TAnn

Thank you all so much for your love and prayers. You all uplift me like you will never know and I will be forever grateful. Hospice is all set up now and they are seeing what will work for the pain. They tried to switch me to methadone, but as usual, I got very sick with it, so I put the patch back on. I use Advil and Actiq lollipops for breakthrough pain. Have ok days and not so ok days. Sending my prayers out to you all.... Teri I can still walk around the house, but get very sob when doing so. Hospice has delivered me some oxygen but haven't had to use it yet.

Well, I saw my oncologist on Wednesday. We agreed that I am no longer benefitting from the chemo. My body has had all it can take. I really never got any better after my last hospital stay. At this point, it is causing more problems than it is helping, so I've been referred to hospice. I'm not at all familiar with how hospice works, but we did meet with a social worker at MD Anderson and they are helping us set everything up. I knew it was getting close, my body just feels terrible all the time now. My husband and I are at peace with it, but I'm scared of what the next months have in store. My biggest hope is that that hospice can get my pain under control. If I'm not on too much you all know why, you are all in my heart. Thank you all for your love and support. TAnn

Thank you Don for keeping everyone updated. I went last Thursday to get my abdomen drained for the 5th time (I've had to go once a week since coming home from the hospital). Decided to have the catheter put in since the fluid returns so quickly. They were getting about 1.5 liters of fluid out every draining, I just can't go to the hospital every week and have this done, so I agreed on the cateter. My husband drained me for the first time at home last night. It went ok, I don't have to drain everyday, just when I start to feel uncomfortable. We drained off about 1 liter after only 4 days. I never thought that I would ever agree to have another catheter, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I go to the doc next week to set up a game plan. Not giving up yet, but the fight is getting much tougher. TAnn

Oh no Lucie I was so hoping that your PET scan would show no changes. I know this puts a kink in your plans, but it sounds like your doctor wants to waste no time in starting new treatment. I'll call you tomorrow. Teri

Jim, I am so saddened to hear your news. Tarceva kept me stable for 6 months, I had a very small rash on my forearms and fatigue, but it wasn't that bad. I hope it keeps you stable or shrinks and treats you well. TAnn

Charlie, Many congratulations on your 2nd year of survival. You are an inspiration to me and your courage shines through. Keep up the good work. Lucky that you have such a long break from the doctors. Incidentally, April 10th is my anniversary date. It will be 3 years since diagnosis. Never thought I'd make it 3 years....the bad news is the longer I stick around, the less they know about what to do with me TAnn

Eppie, I'm still catching up with everyone and am so sorry for my delayed response to your father's passing. My prayers are with you in this very sad time. TAnn

Saw the onc yesterday. We've decided to start Gemzar again, this time without the carboplatin a week from Saturday. We will also be doing a lower dose hoping this will keep my blood counts from dropping. (Apparently when I was in the hospital my platelets dropped so low that they were very worried I would "bleed out" and I had 2 transfusions of platelets as well as 2 units of blood. More bad news, I have 2 large lumps in my right breast. They are scheduling me for an ultra sound to see what's up with that! We upped my dosage on the Duragesic pain patch from 12mcg to 25mcg, hopefully it won't zone me out and will do better with the pain control. TAnn

Sandy, I'm so very sorry to hear about your wonderful Jim. My heart goes out to you and your family. He was such a fighter. May God be with you. TAnn

Eppie, I'm so sorry that your dad is going through all of this. Those drainings are horrible and painful, but if he is sitting up, he must be doing better. Sending prayers that he gets out of there very soon so he can sleep! Hope you are feeling better. Teri

Thank you so much Don and Lucie for posting my update and for your continued support. Lucie calls and checks on me about once a week and I really enjoy talking to her. She is such an amazing woman. I went to the ER yesterday and they thought the pain might be coming from my liver, so they did an ultrasound. Liver is all clear, but by then the department for the pericentesis was closed so I had to go back today for them to drain it. When I was in the hospital, only 1 month ago they removed 2 1/2 liters of fluid. In only 1 month the fluid was back and today they removed 1 1/2 liters. Since I'm no longer hooked up to the "good pain killers by IV, I'm feeling very sore, but the actual procedure went well. Thank goodness I didn't have to stay in the hospital. My husband has been juggling work and sooo many trips to the hospital, he has been so wonderful through it all. But I can see the stress it is causing and it makes me feel so bad. The caregivers are such an important part of this process. Thanks to you all. I go back on Friday for a new ct of the chest and mri of the spine, then get the results from my doctor next Wednesday. That is when we will discuss what comes next for me. He is proposing Gemzar without the Carboplatin and lowering the dosage. I'm still unsure if my body can handle any more chemo, but I don't really see any other choice. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, it helps more than you know. Keepin up the fight, Teri

