Don M

Please accept my condolences for the loss of your mom. Don M

Peachy: I had 4 rounds of carboplatin/gemzar. I had some fatigue and a little bit of not feeling quite well. I usually recovered a week before the next infusion. I took compazine and dexadron for nausea, walked in the morning and took a nap in the afternoon and drank a lot of water. I think alimta was a little bit harder for me. Don M

Debbie: My side effects from alimta were fatigue and some shortness of breath. I did not recover from the effects until about he day before the next infusion. One nice thing about it was that the infusion only took 20 minutes. Don M

Welcome Jerry; I am currently trying to get rid of a cancer in my remaining lung. Once I get off the prednisone and get cancer fee, I am going to build my lung back up. You certainly give me hope. I have read that playing the harmonica is a good pulmonary therapy. I used to play it rather often some years ago. I will take it up again. I fooled arond with it a littel bit last night. don M

Welcome Debbie; It does kind of smooth out once you get into the routine of treatment. I hope the alimta works better for your mom. another possibility is carboplatin/gemzar. Don M

Good luck with the WBR AAron. Don M

Hi Sparky...welcome to lchelp.

Creekgirl has my prayers. Don M

Ry... I am sorry you have lost John. Please accept my condolences. Don M

I hope your grandpa gets to feel better soon. I had treatment related pneumonia and coughing. They gave me antibiotics and steroids and I felt better within days. Maybe your grandpa has pneumonitis as I do. I hope the hallucinations have stopped by now. Don M

If they are going after a lymph node, it could be a mediastinoscopy. http://www.cancer.gov/Templates/db_alph ... drID=46287 Don M

Ken: I would assume that the treatment plan is going to work.... shrinkage and then surgery. Also, my 3rd cancer was not noticed until Feb 2005. I had an August, 2004 scan and the cancer was there then, but the radiologist missed it. My pulmonolgist showed me where it was when I visited him in February. He said it is very easy to see a missed cancer 3 months later when you know where to look for it on the film. My cancer was about 7 mm when it was missed. Don M

Welcome Carolyn; I hope treatment goes well for your dad. Don M

Welcome to lchelp Denise. I hope your scan brings you good news. Don M

I am glad it turned out to be nothing. Still, although you both had an ordeal, it makes quite a story and may offer a glimmer of hope to those going through possible diagnosis. The ending is not always bad…stupid pulmonolgist. Don M

I have read that one of the possible side effects of long term use of prednisone is cataracts. A day or so ago, after taking a nap, I woke up and had double vision for a short while. I think that may be prednisone related. It is the only med I am on at the moment. Don M

Amen to what Ned said. Hang in there Teresa. Sometimes you just have to be patient with yourself until the fear passes. It will get better for you. don m

Yah, I am sure we all have our moments of fear that pop up every now and then. I was brooding about a persistent headache I have had, but I think it is prednisone related. You can get headaches when tapering down and mine can be mitigated with aspirin. I think such things are reasonable fears...oh well. Don M

Welcome. Things will generally move faster and communication between doctors is better at a major comprehensive cancer facility. Here is a list of the comprehensive cancer centers approved by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). There are other fine cancer centers not on this list. The point is to go to a facility that has all the specialists in one system. They have a team approach and talk to one another and you can usually have a shorter turn around for appointments, especially at the diagnosis and treatment planning stage. http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_ ... names.html Don M

I think your mom should see another pulmonolgist too if she can't ignore the pronouncements he made. I have been told that the benefit of chemo drastically shrinks after the 4th round. They go to 6 rounds just to get the last little bit of benefit they can out of it. After that the bad stuff outweighs the good stuff. Maybe your mom could go on a regimen of supplements and antioxidants during her chemo break. They will probably watch to see if there is any progression as time goes by and start a new line of chemo if needed. Also, since the disease is under control now, your mom may be a candidate for cyberknife surgery where she could have the residual disease zapped if there is not too much of it. It would not be a cure, but perhaps your mom could be NED for a while. I think it buys more time. http://www.cyberknifesupport.org/forum/ Don M

I have no left lung and no arm pain. It was rumored that I had a very good surgeon who knew how to put all the pieces back together again. I also had an epidural which is supposed to eliminate post op pain. Don M

Your husband's treatment sounds right on. I hope the cancer shrivels up and goes away. Maybe your husband should have an mri at some point to make sure the brain is clear too. Don M

I didn't know you could get adenocarcinoma with small cell characteristics. I suppose that means is it will be very responsive to chemo like small cell is. My adenocarcinoma is slow growing and it has ignored 2 chemos and 33 image guided radiation treatments. I think my latest treatment, cyberknife, made it stop growing. I hope your mom’s treatment will be very effective and thorough. Don M

I hope your mom regains her strength and that she has good results. Don M

Welcome Chelsea Don M