tess

Tbone, I will pray for God to help you and keep you in his care. You and my husband are going thru the same ugly pain yiou are right now. He is taking the quick release morphine for breakthru pain, supposed to take 2.5 - 5 cc (concentrate) at a time, well now he is taking about 8 or 9, and a couple of times double that! He said his back is the worst, between the shoulder blades, (new mets there) and also his chest. He is just getting over bronchitis also. He said that his chest hurts bad too and that it feels like a weight sitting on his chest. He has to sleep sitting in a recliner. His feet are swelling up. He started with a 75mg Duragesic patch, now he's up to 150mg! I don't know how much more pain he can take. I just feel so sorry for both of you, I just pray to God to give you a peace and take the pain away. You see that yours and his stories are very similar. Except is is taking Iressa now. But its not very encouraging because he is still in pain and it just keeps gettng worse. I wish it would go away and let you both have some peace and comfort. Please help Terry and Rob both dear GOD!! Tess

Hi, My husbands Dr said that Celebrex does help the bones, & inflammation. I have also read on line that they are finding it helps fight the cancer. Our pharmacist tells me that it contains some sulfa, so beware in case of an allergy. What about some radiation for the bone mets? It does help a lot. Take care, hope this has helped some. Tess

My husband had the same bad reaction to chemo. I also think that Vioxx contributed. He switched to celebrex. He got better. We also got prescription pepcid and it took the indigestion away completely. Make sure you always have a little something in your stomach. It helps. Good luck, and hope you feel better soon. Tess

I am so sorry, my heart goes out to all of you. I pray for God to give you strength now and for Robert to have peace. Its so hard to let God and let go! Tess

Hi again, Rob is going to see the radiologist next week (for the third time) for radiation. I don't know how much more he will be able to get. They originally told us that once he was radiated in one place for (30) times, that he won't be able to get it in that spot again. So, I guess we wait and see what he tells us next week. We did talk to the Dr yesterday and she says the bone mets are causing all the pain. She thinks that when we get radiation it will take care of it. She also says that we won't know until next month after the 2 months of taking the Iressa if it is working or not. I just thought someone might know off hand. I can't find a whole lot of info in the search here about bone pain while taking Iressa. I do know that Rob is getting weak from sitting too much in a recliner. He hurts when he moves, so he figured if he just sat, it wouldn't hurt. Well now he is retaining water in his back and feet. His legs are getting weaker. I told him that he needs to move so he won't get so weak. I think he is finally realizing that I know what I'm talking about! Thanks for listening, and God Bless everyone here! Tess

I need some help with questions about Iressa. Has anyone taken it, and continued to get worse pain, and then found out that it is holding the cancer stable? Rob is is so much pain, he has been taking the Iressa for 25 days now, and we are concerned that it may not be working. The pain just keeps getting worse all the time. We won't get another CT scan till Aug 9th. So until then he is going to feel the cancer will progress to the point that it it going to be the end of him. He is on the 12 hour (120 mg!) of Oxycontin and lately he is having to take it anywhere from 8 to 10 hours instead of the prescribed "12". Rob has bone mets which are very painful.(spine mets being the most painful) He is also on 150 mg of Duragesic patches. How much pain meds can one person take? It is so hard to see him getting so weak. He is now using a walker sometimes because the drugs are making him so woozy that he cannot balance himself well. We saw the Dr yesterday and of course he felt pretty good because he had just taken his Oxycontin about an hour and a half before seeing her. Then he said when she asked him about the level of pain, "I feel pretty good now". Well yeah, he felt good then, but now he is in tears because when just getting up to go the the bathroom, it starts hurting and then he gets all worried that the cancer is getting worse. The Dr also asked him about getting on some anti-depressants, he said, "No I am ok". So after we got out to the car, I told him that maybe he should consider taking them because he gets so emotional sometimes. I guess if I had that pain, I would be emotional like that too. (Not that I don't have my moments!) I think he might really need them. Has anyone been taking anti-depressants, and if so, are they helping? I would appreciate any help at all, we are at our wits end here Tess

Ven, My husband has bone mets, very painful too. Not in his legs, but in spine, hip, shoulder, ribs. The radiation should start helping real soon. It really does!! Also you might see if you can get celebrex for it also. It helps with the pain and inflamation. We had to get the Dr to argue with insurance co. because they say "Its for arthritis, not cancer" and so finally they did approve it. I would not move the leg unless you need to until the radiation has done its thing. Then when the pain is gone, it will be time to get a little movement going so you don't get all stiff and stoved up. Hope this helps! Take care, Tess

Hi, The bone scans are of the total skeleton. The Ct scan is of the lungs and organs. Hope its nothing to worry about! Good luck! (The Iressa as far as I have heard, doesn't cause clots.) Tess