Hey Cindi, Hoping all goes well with the blood tests. I'm sure that whatever it is will be fixable, maybe you are anemic? Glad you are getting the ct scan. It's important to get those updates. I've missed you. I hope everything comes back well for you, your attitude is great, don't worry until there's something to worry about. Your friend Teri

I've been gone for quite a while! I'm sorry I'm so far behind with everyone. My recovery from getting out of the hospital has been very slow. I'm just now getting some of my strength back. I still have pain issues, we are going to try a milder dose of the pain patch that they sent me home with. The one I was on was just making me want to stay in bed all day, and I was a bit loopy on it too. My last scan showed blood clots in the left lung, and all other areas remained unchanged, sooo, I'm back on the lovenox shots. I'm not on any chemo right now, I'll get new scans of the chest and spine at the end of the month and go from there. Right now I'm just trying to get stronger. I miss you all so much, thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. Teri

Hi everyone. Well, thank you all for your kind words and prayers. I had the nicest calls from Don Woods and our Katie B. What a wonderful place of comfort we have here. I still don't know how long I'll be here, I'm done with my 7th of 10 radiation treatments. I'm feeling a little better today, which a little in my world is major! Still having pain, they are going to have some physical rehab for me since I've gotten so weak while being in here. They won't send me home until I can get around without a struggle. My doctors and nurses have been wonderful. Hopefully by the beginning of next week I'll have a better idea of when I'll get out. I'm so out of touch, I miss everyone so much. My husband helps me hook up the laptop in the hospital room, my family has been such a huge support. I miss my home, but know that I have to tough it out a little longer. Now that I'm able to sit up for a while, I'll try to post more. Teri

Hi everyone, I've been in the hospital since last Tuesday. Quick update is that the cancer has spread to the abdomen, and spine and right ribs. Came to the ER last Tue due to pain and they ran scans and found the new progression. Start radiation on the spine tomorrow, hope to help w/pain. Don't know how long I'll be here, but my mom went & got me this laptop and my wonderful husband figured how to hook me up in the hospital room. I've missed everyone, sorry I'm out of touch. Could use lots of prayers. TAnn

Thank you to everyone for all the love and support. As usual, I've been overwhelmed by the kind words and offerings of support from all my friends here. Well, my doctor is finally back from "baby leave" and we met with him on Wednesday. I've decided not to go for a phase I trial, for many reasons. I'm starting a new chemo tomorrow. Gemzar/Carboplatin. I'll have the Gemzar and Carbo, then in 1 week just the Gemzar and 1 week off, then start all over again. The pain in my abdomen from the new spread is giving me fits. I went to the pain management department yesterday and they put me on Methadone. 2.5mg twice a day. I started it last night and it didn't even touch the pain. I'm a difficult patient to treat because so many of the narcotic meds either don't work or they make me sick! I took my dose this morning and waited about 2 1/2 hours and then went ahead and took my old reliable Advil Liquigels. That at least took the edge off the pain. Sometimes I wonder how we are expected to take all this torture. My hope is that the chemo will at least reduce the fluid in my "belly" and help with the pain. The pain center said the next step would be to have a "nerve block". At this point, I'm willing to try anything. I'm nervous about this chemo, please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me.... TAnn

Don I'm so sorry to hear that Lucie has to endure yet another chemo. I had 7 rounds of Alimta and the up-side is it is a 10 minute drip. Steroids the day before and the day after chemo and steroids the day of chemo in the IV. My side effects were fatigue, rash, and that achy flu like feeling on about the 3rd day. Good luck Lucie! TAnn

