ejpritz
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Posts posted by ejpritz
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My mother actually quit drinking when she was diagnosed, I am working on getting her to start again!! Everyone needs some once in a while!
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were great, the oncologist called my mother last night and let her know evereything was clear and she will have another one in 6 months.
Thank you to everyone who sent me their well wishes!!
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Today my mother is having a Pet Scan.
We are very nervous because she has not seemed herself the past few weeks and her old terrible cough is back.
She is very secretive about tests and Dr. appointments, so I was wondering if Pet Scans are just normal tests that are done every so often or if they are usually done if there is suspicion that something is wrong.
I know she gets CAT scans frequently, but I cannot remeber her having Pet Scans except prior to both surgeries. She had an appointment with her Onc last week and the PET Scan was scheduled at that appointment.
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Thanks Muriel.... My Dr. was willing to prescribe me Chantex (sp?) to quit the gum but I have to admit I felt a little weird about taking a pill to get off the gum so I tried qutting on my own. I think I am going to try next week the day after my Birthday... From what I read Nicotine withdrawal only last days so I guess I can be miserable for a few days.
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Kasey:
I am glad to see you too... I have not posted forever but I am on the site almost every single day. At the time of the Boston Walk my mother was finshing chemo.. she had a really tough time with it, she was very sick and lost her hair (which she had the toughest time dealing with) and I was unable to get involved in the walk because I was emotionally drained. Good news is she is still around and well... She feels good physically, just has a tough time mentally with it and does have periods of depression. Just trying to get her to enjoy life and be well....
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I am not sure if this is the best place to post this... has anyone quit smoking by using Nicotine Gum? I quit 2 years and 4 months ago, and have not had on puff in that time, however each month I need more and more nicotine gum (yes I have been chewing it this entire time)
I did not know if anyone else is in the same boat . I convince myself that it is much better then smoking is, but did not know if anyone has been told that it is Harmful or if the gum itslef can cause cancer.. I cannot seem to find much info on this topic on the internet.
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Has anyone ever developped extremly bad breath during or after chemo treatments?
My mother finished her cycle about 2 weeks ago.
It is not a matter of hygene I do not believe. The odor reminds me of my grandmother's breath when she was dying, it is unbearable and it is noticeable thoughout the whole room she is in.
I did not know if anyone had a similiar experience and new some tips or if this is something to be concerned about.
thanks guys
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thansk everyone!
She has an appointment to discuss the side affects and she is going to ask what options there are as far as lower dosage or different drug all together. I am sure there is soemthing they can do!!
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My mother had surgey in October which went great, it was her second lung surgery.
They decided for her to do preventative chemo, she goes once every 3 weeks, 6 times.
She had her first treatment last Wednesday, she is getting Cisplatin and I cannot remeber the name of the other one. The other one is supposely easier to tolerate, so I do not think its to blame for what she went through.
She did not get out of bed for 6 days, and was in extreme pain. She has a very high pain tolerance so when she was in so much pain I could not even imagine. She said her whole body hurt so bad that she cannot go throught that again. She is going to ask if they can lower the dosage.
Is this common for people to have such a high level of pain and be sick for so many days after? Its kind of hard to believe that being that sick and not eating for 6 days every 3 weeks will help her in any way. I find it hard to believe that that will not do more harm then good.
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I cannot believe how lucky we are with my mother's recent recurrance. She had surgery Tuesday and I just got a call to go and pick her up and take her home. She is walking and eating and breathing fine...
She also finally quit smoking , its been 14 days today!! so she feels better from that too.
We find out next week if there will be any chemo, but I thought the surgeon told me it was not necessary. That man has found time to visit her twice a day every day she was in there, which I think is great. Some of the nurses told me that he is one of the few who stop in and says hello twice a day. We are so lucky that we ran into him 3 years ago.
I am hoping that others can hear these types of stories and get some hope. 3 years ago they told us to expect months, she beat it, and when it came back last month, to be honest I was really thinking things could not work out so well again, and they did. The surgeon told us to expect mnay many healhty years.
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Great news
in HOPE
My mother had surgery yesterday on her left lung. About a month ago a tumor appeared and we were so nervous that it would be inoperable or in the lymph nodes...
Surgery was at 7am yesterady and at 10:30 am the surgeon came to see me and explained that it could not have been better. He said the margins were all clear and he removed the tumor and the surrounding tissue and it was very non=invasive.
I was so happy when it was over and they let me see her. I was expecying it to be like the surgery on her right lung when she was in ICU for 3 days after on a breathing tube, but she has nothing except the chest tube, she was pretty awake and I do not think she will be stuck in there for over a week like last time. Such good news!!
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Thanks!! I think she will be well on the road to feeling good by then!!
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So we went to the Surgeon yesterday and he is doing the surgery on October 24.
He said "Its an easy one." He said there will be 3 small incisions, it will not be very invasive, nothing like removing the pancoast one.
I guess its very small and non aggressive, right on the tip of her upper lobe so he said it should not affect any lung function, although he can of course never guarntee that.
