TAnn
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Posts posted by TAnn
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Mo,
So sorry you had to spend Easter Eve in the ER. My dad has suffered from diverticulitis for many years. I know at one time he went into the hospital for IV antibiotics and that helped him alot. So hopefully your antibiotics will do the trick.
Hope your Easter day is better with the pain meds. I'm still very sore from my catheter and on Advil all day long. It does help and I really don't like taking those strong pain pills if I don't have to.
Praying for your diver.... to solve itself, along with a good diet. My dad can't have much meat, only steamed chicken and fish. (Yuk!) If he does decide to indulge...he ends up paying for it later!
Good Luck
TAnn
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I just wanted to add my thoughts and prayers for Bill's recovery at home. I'm sure just being at home will perk him up. Praying for your strength in helping Bill to feel better. Happy Easter.
TAnn
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Hi Cheryl,
The tube is not permanent, although I hate to think of the process of taking it out......YIKES!
The only thing I'm taking for the pain is advil. Can you believe that? This is another one of those procedures that they (the dr.'s) think is not that "difficult"! Easy for them to say!
TAnn
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Hi everyone,
On Wednesday I went in to have a pleurex catheter put in to drain the massive quantity of pleural fluid that has built up around my lung. (you could not see my lung on my last x-ray, it was totally covered up with fluid)
The procedure went ok, I am still pretty sore and really don't like looking at it.....
Basically, they install a tube on my right side in the front. Part of the tube is in the pleural cavity and what's left is hanging out of me so that I can drain it every day. It has a valve on the end so that it doesn't flow constantly. They give you a kit that includes a vacuum sealed bottle to drain the fluid in.
My husband, Al, has been absolutely wonderful. We have now drained it twice, he actually does everything. It gets me upset, because as the fluid drains, it causes alot of pain due to the re-expanding lung. So I really have to give all the "kudos" to him. I don't know how I could go through any of this without him. He is my strength!
When we are done with the draining, we just coil up the tube and cover it with gauze and a big "sticker" that keeps it nice and dry.
Yet another new adventure in this journey called cancer......
Trying to stay strong and positive,
TAnn
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Hi Mo,
I too went to the pulm. yesterday, (Mon). I've been having ALOT of pain and I know it is from the fluid. I thought they were actually going to put in the "Denver Cathetar", but as usual, communication mix up and they have scheduled me for Wednesday, (tomorrow).
My x-rays showed the fluid completely covering my lung. On the x-ray, you can't see my right lung at all, just the white shadow of fluid. They were going to do a thorencentesis yesterday, to make me more comfortable, but I told them I could wait until Wednesday. Why get stuck twice?????
My drs don't really push the talc procedure. The success rate is not always that good, I know some on the board have had complete success though.
Anyway, we have chosen the cathetar route, where I drain the fluid everyday. I am very nervous about this procedure, as I have a history of not doing well during the thorencentesis. (passing out, throwing up, etc.) They say they will give me something for the nausea.
I'm glad you are feeling better. Let me know how everything goes for you. Feel free to pm me if you want!
P.S. - Do you have just fluid build up, or do you have a malignant effusion?
TAnn
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I had 5 rounds of Taxotere and my nails did not turn black, but they did do some interesting things. First they got this ridge on them, if you've ever had fake nails put on, you know when they start to grow out it is flat by your cuticle and a "bump" for the rest of your nail. That's what happened first, now that I've been off Taxotere for about 1 month, my nails have pink and white stripes! No kidding, kinda like a tree, a stripe for every treatment! I think they are very "cool" looking.
Sometimes you just have to go with the flow!
Good Luck!
TAnn
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Hi Deb,
Welcome to the site. Glad you chose to post when you are having a bad day. We all have them, that's for sure, but the people here always make you feel better!
Praying that your disability comes through soon
Good luck with your chemo and keep us posted!
TAnn
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TeeTaa,
That was an excellent re-cap! Bravo!
I thought they handled it better than I expected. I did have a small fit when they showed her smoking though....
I'm sure they won't get into too much detail with stage, type, etc., but overall, I'd have to give the episode a "9"!
TAnn
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Dear PierMarie,
I have a malignant pleural effusion. In fact, that is how they diagnosed my cancer. The tumor showed up on a ct scan and I had (at the time) a very small effusion. So they took a small amount of the fluid, apparently they did not need much, because it tested positive for tumor cells. I never had to have a broncoscopy or any other invasive procedures.
I am coming up on my 1 year anniversary date of diagnosis, April 10th and I have had the fluid drained 4 times. On Monday, it looks like they will be inserting a Denver Cathetar so that I can drain the fluid myself every other day. My last x-rays showed the fluid was almost up to the top of my lung. There is alot in there.
If your mom only has a very small effusion, I agree that they should just watch it. Sometimes it is very risky to do a thorencentesis with only a small amount of fluid. And since she has other mets, it would not change their course of treatment. No since in putting her through a procedure. They say it is supposed to be an "easy" procedure, but believe me, I have had plenty of problems with it. (The first time I had it done I fainted!)
Please feel free to PM me if you would like more information. I find I am learning more that I ever though I would about this terrible disease!
TAnn
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Curtis,
Through my tears I am sending you my deepest sympathies. This is such a horrible disease. I am so shocked!
Becky was an inspiration to us all. She was so strong and positive.
My prayers go out to you and your daughter and your entire family.
