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bohojack

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  1. I have read on here a few times about people being in bed sleeping a lot, losing color and just generally declining right before the end, and a few cases of people seeming to bounce back and have a last burst of energy before declining again... I'm wondering how common this is? What does the last stretch usually look like? Mom has been mostly bedridden for the past year as she has paraneoplastic syndrome as well, but she would normally be awake, able to talk and socialize and get up and down a few times during the day. When she was on steroids she could move around almost normally, if still stiffly. The homecare nurse has suggested we make 'preparations' and asked if she wants to be in hospice, etc. She's pretty much been in bed sleeping since last Monday, with one or two good days here and there. Her color is pale and she seems weaker and more confused. She'll slip back into sleeping in the middle of a sentence and gets huge headaches from just moving. It's hard to get her to eat or drink, and my whole family is very worried. My dad is next to her all the time now and every time I go in their room he seems to have a scared look on his face, just under the surface, without meaning to. Is this what things usually look like? They said we might have up to 9 months but now none of us are so sure. I guess I'm just looking for some advice, reassurance, I don't really know. Seems like a question you wouldn't generally want to know the answer to even if you could...
  2. Thank you everyone for your kind replies... I talked to both my mom and dad and mom's set up a counseling appointment for the family through the home-care nurse that visits once a week. I guess they're a grief counselor. I'm not really sure how that works or how it will go - my family has never really all sat down to talk about any one issue, especially something as serious as this. I suppose I just can't picture a counselor being here often enough to make a difference for all of us or to be any help to all of us as individuals. Some of the stories I read on here are so uplifting, and some so sad. I used to come on here a lot and read people's stories in their signatures to get an idea what a 'typical treatment' looked like only to realize nothing really counted as typical. There have been a few stories about this illness hitting one family member after another that have struck me as particularly sad and depressing. Both sides of my family have a history with cancer and I can't help but worry and be fearful that my son may go through this same thing when I'm older. Both my grandmothers have had breast cancer, my paternal grandfather and great grandmother died of colon cancer, my mom has lung cancer... there was a cousin of my dad who died at 19 of breast cancer... It's just so horrible, all of it, that I have to remind myself that living fearfully of something I don't have all that much control over is no way to live. Maybe that's selfish, given that it's not me going through it right now. I'm just so terrified of ever having to deal with this with anyone else in my family or my son going through what I am going through... I wish this had never happened to her. I know that goes without saying but... she was never a bad person. If anything she's suffered a great deal and struggled through a lot in her life. A lot of abuse and neglect, a lot of pain and fear... it just seems so wrong and makes me so angry that she's had to bear so much pain throughout her life and has still so much more and not enough joy before she may have to leave. Just echoing the universal sentiment of 'it's not fair,' I guess. I'm so glad this site exists and that there is someplace to come and receive some support and encouragement. It means a lot. Just to be able to come here and read that people do care and do understand is so helpful and great. I only wish we all didn't have to be going through this in one way or another.
  3. It's been a while since I've been on, I'm not sure if anyone remembers me. I joined up last year while I was pregnant and my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I tried logging in a few times but the site for some reason didn't want to remember my username so I sort of gave up pretty quickly. It's hard to motivate yourself to talk about it if you're used to having to glaze over to go on with everyday life. Since my last visit, mom's tumor in her lung shrank by about 50%, and is still shrinking... this is the good news but it seems there is so often so much more bad. In early May mom had a seizure and they found a few mets to the brain including one larger one that had caused the seizure. They also discovered a blood clot in her lung which was being treated with heparin injections for a while. The morning she had the seizure was not nice. I had to leave the baby downstairs and ran up hearing her pleading and 'sleep screaming' and begging with the paramedics, trying to run away terrified of them... I've never seen anyone come out of a seizure or have a seizure before so it was very scary for me. Within a few days of being admitted to the hospital after the seizure, she was scheduled for brain surgery to remove the tumor, which was pretty terrifying. Just prior to going in for the surgery, her anesthesiologist was the one to break the news that her treatment had been changed from curative to palliative. It just slipped out and there it was, right before she had to go under the knife for a scary surgery. She came out fine and has healed well, and was talking almost normally within days (aside from reversing genders sometimes) Since then mom has had a few scans... I don't know what is going on with the blood clot but we were waiting to see if they could do targeted radiation on the brain mets.. we waited a month for them to even