Love the pic of Trixie. So glad you shared with us, she is beautiful and the same color as my schnoodle, Gizmo! TAnn

John, I was in a double blind clinical trial in 2004. It was for a new pill ZD-6474. I still do not know if I was on the drug or placebo. But, my doctor did explain that in the trials that are double blind, they always combine with a standard chemo treatment to make sure the patient is "covered". In my case it was ZD-6474 with Taxotere. TAnn

Dave, First of all I don't know how your mom can tolerate all the narcotic pain meds she's been taking. I'm one that can not tolerate the narcotic meds and am using the Advil liqui-gels also. Plain Advil works too, just takes longer to kick in. I get treated at MD Anderson and they have a pain management department. They told me that if I can no longer take the pain there are several other options like a spinal block and injections. Talk to her doc, she couldn't possibly be feeling well with all the pain meds she is on. TAnn

Kelley, Yes, I have had alot of experience with pleural effusions. In fact, that's how I was diagnosed, with a malignant pleural effusion in the right lung. My best suggestion is that if the effusion shows progression with each x-ray, definately get it drained. I had 4 thoracentesis procedures and felt better with the SOB, but the fluid kept coming back. At one point the fluid completely encased my right lung. I then had a tube inserted in the pleural space that my husband helped me drain every day for about 5 1/2 weeks, until no fluid was left. The lung produced the scar tissue on it's own after the tube was removed and re-accumulation has not happened since. Also, many have had no problems with the talc procedure. This is done as an in-patient procedure where they basically do the same type tube that I had and once the fluid is completely drained, they insert talc to "scar" up the pleura and prevent any more fluid from forming. You are in the hospital for a few days, or however long it takes for all the fluid to drain. hope this helps... TAnn

I've never been on your chemo regimine, but here is what I was told. The standard amount of chemo is 6 treatments. (My treatments were once every 3 weeks) unless side effects are too great, then they will stop. He also says that they "shoot" for 6, but the maximum benefit is usually reached after the 4th treatment. So, since you are tolerating it ok, except for blood counts I'd go for at least one more treatment, then if you just can't handle it talk to your doctor about a break. It's important to stay "one step ahead"! TAnn

Cindi, I just know the biopsy will come out clean. You've been through enough. I still can't believe the ER doctor called you back. That was beyond "sweet"! Now don't forget that we are here for you as much as you have been here for us. Don't keep these things locked up to yourself, but I understand not wanting to say anything, kinda makes it real when we "type" it out loud! Keep us posted, TAnn

Well, I had my doctor's appointment last Wednesday to discuss taking a "break" from the Alimta, based on the very severe pain in my abdomen right side and a trip to the er. They thought it was the Alimta aggrivating my liver. Had a ct scan the next day. My doctor's nurse practitioner called me yesterday with the results. I'm feel stable enough now to share the results with all my friends here... There are several items, so here is the "laundry list".: 1. Primary tumor in right lung has increased from 2.6cm to 3.0cm. 2. Lymphangetic spread in right lung has increased. 3. Pleural lining in right lung has increased thickening. (the tumor cells in the lining have grown) 4. Adenopathy (lymph node involvement) is seen in the subcarinal and right hilar regions. 5. Pulmonary metastases in left lung have grown. (these are small, noted one grew from 5mm to 7mm) 6. New pleural effusion in left lung. Think all that sounds bad??? Here is the really bad one: 7. Peritoneal carcinomatosis. Masses in my abdominal cavity along with cancerous fluid in the abdomen. I've never even heard of this so I looked it up and found that is a very rare occurance in lung cancer patients. Well, if it's rare, I'm there! .... Waiting for a consult in the clinical trial dept. at MD Anderson & see if I can match up with anything. Peritoneal carcinomatosis does not respond to chemotherapy. Prognosis is bad. Anyone heard of this type of metastses? Worst part was having to hear all this bad news from my nurse practioner, whom I really love, but can't answer my questions the way my doc can. He's away with his wife who just had a baby girl. All this bad news at once....I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I let myself have a pity party with myself yesterday. Today, honestly I'm just mad..... If any of you have any prayers left, I could sure use them about now. TAnn

Pat, I have no words, my prayers are with you. TAnn