Denise, I am praying hard for your mom. She was diagnosed and has had just about the same treatments, and times as my husband. I know its hard to see them go thru this. Rob is having pains in his chest too, and he has bone mets that cause so much pain its unbearable without his 120 mg of oxycontin twice a day, not to mention the 125 mg of Duragesic patch! He had to get antibiotics today. Possible bronchitis or pnumonia (spelling?"?!!). He was happy to hear his oxygen level was at 97%. I am going to pray real hard for a miracle for both of them. God Bless, and take care of the caregiver too! Tess

Welcome again Sue! Glad you're here with us. We need you too! Tess

Shellie, I too am very sad to hear this news. My sister died of breast cancer 2 years ago. She was 2 years younger than me. I want you to know that my sister had the aggressive rare form of breast cancer. (hot and red) She survived for 7 years before it overtook her. So don't think the worst. If anything, you will have lots of time to spend with her. Have lots of good times, we never know how long we have here on earth. So just live it one day at a time and be thankful she is still here. The odds are in her favor. And PLEASE don't talk yourself into getting cancer too. enough already. Take care and I am praying for you. You are so young to be hit with all this tragedy. We will never know why God lets these things happen, but he does do miracles too! Tess

Shellie, I too am very sad to hear this news. My sister died of breast cancer 2 years ago. She was 2 years younger than me. I want you to know that my sister had the aggressive rare form of breast cancer. (hot and red) She survived for 7 years before it overtook her. So don't think the worst. If anything, you will have lots of time to spend with her. Have lots of good times, we never know how long we have here on earth. So just live it one day at a time and be thankful she is still here. The odds are in her favor. And PLEASE don't talk yourself into getting cancer too. enough already. Take care and I am praying for you. You are so young to be hit with all this tragedy. We will never know why God lets these things happen, but he does do miracles too! Tess

Hi, and welcome! My husband started Celebrex when he was on Gemzar and Navelbine. It caused bad joint pain. He also has bone mets. It quit working and so he is now on Iressa. Its only been two weeks, and yes he is (still) on Celebrex with it. It keeps his from having so much pain and imflamation. He stopped taking it for 24 hrs to see if he felt any difference. We had to argue with the ins. company cause they say its for arthritis not cancer. But new studies show it helps cancer, so they ok'd it! He had to go back on it because he could hardly move! He has several new spots found on his last bone scan. He is starting to get a rash on his chest, but unfortunately, he also has more small tumors in both lungs and he is not feeling better (yet). The Dr says that within one month he should start feeling better if its working. So far, it has been very discouraging to say the least. All we can do is pray for the Iressa to work. and quickly we hope. Good luck with your husband, prayers going up!! Tess

I am so sad that you had to go thru that in the hospital. Sounds like a hell hole instead of a hospital. I sure hope you have someone to help you!? I am praying for you! Why can't they give you some pain meds? Like morphine, oxycontin or something?

My husband Dr. says its hard to gain weight because the cancer speeds up your metabolism more than normal. Maybe tell your dad to get some ensure or boost and drink 2 or 3 a day. At 350 calories a can, it should help some. Tess

Jane, What I think is that God is giving you and your hubby a wake up call, and you'd better listen! (Have you ever prayed to God that he might help you to quit smoking? This might be an answer to prayer) What I did was started the Zyban, I only took it for 7 days (instead of 2 wks) and then I quit. It takes away the craves reallly well. You just need to take the pact with yourself to quit on that 7th day and do it. You will have a pretty easy time doing it together, and just think, you will thank God for it too! P.S. God asked me to give you this message! Tess

Hope you feel better soon. Maybe ask the Dr about prescripton pepcid? It really helped my husband. Also anti-nausea medicine? I sure hope you are doing ok soon. The chemo sucks huh? Take care, and God Bless. Tess

Don, You are so right, its hard to deal with when we hear of more bad news. I pray for God to give you strength now to take care of your mom and be strong. She is lucky to have you for a son. God Bless. Tess

My husband is taking 200 mg Celebrex twice a day, I think he needs to start taking it more often. We need to ask the Dr. about that. He was taking a lot of supplements, he got tired of taking so much, so I just give him the multi-vitamins now plus weight gainer and ensure to keep his weight on. Tess

Terrie, I was looking for Info on the RFA when I came across your posts. I thought you were doing a great service for all interested. I admire your courage and I know (we all know) you were just trying to spread some good information here. This is why I like it here so much. Please come back again as much as you can, we need as much help as we can get. Tess

Please don't ever forget there is a God, and he does answer prayers. He just answers different than we want sometimes. Your mom is watching over you always. God Bless you, YOU are a remarkable young man, she deserves credit for raising such a thoughtful son!! Tess

Mo, Please don't be afraid, God is watching over you now. He will take care of you and comfurt you. Didn't you always say, "let go and let God?" Tess

Your friend probably has enough problems of her own to deal with, and sometimes people get tired of hearing about some elses problems, especially if they can't really help them. It gets depressing..... Maybe you should call a little less often and then you will have more to talk about.??

David, I am so happy for you!!!!!!! God is good and he does answer prayers! Have a great life from now on, and on and on Tess

I would recommend Dr Jack West at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, He is one of the best and is affiliated with University of Washington. Tess