scan her again after a 5 day full brain radiation course, and by then she had 9 mets to the brain. We were told that because it had gone over the allowed 3 for her to be elligible for the targeted radiation, there was nothing they could do anymore. That we're on our own now. The man that told my mom this - that basically they are done helping and are ready to leave her to die - told her so on the phone while she was at a restaurant with my dad. She asked him to please wait and she would call him when she wasn't in public but he remarked that he had meetings to get to and it couldn't wait and he'd just tell her now. From the start of this horrible journey, mom was suspected to have lupus... then she went to one oncologist, who passed her off onto another, who went on sabbatical, so she was passed off to another, who went on vacation, so she was passed off to another, who had a conference to go to.... I'm not even sure if she's seen the same oncologist more than 3 times. The ones she has been able to get in contact with seem to think she is someone else's responsibility. Her info gets lost from one person to the next, she gets bad news by hearing it from nurses and anesthesiologists rather than a doctor.... no one even bothered introducing her to the head nurse at the cancer clinic until about a month ago. I don't know what to do. Though I suppose there's nothing I can. They're saying she's got 6 - 9 months left. I just had my son, her first grandchild in the family, in January and she's glad to think she'll see his first birthday, the first Christmas, but angry at the thought of not having more. I'm angry at it too. And I don't know why but our relationship has changed... for some reason I find myself less patient with her, less understanding. I feel angry at her but I know I shouldn't and I know it's wrong to behave like that. I just don't really know what the hell to do anymore. I'm 21... with my first child with a man who runs out on me or cheats on me when he gets the chance... my mom is sick... this is my first time as a mom and I'm just trying to glaze over so that I can actually function with my son... I keep thinking, if and when I lose her, then what? She's always been my best friend and confidante. She's always given me advice and helped me figure out where to go and what to do, she's always been the glue for this family. Without her here I'm afraid my dad and brother and I just won't have enough in common to even bother seeing each other. That dad will just disappear travelling to take his mind off things and lose himself, and my brother will just kind of fall away into working and never call... and I'll be completely alone with just me and my son who I don't know the first thing about how to raise him properly to be a good person... how not to screw up, how to deal with things with his dad. I feel like such a lost little kid who depends so much on her mom that even acknowledging the situation is enough to make me panicky... I don't want to lose her, I don't want her to be scared, I don't want to be alone, I don't want her to miss out on so much that she should still be able to see. There are more grandchildren for her someday, there are more adventures for her and my dad to have... I just feel incredibly lost and isolated. I feel like a child with a child who just wants her mommy, and I have no one to talk to. Because I'm a young mom, most of my friends are at completely different places in their lives. Some are just buying homes or just settling into committed relationships. Most are still out clubbing and partying and just coasting around. I never even see anyone anymore, I don't ever have anyone to talk to other than my dad and brother who I can't seem to communicate with, and my son's dad who's been nothing but trouble for me. I feel like I put on a pretty brave face for the family and the baby but inside I feel myself seizing up like something is breaking and I'm just waiting to collapse when anything happens with mom. The slightest thing gets on my nerves and I want to explode and break everything but I just sit there frozen and don't speak. I don't want to be some crazy wreck of a mother to my son. I don't want to treat my mom any differently... I want her to have peace and joy with her family, not bickering and stupid conflicts... yet I can't seem to even get my head wrapped around anything. I don't have money for counseling and I don't drive to get anywhere for it either.. I'm sorry if this sounds like a big pity post I just don't really know where else to spew anymore... Love and prayers to everyone. I hope all of you and your families are enjoying happy days and much warmth with one another, and I really sincerely mean that.
  4. Mom has now spoken to her oncologist personally... it turns out the tumor is wrapped around a major artery feeding into her right arm, making surgery deemed impossible. She says she was told that it's been attempted many times but that it's been unsuccessful due to the amount of blood loss... I don't want to try to interpret that, or think about what unsuccessful means. I will be writing to cancergrace tonight. I just had my son on Tuesday and talked to mom on Thursday about this. The mix of crappy news, sleep deprivation, hormones in flux and not getting enough to eat has made me break down and bawl many times already. She is so happy to meet her grandson. She takes him sometimes in the evening/afternoon for his naps while I do the cleaning or catch some shut eye myself. I want and need her to be here and see him grow up with me. I'm hoping the other opinions I'll be seeking from surgeons may contain more hopeful news, but at the same time I'm scared we will get ourselves into a situation where surgery may be far more dangerous than it should be. Feeling at a loss these days. I wish someone would jump out and say 'hey, I have the cure!' and just fix all this mess.
