosis. I actually feel pretty good. THe first year was rough, the second year wasn't so bad, but this year has been pretty good. So things re looking up.
Had the nerves to part of my larynx cut, so I can't sing... but I recovered enough of my hearing that I can listen.
I can't Irish dance, or horseback ride, but I can watch my girls do these things and appreciate it. I can also foot the bill and be the taxi.
Life is pretty darned good for someone who was supposed to be dead.
and Now I have an office with a window!!
I hope you can come to terms with the physical changes that come with survival, and be glad that you live in an age where this is possible.
Some changes are not going away.
Good luck to you.
MaryAnn
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Now I know what I looked like from the back for most of that year... lol...
You look marvelous!!!!
MaryAnn
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David,
Prayers for you and your family. Believing in the chemo next week.
XOXOX
MaryAnn
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Sally,
Glad your brother will be home soon, although I am sure your sister is sad to see him go. He is in my prayers for his next checkup.
MaryAnn
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Hello Cecilia,
I am glad you were able to get help for the pain. I hope when the meds kick in your mother will be much more comfortable. Chronic pain is exhausting, in addition to being demoralizing.
MaryAnn
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Glad Dean is home. Hope he has an easier rest today. Enjoy your weekend.
MaryAnn
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Darlin',
You're working waaaay too hard!!!.... lol
MaryAnn
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Rita, The chemo/radiation to the chest is similar to what I had, and it killed my tumor. Chances are good that there is a chemo in the arsenal that will stabilize or maybe shrink the tumor in his lung. Do you know if lymph nodes are involved?
I don't know much about brain mets and radiation, but I do know there are survivors here whose tumors have been treated with radiation, both specific (targeted) and general (for microscopic) and have had good luck.
Read the other message threads, and you will see that this is not necessarily the end of the world.
Prayers to keep you and your mom strong to help your dad.... and for your dad to do well.
MaryAnn
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Hi Dean,
For weight gain I have to keep recommending Scandia Shakes.
Without ice cream, they have 600 calories, 800 with whole milk. Can't get more calories in a liquid supplement than that.
Just my two cents.
Glad you've come through the nightmare of fire okay. Prayers for your neighbors and friends who have suffered losses....
MaryAnn
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Hello, Rita, and welcome ....
What kind of chemo is your dad on? How much/many lung(s) is(are) involved in the primary tumor? How large/many are the brain mets?
There is a possibility your dad may have more time than you might think if the response to the treatments are good.
For us to share our experiences with you, it would help if we had answers to the questions I asked above.
You have come to a good place for positive support and caring. The people here are as a family, warm and encouraging and supportive.
I wish your dad well in his treatments. I hope the stereotactic can help with his brain fuzzies, and he can be a little more coherent now.
Our prayers are with you and your dad.
MaryAnn
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and I'll stand right behind Blue. (I wish Blue had an easier name).
Prayers for Darla (I feel like a conga line...).
Who's behind me?
It takes a great deal of guts to face facts with a positive attitude sometimes. Hats off to Darla for dignity and grace in the face of adversity.
MaryAnn
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Lynne--
Good news indeed
I am glad that Dean is more comfortable, and so are you I bet...
Steroids make one feel very flushed and sweaty.... I'm glad they have a fan for him.
I hope and pray that the 30% shrinkage is just the beginning of the response to chemo.
Have faith... you and Dean together visualize the tumors shrinking (dying) a layer at a time from the outside, like peeling an onion.
I knew a fellow with stage IV, mets all over, who 7 months later was NED without surgery. Don't know how, but it did happen. My surgeon and my oncologist confirmed it, said it was the darnest thing.
Anything is possible.
I am glad you feel better about things. Don't forget to take care of yourself -- eat right, take vitamins. Don't want you to get sick from the stress.
Prayers and blessings for Lynne and Dean.
MaryAnn
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Dear Marisa,
The biggest fear we face is fear of the unknown. Please, follow up on your cancer post-op scans, and deal with fact, not fearful imaginings. Our imagination sometimes I think is our worst enemy.
Welcome to the board. Sure, I am terrified at times, but I cannot live hiding under the bed. Cannot see the small everyday blessings from there either. Won't you come out and join us ?
We often find inner resources to deal with adversity that we didn't know we had. I would bet that if you make up your mind to face your scans and deal with the results, you will find a peace you haven't had since surgery.
I never know when the other shoe is going to drop, and they're going to find something. I accept that. In the meantime, life is that much more meaningful and precious.
Good luck and God bless. I wish you well.
MaryAnn
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Hello, Cecilia,
Pleased to meet you despite the circumstances, and welcome.
I too have had experience with back pain, and I doubt it is the radiation also. I took tiime release morphine (ms contin) and when that didn't do it, there is something called a Fentanyl patch for opiate-resistant pain.
There is no reason to be in pain today. None at all.
Just a caution: make sure that your mother's bowels keep moving, the pain meds can cause things to stall out, which isn't good either.
I hope and pray the chemo/radiation will eliminate/stabilize the cancer in her back near her neck and spine, which is likely the major cause of the pain, in my humble opinion.
It is so difficult to watch those we love in pain. You can however choose to bulldog the doctors and nurses until the pain is under control. It may take some tweaking to get it right. You must love your mother very much, I can sense that from here.
You and your mom are in our prayers. I hope she feels better soon.
MaryAnn
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Cindy, Blue,
I wish I could tell you to squeeze my hand really hard until I can take some of the pain and anxiety away. I took when I needed to take, when I absolutely had no choice any more. I had always been the strong one. It was HARD to accept that I wasn't self contained and tuff any more.
I wish I could wrap my arms around you and give you all a big hug, and hold you until you can let it go, and give it to God to worry about.
Sometimes dealing with what life deals us is a really tall order. It is for me. I know when the other shoe drops you all will be there for me.
Blessings and prayers all around. We are indeed a privileged community here. We have each other. I am lucky to belong.
MaryAnn
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Jay, you are in my prayers.
Chin up, hang tough.
MaryAnn
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Dave,
Hang tough. Breathe deeply.
Cancer is a disease, it is a part of the journey -- or roller coaster ride, as it may be.
Take some time. Think. Regroup.
Ask, What do I need to do now to be proactive on my own behalf?
Love your wife and your family. Savor the small blessings that are underfoot every day.
Have faith, and believe in miracles, one at a time.
God bless and keep you, Dave.
You and your wife are in my prayers.
Warmest,
MaryAnn
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~GREAT!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MaryAnn
mom
in INTRODUCE YOURSELF!
Posted
Dolly,
Salutations on your natal day. I am so sorry you are in such pain.
Sending prayers and blessings for you.
Time will pass, and you will begin to heal......
but you will never forget the love you and your mother shared.
That's how it should be.
MaryAnn