Roseymac

I beleive my husband coughed some black gunk last year when he had first began radiation, it didn't last too long, after that he had a lot of clear for a while, now he rarely coughs at all. Maybe it was caused by the radiation. I would ask the Doctor. Hope this helps a little Rosemary

I am so very sad reading this, I am praying for TBone and your family. Rosemary

Dean, Thank you for reposting I really needed to read that today. Made me finally take a deep breathe and finally let go and calm down. My poor husband thinks I have turned into Xena Warrior Princess, this last week. Fred had a Scan last week and the Radiologist who read it compared it to a Scan in Feb instead of the scans from April and May. Now we had them the same place just that the Pet CT in April was done at their Voorhees office instead of Turnersville (still in the comp) This scan was then read that it was much worse and spreading. This was going to change his whole line of treatment again and when I realized the mistake I just flipped. Poor Dr. inherited us because ours just retired, so he was clueless. Hopefully it will all be straightened out and he can continue on his treatment, cause the new one they wanted him to go 5 days a week for chemo. Geez Kinda glad his platelets were down and they could not start Monday so I had time to try and fix this mess. This is why I always ask for copies of all reports that are sent to the Dr. you have to be on top of them at all times it seems. Thank you again Dean Rosemary

Joni, I am so sorry for the loss of your Husband, he was too young for this awful disease, it just breaks my heart. I will be thinking and praying for you and Alex. (((Hugs))) Rosemary

Kathleen, My Husband is going through that now with his platelets, he has not been able to get his chemo now over 4 weeks. They did start to go back up last week 90,000 now they are down to 50,000 again (Without Chemo) They were planning to start him on a new drug Topitican today but have to wait till his counts get up to 100,000 again. Dr. said it is pretty common after a lot of rounds of chemo. Rosemary

Cheryl, Welcome Back, I am so glad you are home 11 days is just too long. It's funny the things we can find to amuse ourselves when we are so bored. I will have to remember that one Your Doc sound like he ahs a really food plan for you too. (Hugs) Rosemary

TeeTaa, I am so sad to hear TBone is in so much pain I will be praying for him, that tomorrow the Dr.s will find something that will give him releif. You all are such a wonderful caring family it just breaks my heart to hear he is in so much pain. The pain management centers are wonderful. Hugs Rosemary

Sandy, That is Great News, I have been wondering about you. So Happy to hear some good news. Rosemary

Paddy, My husband had the Magic Mouthwash because he had hard time swallowingfrom pain, gosh I know he said it was awful I still have 2 full bottles of it, so I really don't think that is the answer, to get him to want to eat. Maybe if you call your onc's office they can give him something to take the meal taste away. Also as Fay had said the carnation instant breakfast is great, my husband would drink that when he wouldn't eat anything. Rosemary

Addie, Your probablly right here are some side effects Amifostine may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away: nausea vomiting flushing (feeling of warmth) chills ( feeling of coldness) fever dizziness or lightheadedness drowsiness sneezing hiccups All sound as if they would make you feel awful, let your Doctor know. Hope this helps Rosemary

Hi Jen, My husband had liver mets when he was diagnosed in Sept, there were so many they kept saying to numberous to count. Well after his first line of Chemo(from Sept to Jan) they were all gone, and so far have not grown back. Hope this helps Hugs and Prayers Rosemary

Hi Renee, My husband was diagnosed with Extensive Small Cell in Sept. He finished his first line of treatment of Radiation and Chemo in January, and has staarted again because of new lynph and thyroid invlolvement as of April 22. The Doctors were sure he had only months to live. First i had prayed he would see Thanksgivng, then it was Christmas and New Years, then he made it to his birthday and now Fathers day. Now I am hoping for our anniversary August 15th, this is also the day he started becomming ill(loss of voice because of tumor in the chest on nerve) had lost so much weight and would do nothing but sleep. So we have a made it a year almost now, now I have become greedy and hopefully we will get to do repeat all the holidays I looked forward to last year. Prayers and Hugs for you both Rosemary

The waiting it out has to be the worse, we just went through that for 2 weeks, his Platelets, and reds, were so bad they couldn't do it, and then the dog scratched him and they wouldn't do it. Now he said he can feel the tumor in the thyroid has gotten a lot bigger, I keep telling him it is his imagination. Try some baby beef calf liver and iron pills, I had heard before that iron feeds a tumor, like sugar, so I never let him take anything with iron, well the Dr's told me it is all not true including the sugar(the body will make it's own sugar suppy) So we have been loading up on iron and liver. Also the new Dr. just ordered his arensnep? shots once a week instead of every three weeks as we were doing with the last line of treatment. I try to look at it this way (waitng means more cancer cells out to kill) Rosemary

Ginny, I am so sorry you had to hear bad news, I am pryaing for you and Earl Please push the Dr. for an alternative treatment they may have something else to offer Hon if not there maybe someplace else. Hugs Rosemary