  5. Thank you all for your kindness. Mom and I talked today when she got home from radiation; she has an appointment set up with the surgeon and is still optimistic and going to look into other surgeons. She has the impression that the surgeon may not want to get involved unless there is a 100% chance of success, something to do with his track record. Imagine that... The surgeons with the highest success rates having them because of turning people down for potentially curative procedures. I'm trying not to dwell on it too much. I'm still angry that he didn't have the common courtesy to even let her know personally - that she had to hear it down the grapevine from the radiation people. She's as displeased with his conduct in this as I am and plans to address everything with him at the appointment. I know we should be grateful to the doctors and caregivers.. maybe I sound a little bit like a jerk for ranting like this, but I really don't see him as having done anything for us aside from dangle hope in front of our noses and then take it away. That's not to say anything is hopeless. We've certainly not lost hope and the will to keep battling through this. But I really think this doctor is an *ss for not even scheduling some time to talk to her personally about the situation now.
  6. Mom's just finished her second round of chemo, and we've received some unsettling news from her radiation dr, that she was told by the thorasic surgeon he's not planning to do the surgery to remove her right lung. Initially he'd said 'before Christmas,' then it was 'after chemo and radiation,' and now he's not planning to do it??? I can't help but feel angry, betrayed, terrified ... I want to go punch this doctor in the nose. Mom had a recent CT scan, right before Christmas and the results that came back were pretty vague. The radiation doctor said that because it was so early and inflammation or scar tissue could account for some of the mass, that they couldn't really tell what progress was made just yet. So why is the thorasic surgeon, after seeing this one CT scan a month into treatment, now canceling the surgery? We were under the impression that was the only curative option... now what the hell are we supposed to do? Mom is trying to get an appointment with him to see what his criteria are for surgery and why she doesn't meet them - to try and gain some understanding of this situation. I'm still a little shocked. Not only did he suggest that curing this was around the corner initially, but when he changed his mind about the surgery he didn't even have the decency to set up an appointment with mom to talk about it and go over her options, nothing. We've called another doctor of ours and will be seeking out some other opinions aside from this doctor's, to see where we REALLY stand on this surgery issue. It's so frustrating and so disheartening. After only a month of treatment, with the possibility of just inflammation making progress hard to guage, how can they just drop the surgery option completely like that? Another thing, my mom has been told now that she's done her two rounds of chemo she can never have chemo again - that it's a once in a lifetime thing. Is this true? It doesn't seem right - I read the stories on here and it seems like people often have more than just a few rounds. Any words of advice would be really wonderful. This has been very unhappy news and all I keep doing is thinking 'why the hell' and getting angry at her doctor..
  7. Well, we got the results from the follow-up x-ray yesterday. It was sort of one of those... 'no different from not knowing' kind of things. At this point, they say it's too early to tell how much shrinkage there has been from the radiation as she's only been doing radiation for a month, and some of the mass shown in the x-ray could be inflammation from it. I have to say I find it a little confusing. I've read on here people who've had radiation for a brief period and seen a big difference in their x rays. I guess I worry that the doctors are trying to buffer what could potentially be bad news, or that my parents are doing the same. Or just that we're not having the miraculous NED/remission results I prayed for. It seems at times they hold information back from my brother and I so as not to upset us. Really I think he and I have aged so much from this in the past few months that having anyone hold something back for our protection is sort of more hurtful than just hearing whatever it is. Mom's next round of chemo starts this coming Monday. She is off the steroid now, this is her first day off and she's already been having a rough day. Woke up with lots of pain so she took some extra morphine and was out of it most of the day. She's tired again, and walks slowly with lots of pain. I think they'll be giving her more of the steroid again with the chemo, so that should give her at least a few good days. But it's going to be hard facing the month after chemo, with more radiation and no steroid to keep her pain and inflammation at bay. I have to say I am feeling very overwhelmed. I've been trying to do a little extra this holiday season to thank the people who've helped us, and I've been in the kitchen for three days with a steadily more achy back as a result. Also managed to get in a heated argument with my grandmother last night about her being rude to my fiance, and I seem to be finding myself more at odds with all the family aside from my mom. Everyone is stressed and tense and I'm feeling stretched too thin, so I'm more sensitive to the little snaps. So close to my due date it's kind of wearing me out and feels to be piling on. Added on top, I've lost my best friend recently due to her insensitivity about the cancer issue and my pregnancy, and haven't received any support or even any 'are you ok' type thing from any other friends. Maybe this is just me whining, but aside from my fiance I am feeling very isolated and overwhelmed these days, and often under-appreciated. I want to do everything, as best I can, and take as much of the burden off the rest of my family as possible, but every day it gets tougher as I get closer to my due date. I feel really helpless and useless. Enough of me whining and being melancholy on Christmas. I hope everyone is having a good Christmas and having a nice time with their families in these few days - despite everything I really am thankful for this time of year bringing family together.