I am so sorry.
TAnn
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Curtis,
Sending prayers for Becky. Let her know we are thinking and praying for her and I know she will feel better real soon.
As soon as they hook her up to those IV antibiotics, she will bounce right back!
You take care of yourself too
TAnn
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Hi Cathy R,
I went through 5 cycles of Taxol/Carbo when I was first diagnosed. Nothing shrunk, nothing grew. I lost all my hair. I went on a "break" that only lasted 1 month when the tumor started to grow again and I went on Taxotere with clinical trial ZD-6474. I received 5 cycles of Taxotere and am still taking the daily pill of ZD-6474.
When I started Taxotere, my hair was just starting to grow back. I amazingly did not lose ALL my hair with Taxotere, it just thinned at the top a little bit. Now that I'm on another "break", my hair is growing back much quicker than after the Taxol/Carbo.
I also had fewer side effects with Taxotere. Low Blood Counts were my worst effects. I also had 31% shrinkage of the primary tumor with this regimine!
Keep your chin up and I hope the Taxotere does the trick!
TAnn
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Natalie,
That is so wonderful that you got through to someone at the OC and that you actually heard back from them. It would be great if they ran the tribute!
Thanks for being a genious!
TAnn
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Stephanie,
I am so sorry for the loss of your mother. You and your family will be in my prayers. I know you were glad to be there with your mother in the end.
May you know that we are all with you through your very tough time.
TAnn
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They explained it to me like this:
They don't do surgery unless they feel that they can get all of the cancer, so even if they operated on your grandmother's lung, she would still have cancer. There would be no benefit.
Believe me, it took me and my family a while to understand it also, but it makes sense, why put someone through that and still have to have chemo or other treatments.
Hope this helps,
TAnn
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Natalie,
That's exactly what I thought, Marissa in Chino????? That's a stretch!
hahaha
TAnn
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Oh my gosh TeeTaa, my family are regular viewers of the show and you should have seen my face when I saw that preview. My husband's response was...."well, that aught to be interesting!" I too hope they don't portray it as all doom and gloom, however it is tv!
Let me just say that we have an 18 year old son, so we can relate to that show.... actually, we plan our Wednesday nights around it! hahaha
Thanks for bringing it up!
TAnn
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Hey everyone,
I've been on a "chemo break" officially for about 3 weeks now. I am still taking the clinical trial pill ZD-6474 daily. It's a double blind trial and we do not know if I'm getting it or not.
I was looking forward to feeling better, but I have been running a low grade fever (99.5 - 100.7) almost daily for the past 2 1/2 weeks. This monday I ended up back in the emergency room with 102.9. They ran all the tests and everything came back negative. They put me on Augmentin and sent me home. The high fever is gone, but continue to run the low grade fever.
I saw my onc. yesterday, and he doesn't know what's causing the fevers. I have a history of fevers with chemo, so he said take the antibiotic and see what happens. Maybe you have a "virus"
Virus - as we all know is a doctor word for "duh, I dunno".My question is this,
Has anyone else experienced unexplained low grade fevers while not on chemo, and...
could the cancer be causing it????
Any enlightenment would be appreciated...... Sorry for the long post
Thanks,
TAnn
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Deanna,
I am also one who suffers from very low blood counts while on chemo. During my first round of chemo, taxol/carbo, I received aranesp shots for the red blood cells. It is like procrit, however you don't have to give yourself the shot everyday. You get it once every two weeks. They usually postponed my chemo until my white counts came back up. However, during my second round of chemo, taxotere with ZD-6474, my counts went so low, (wbc 0.07) they put me in the hospital and gave me nupogen shots daily. This worked great, however it caused some very bad deep bone pain for a few hours.
Hope this helps!
TAnn
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Stephanie,
I am also soooo sorry to hear about Judy B. I will pray that while in hospice she will regain her strength. Prayers going out for you too, may you find strength at this most difficult time.
TAnn
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Praying for the surgery to be successful and your mom feeling better real soon. Look forward to your update!
TAnn
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Gayle,
I know that every time I see my onc. he checks my feet and ankles for swelling. I finally asked what they are checking for and he said it could be a sign of blood clots.
Call the dr. for peace of mind.....
TAnn
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I was on carbo/taxol too. I had it once every 3 weeks, so my dose was stronger than you will get. They lower the dosage when they give it once a week, so your side effects may not be too bad. I got alot of premeds, steroids, benedryl (for allergic reaction), anti-nausea medication and I also requested something to calm me down, I think I got adavan all through the IV. I usually slept right through the 8 hour treatment.
Good luck, and hope your side effects are minimal.
TAnn
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T-Bone,
Sorry you didn't catch any fish! Probably too many men on the boat
A change of scenery is always good medicine. Glad you had a good time anyway! Good luck with your last radiation treatments.
TAnn
Virus - as we all know is a doctor word for "duh, I dunno".
Life with a tube hanging out of my side.....
in NSCLC GROUP
Posted
Thanks to you all...
It has now been almost a week since the procedure and I am still feeling very sore. I have to sleep on my back, which I'm not used to and I've been "told" that I snore like a freight train! (Personally I think my husband is hearing the dog!)
I still experience pain with every drain. We have drained over 3,000cc in 6 days and it looks like there is no end in sight
Maybe after a few more days, I will feel some relief. Even though my breathing is better, I'm still in pain. Not much of a trade off.......
TAnn