Addie, My husband has always had Neulasta, he gets the shot the day after chemo and it last the 21 days till his next cycle. He has had no problems at all with his white cells getting too low so I guess it works, and was better for us than getting Neuopogen shots everyday. I know my Dad had the Neuopogen and had to go everyday for the shot till his next chemo. Saved us a lot of Co-Pays also. Rosemary

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID

Hi Beth, As Rochelle said the weight gain 2200 works wonders, my daughter works at GNC and recomends it to everyone on Chemo, I mix a little protein powder and a couple scoops of ice cream all in the blender with it and he will drink it even likes it. He has gained back over 25 lbs since using it. I know what you mean about reminding him to eat my Husband is the same way I try to leave little snacks for him because he won't get it himself, even when he says he is not hungary I make him something and he usually winds up eating it, once I put it out. It has been awful hot here so that does a number on your appitite also, but I did get a prescription from the Dr. for just in case it is Megace. Prayers for you and your Hubby Rosemary

Loopy Banana Chunks here.

Age really should not make a differance here,while my husband was having radiation, I became friendly with a woman that brought her grandfather in everyday for radiation he was going to be 100 in Oct. he had a little dementia , and they never told him it was cancer just told him that the light would help his pain, he always came in smiling and talking. I would ask for a second opinion. Don't just let them sweep her under the rug because of age. And ask the Dr. for something that will increase her appetite if she is not too hungry, or start her on ensure and make sure she drinks them. Rosemary

Ginny, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your sister, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Rosemary and Fred

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support during Freds Surgery (The Montgomery Procedure) Well it was no simple operation as we were told, he had drainage tubes filling with blood from the neck for 3 days, was more congested than he has been since last September, and lots of pain. Went in feeling great came out beat up . I really wish they would have gone over everything a little more with him and told him he would wake up with drainage tubes and coughing blood and feeling awful, (Scared us) they just stresssed it was a little simple procedure. I know last time I had surgery they told me exactly what I would wake up to. Also they had said he would be able to talk immedately, well he sounds just like when he went in, now they say it takes some time. At this time he feels better,congestion is gone, swelling went down, and not much pain, but not so sure he is happy he had it done.(Maybe it was simple compared to a lot of others surgeries) Just Scarey !!! I dropped off the films of the PET/Ct the onc wanted to see them, because the report wasn't so good, he said not to read too much into them. I know it says the lymph node in the r side is now twice as big as it was in Feb 3cm, and that he has a pneumonitis, could this be the pleural effusion they were seeing all along on the CT's? I know on the report it says to follow up with CT scan, thought this PET CT showed us more, maybe too much more ! Rosemary

Fred has a new test called a PET CT scheduled for tomorrow. Hopefully all goes well, I know this is a really cancer sensative test and picks up every little thing. I was told before this is why they don't do it for Small Cell, but now because of a lymph node they want to do. Everything has been going so well I hate to have it blow up in our face. I think weve kind of been in a (we beat it mode ) It has been over 6 months since his diagnosis and he is starting to look and feel great. Put on over 25 lbs. and all the hair is growing back nice and thick. Monday he has surgery planned for the Montgomery Procedure (for his voice) this is going to be a trying week. Wish us well, and lots of prayers needed. Rosemary

Berisa, I am so sorry to hear this news, your Dad has been through so much. First, don't give up on the antibiotics they have some very good ones, that are made to treat your Fathers infection. It may be a tough one but I am sure the Doctors will try to fight it with what is best. And then you go on from there. I will be praying for you and your Family. Rosemary

Has anyone here ever had or heard of the Montgomery Procedure? Fred has had no voice since Aug of last year, we were orginally told with Chemo and Radiation it would come back, it has gotten a little deeper but not much and it is so frustrating for him, the Doctors figured the nerve for the vocal cord was compressed so long, it is damaged. He is scheduled to go into the Hospital April 12th and it will only be a one night stay. They put this little prostetic piece of silicone on the flap of the vocal cord to keep it closed so he will be able to speek. They go in through the side of the neck it sounds very promising, the Dr. has said it is a better procedure than the teflon, and tells us the results will be immediate. As you might imagine he is so excited about this, not sure why they waited this long to even inform us about it. ( I cannot imagine not being able to speak for 7 months myself I am a chatterbox).

I think I had posted this before but here is what happened to my Husband. Our Onc was pretty insistant he receive PCI we struggled with it for two weeks read everything we could and decided he would go for it. When we went to the Radiation Onc she was very hesitant and spoke with us frankly that they usually only do it for limited small cell. Her theory being that by doing low dose PCI if he does get Brain Mets, the radiaiton will not be as effective. It is easier to go after the mets when and if they come and if we had PCI we couldn't treat as aggresively She also told us that chanches for Brain Mets were 1 in 2, not very good odds, and that low dose Radiation may bring them out. So in other words she was saying don't fix it unless it's broke. I would talk to the Doctors about the issues and make your decision with Him. Rosemary