  8. Mom has been doing fairly well over the past few weeks. The dexamethasone she's been taking to control the inflammation and pain in her legs has also greatly helped her appetite. She went from losing 10 lbs in the beginning to now having gained 20 lbs. We'd thought the puffy cheeks were from the steroid but her doctors said today, "nope, she hasn't been on it long enough, that's from weight gain." I suppose that's a really good thing. It was sort of funny, thinking it was moon-face from the steroid then being told 'nope, you're just gaining weight!' I know chemo can really take a toll on some people but with the steroid my mom has been doing SO well. She is actually looking fuller and healthier with more color in her cheeks. It's a nice change, a really wonderful thing to see her able to enjoy her days. She has lost most of her hair at this point but has two wigs that she likes quite a bit. Standing in the bathroom with her, cutting her hair for her is I'm sure something neither of us will ever forget. The first time I saw a bald patch, I felt a little upset but quickly stuffed that down. As I stood above her cutting off what was left of her hair she just sat there and smiled. It was a bizarre bonding experience but there was sort of a mutual silent understanding and closeness that was really nice. The doctors will be calling us soon with an appointment for her next chest x-ray. This one should tell us how much the chemo and radiation has done over the last month or thereabouts, and should let her onc know if she's at a stage where surgery is possible. I'm praying that she is... but rather than hope for her whole lung to be removed, I'm praying that this chemo and radiation has shrunk the tumor down so much she could just have part of her lung taken out - or better yet, that the cancer is completely gone. I'm keeping my hopes high, but the idea of having a scan, and possibly the results, right before Christmas is scary. I'm very anxious about knowing where we're at as far as beating this thing. Knowing the baby is on his way in less than a month on top of possibly facing mom's surgery, or lack of surgery, is terrifying me. Just looking for a little support, I guess. I hope everyone is doing well and is enjoying their holidays with their families. The holidays, and all the baking and decorating and visiting and time spent together seem to take on a much greater significance now.
  9. Hello all, I hope your week has gone well! Mom is done her IV drip and is now on a pill antibiotic. I don't know if I updated this before but the chemo my mom is on are cisplatin and etoposide (sorry if I spelled them wrong) So far she is actually not feeling too run down from the chemo, which is very encouraging. She's starting to experience some hair loss (although she's always had a very very thick mane of tight curls so it's hard to tell unless she is pulling it out of the brush after a bath) For the first few days after the ER trip mom was really beat and run down seeming. She slept all day when she got home. They did a blood culture and said she had a staff infection (staph?) which we are not sure how she got. Good news! Mom is spending less and less time in bed. Her few good days during the chemo IV have now been contributed to the dexamethasone she was being given with the treatments. Weird because it's a corticosteroid much like the prednisone she was previously on (when they thought it was lupus) but at a higher potency. The prednisone didn't help her at all, yet this one seems to be the ticket. They've given her a prescription for it and she's experiencing a TON of relief from the leg pain. Up and about for a large part of the day, and I had a hard time waddling around keeping up with her! She came to the basement suite for a good part of the day to help me pack up her and my dad's stuff from the kitchen so I can use it, and puttered around in the baby's nursery for a while after the crib was set up. It's so good to see her smiling and mobile - it seems the days where she wasn't bedridden and crying were WAY too few and far between. No one should have to spend their days crying in bed in the first place, let alone for months on end. She's very excited to meet her grandson. I am anxiously awaiting the scan she'll have at the end of the month to check on the progress of treatment and keeping my hopes high
  10. Hi, thank you for the encouragement It's good to have a place to come and talk about this with people who actually are of all like minds about it. Talking about it with some people seems to be more upsetting than reassuring as there's some members of our family/friends with no tact and only negative things to say. I'm glad to be able to come here. Mom went to the hospital at 3 am today, with a 38.4 fever (I think this is somewhere around 101 or 102 farenheit?) She was there until about 8, got an IV drip with antibiotics. She had a chest scan done but they couldn't see anything looking like pneumonia. So they're saying there's either an infection somewhere in her body but they don't know where, or it is her body reacting to the tumor. Originally my mom was put on chemo about 2 weeks ago for obstructive pneumonia (by our family doctor not her oncologist) and now they can't spot any pneumonia.. it's frustrating. Even more so when they can say 'well it's not ___ but, really, we don't know what it is.' Mom is resting for now, feeling a bit better I think. Anybody have experience with fevers during treatment? I've heard that it can be caused by the tumor - and I've heard 'no, cancer doesn't cause fevers.' So I'm kind of confused about it. Anything we should keep an eye out for? Mom's going back to the hospital every morning for the next few days for the antibiotic IV drip.