He ordered a bunch of tests that she has to have prior to the surgery and as long as they are all OK it will be removed on the 24th.
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When my mom had her surgery 2.5 years ago, the surgeon smelled cigaretts on her when she went under the anesthesia.
He told my mother and my uncle that he does not treat current smokers. He was assured that she would never smoke another cigarette again.
Well now we have to go see him again next Wed and I am remebering these comments he made.
Does he have the right to refuse treatment when he finds out she has been smoking the whole time?
I am trying to get myself prepared for this topic with him and I am jsut not sure if its typical for Dr.'s to make these statements and if they have the right to follow through and not perform the surgey.
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Thanks Kasey.
I should actually be at the walk. One of the people working hard on it is a good friend of mine, Janine.
we grew up in the same small town and I was with her Friday night and she was telling me how great they are doing raising money.
I am planning on being there. As Long as everything is going ok at that time with my mother I will be at Castle Island.
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I am not sure, what lobe the tumor is on.
all I know is it is on the bottom edge of the lung.
I will be at the appointment with the surgeon on Oct 4th and make sure I get all the details.
To be honest, her being on Oxygen permantly is not an option with the smoking, and I do not believe the threat of blowing herself and her house up will make her stop.
So If they tell us she will have to be on Oxygen afterwards, I don't know what we will do.
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So my suspicions proved correct. My mother's PET scan showed that there is a tumor in the right lung. It was the left lung wich was removed two and a half years ago.
The onc is setting up an appointment with the surgeon, she said she thinks it can be removed based on where it is and the size of it.
I was not aware that they could operate on a lung when its the only one that you have.
Has anyone ever had this same experinece? Any insights on what to expect from the recovery?
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Thanks guys, I guess we will know on thursday when she sees the oncologist.
I just always have bad feelings, mostly because she still smokes a lot, it has me convinced that bad news is inevitable one day.
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My mother has had a CAT scan every 6 months for about 2.5 years now. She always then sees her oncologist and everything is fine.
Last week she had a CAT scan on Tuesday and Friday she got a call from the receptionist at the Dr's office that they set up a PET scan for today. She had an appointment scheduled with her oncologist for tomorrow but now that they want her to have the PET today they changed this appointment until Thursday.
Is a PET scan usually done when a CAT shows something that is not supposed to be there? My mother did not ask any questions when they called her, she jsut said OK and is having the PET done right now.
I just wanted to know if this means they saw something??
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Thank you so much guys. I am glad that it seems I am not the only one who hates flying. all week , starting Saturday, I have been having terrible terrible nightmares about planes. Its awful.
I hope the pills they gave me work.
I am so glad to hear about the flower show. thats definatly going to be on my list.
I am sure it will be great.
everyone at 10am on Friday think positive thought for a JetBlue flight form Boston to Orlando. I need all the help I can get!
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Ok, this has nothing to do with anything so I was not sure where to post it.
Just a question. I am going to Disney World next Friday and was just looking for some tips on things to do down there. I mean, I know there is tons and tons of stuff to do, I am tyring to see is anyone has been there recently and has any "Do not miss" suggestions.
I have never been. I have not been anywhere in over 10 years because I am absolutely terrified to fly. I swore I would never step foot on an airplane and I have missed out on so much the past ten years. I booked this trip and I am praying that I do not chicken out. Last time I booked a trip I walked down the little ramp going onto the plane, stepped one foot on it and changed my mind, turned around and left. My luggae went and all my friends did as well. This was pre Septembet 11, I know if I did this these days I would probably be taken into custody.
So I am tyring to compile a list of things that I will be excited about doing so I cna focus on that and not the flight!! Any Disney experts, I would appreciate any insight!!
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just trying to see if i added the picture right
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I read every day almost, I jsut have not posted in a long time. I go through stages I guess when I don't want to think about it.
I wonder why my mother never saw one of these Dr's before? She was dealing with her surgeon for everything. Weird . He set up all of her scans and tests and did the surgery, she sees him once a year and her primary care once every 6 months and no one else. So now that her dr. wants her to see another Dr. two and a half years after her diagnosis makes me a little worried.
Thanks for thinking about us.
Please tell me your niece is not being treated for LC?
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Thanks everyone. I know its hard and I know everyone is different, I jsut need to vent.
And when I said she sounded very bad lately, I am guessing I am not the only one who thinks so,
She had an appointment with her primary care physician yesterday. she sees him evey 6 months.
He is making her see a Pulmonory specialist. She said "because of my breathing" when I asked her why.
I am guessing that he did not like the way she sounds or somehting on the Xrays he took. I do not know, she will never tell us. Has anyone else had experinece with one of these Dr.'s. this is the first time she has seen one.
Question...looking for advie
in GENERAL
Posted
My mother lost her job due to missing so much work. We called a Social Security Attorney and he got her placed on Social Security Disability, SSDI. She recieves a nontaxable check every month as well as medical insurance.
The best part is Social Security Attorneys do not charge the client, they are paid by the government. Please speak to one as it can take a long time to get the ball moving.