  11. I'm still new here and I hadn't gotten to know you or your dad through your posts, but I wanted to offer my condolences. It really does sound like he was surrounded by so much love as he went.
  12. Well, mom's finished her first week of chemo/radiation. The chemo is done now, until late December when she'll have another round. Had a bit of a reaction to the cisplatin, but it wasn't severe. Her cheeks have been a bit rosy the past few days but we're keeping an eye on her temperature and so far she's seeming ok. I'm pretty surprised that after only a week of this, she's experiencing less fatigue and less pain in her legs. It makes me so happy. On the days she has to go downtown to the clinic she is up and moving around a lot when she comes home; it's a really nice thing to see. Her mood has improved, too, now that she's a little more mobile. No nausea so far, and she's been taking all the anti-nausea drugs religiously, as she's afraid of the extra weight loss. The drugs are keeping her up a bit at night but otherwise she seems to be fairing pretty well. Had a bit of a cry today when she touched my belly, saying she loves the baby already. I was having a bad day due to other stress so I had to give her a hug and leave the room not to cry. My grandma called a few days ago. That was difficult. She says my mom is pushing her away, and leaving her out. Really, my grandma is the type that needs people to coddle her and take care of her. And that's just not my mom's job through all of this. It's none of our jobs. I had a hard time not getting angry as I was explaining it's up to her to take care of her own wellbeing. That I'm 20, I'm the baby of the family, and I'm having a baby as my mom is going through this - I'm not one to cry to about not being coddled. Maybe that's cruel of me, but I have a hard time with talking to my grandma crying at me and expecting me to mother her... On top of that she has been asking my mom's doctors about her condition. She went as far as to ask our family doctor what mom's chances were. She then decided to tell ME what the numbers were (my parents had not told me and I didn't really feel the need to know, I'm keeping faith whatever the historical statistics might be) She asks if, whenever I'm alone, I'll call her and let her know what's going on with mom. It's hard to deal with. I know my grandmother lives alone and doesn't 'have anyone' but she could call one of her other children, and get support from them. My family is rallied around my mom and giving her the support and care she needs is our focus and is stressful enough, without also cradling her mother through this. I think I'll cut my vent short here. I bought a wig for mom, not too expensive and in a cut she likes - we'll see if she wants to use it often or not. I'm going to have a mother's ring made for her for Christmas. I told her that (I had to explain that it would probably not be something expensive as money is tight and I'll be paying for it out of EI, but that I wanted her to have a mother's ring as I know it's special to her) and she seemed really touched. I'll update more later on, just thought I should stop in. I hope everyone is doing well during the holiday season, and getting to spend some warm time with their families.
  13. Hi everyone. Mom is doing about the same. Chemo and radiation haven't started yet but she had an acupuncture appointment last night. Nothing really to report there, as they say the results are cumulative? I'd never heard of acupuncture as a treatment for cancer symptoms but if it works, I'm (and my family are) all for it. We've been taking it easy the last couple of days.. The depression is a huge factor for her. Not being able to get up and move around or care for herself makes her overwhelmingly sad sometimes, and feel pretty hopeless. There has been a little less chaotic crying from what I can see... or maybe I'm just not witnessing it as much? I'm not too sure. I went out and bought her about 15 different hats/toques yesterday. She asked me to pick a few up for when winter comes and she started losing her hair, and admittedly I went a little overboard! I feel this need for everything I do for my mom to be 'right' and pleasing, and I think sometimes I can go overboard on trying too hard. She's not worried about losing her hair, though. We've been browsing around looking on ebay for a wig for her. She's been considering just cutting her hair now and having short hair until chemo, in the meantime we're just scoping out what kind of wig to get. Any suggestions from anyone? I've never bought or owned a wig, or known anyone who did so I'm a little lost with it. There seems to be a lot of different types and they can get REALLY expensive. I'm on maternity leave so I don't have a ton of money for it but I would like to get her something nice..
  14. hey everyone, thank you all for your replies. this is an awful thing for any family, but I am glad that there are support groups like this one. I really hope that everyone is right, and that this first part will be the hardest - seems like it's impossible to have a full day here without someone crying. I try my best not to, or to at least be away from my mom if I need to have a meltdown, but we all have our good days and our bad days. Thanks blueeye for the website link. I checked it out and it seems great - I've already found myself understanding a few things more clearly since visiting. I am really glad to hear that chemo is not as much an ordeal as it used to be. I think that there were a lot of preconceived notions about cancer in my family - much of my father's side of the family died from various types of cancer. When we heard 'lung cancer' I think we all broke down for a few days before being able to put one foot in front of the other, and try as we all might I think we still have some old fashioned notions about it - such as chemo still being so intensely hard on the body. It's very encouraging to know that people have gotten through it without too much in the way of bad side effects. And sooo encouraging that there are 5 and 10 year survivors out there. I've been reading threads on this site since my mom was diagnosed, and seeing these survivor stories is what I credit for me being able to snap out of the fog I was in. It was really great to see my mom read the stories, too, and see a little hope grow in her. As for me, still sick and compulsively hand-washing/hand-sanitizing, and keeping my distance. My brother and dad both took a few days off work to be with my mom while I'm quarantined downstairs I am really looking forward to being healthy again and being able to spend time with her, though. Seems like all I want to do these days is 'be around my mommy.' Thanks again to everyone, your encouragement and kindness is really appreciated. I hope that you're all experiencing some calm and some peace in your lives
  15. I'm new here, so I'll introduce myself and tell our family's story before I ask my question I suppose. My name is Jackie, I'm 20 years old and still living with my parents, and my brother. I found out I was pregnant in May, so right now I am about 7 months in, and living in the basement suite of my parents house. This has been a struggle, and knowing that my mom has a first grandson on the way - my first child, my brother doesn't have any children - has made it that much scarier. I need my mom now more than ever, and it's been difficult, and strange, to be 20, pregnant, and taking care of my mom who is bedridden. My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer at the beginning of last month, after being tentatively diagnosed with lupus. She has a paraneo plastic syndrome which affects her legs, causing lots of swelling and pain - this keeps her in bed most days, along with general fatigue. This is why they thought it was lupus at first, but it is a side effect of the cancer, and as such is untreatable until something has been done about the tumor. Initially, the doctors had her on prednisone (started at about 20mg and moved up to 50mg when it wasn't working, weaned off quickly when cancer found) and methotrexate as they were thinking they were fighting lupus, not cancer. She stopped both medications and is currently not taking anything other than tylenol to combat pain, and atavan to keep her nerves calm. The cancer is said to be large cell carcinoma at about 5x4cm, if not a little larger, and it's located so close to the bronchial tube that operating would require removing the whole lung. This can't be done as of yet, as she has a few affected lymph nodes in the area. So for right now, they are going to start chemo and radiation, and do that for about 4 weeks, and do another scan to see if surgery can be done. I have two questions/problems... the first is: what can we expect with my mom's first round of chemo? she's a strong woman but she's been off her feet for months now and is weakened already from the syndrome. I know the radiation will likely cause her some weight loss and pain in her throat, and that the chemo will most likely make her nauseous and cause hair loss.. is there anything else anyone can tell me to expect? How to be prepared? Also, I'm wondering if this seems like the right course of action for the time being, as I know a lot of those here have more experience with this disease than our family who is very new to it. The radiation doctor said she would have an appointment for us by the end of Nov... but between her first CT scan in late September, and the PET scan she had a week ago, the tumor has grown 1cm. We're feeling like we don't have that kind of time to wait to start radiation and chemo, and I'm terrified that the radiation doctor just doesn't care, or isn't taking it seriously. I want my mom to start her treatment ASAP, is there any way I can get this moving faster? On top of all this, I've come down with a cold right now so I am staying away and in the basement suite. Even if she hasn't started treatment there's no sense exposing her to a cold right now. Wondering how careful I should be - should I stay somewhere else til I'm better or just make sure my hands are clean when I'm upstairs briefly getting food? I don't know how careful I am supposed to be right now. I was going to be the only one home with her today but when I woke up sick I had my brother take the day off to take care of her as I don't want her to catch it... any advice? Any help or advice would be great. I am going to talk to my dad about the wait time for treatment tonight, and see if speaking to her oncologist can get this ball rolling sooner. Sorry I know this is super long, but I'm sure you can understand, I'm scared and feel new and lost to all this, it's all foreign and terrifying to me.
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