cindi o'h

Welcome to the board. I had never posted anywhere before either. My fingers were shaking when I was typing. (not anymore) I had carbo/taxol too. I was stage 111B. I had taxotere to follow up after the radiation/chemo combo. The doctor that told me about the Taxotere said that there was a good study done on it by SWOG that showed marked improvement in survival times. (Southwest Oncology Group)Since then, I see the study referred to every once in awhile. If your husband has metastasis to his hip, he is definitely stage IV. There are lots of people living with stage IV disease. This is a hard blow for all of us. We each react differently to the hit. Hope he can find his way to help pull himself back up. He will fare better with his boxing gloves on rather than off. Cindi o'h

Hi Betty, They told me that my lung was inoperable after chemo/rad. The surgeon said it lost it's pliability and beauty after tx. He compared a pretty lung to a new sponge and my beat up lung to a dried out dirty old sponge that's crisp from sitting on the garage shelf too long. He said that it wouldn't heal if he tried to sew it back together. He said the scar tissue has lost the elasticity. Don't know about the catch in your side. Makes me think of the pleural lining though. Pleuracy? Good luck. Keep resting. It's good for you. Cindi o'h

Kelly, I don't think the puffiness is water gain. So nix the lasix idea. I am pretty sure she just has to live with the puff. I had/have a pretty good moon face and hump. Oh well. Better ugly than dead. That's all the positive spin I can put on it. Cindi o'h

oh, dammit. Cindi o'h

Hi Tracey, If there was a mistake made at path., it wouldn't be the first time. We have had many other members dx with lc and later renigged. Crossing fingers and toes that there is just one lung affected or better yet, NO lc. What are the details? Who put the brakes on and why? Cindi o'h

Just want to welcome you to our group. My brother was critically ill when he showed up at the ER. He was intubated and in a coma for several days. I could not see any hope. The doctors wanted to give him chemo. I thought it was a waste of time and that the chemo would add to his suffering body. Just the opposite happened. He came out of the coma, was extubated and healed up enough from the pneumonia to start on some chemo. We had some very good quality time and experiences after he started treatment. I like that your Mom is willing to go to lengths for her life. Cindi o'h

Happy, Happy 50th! Ain't it Great, Cindy? Many more. Love the boa idea. What a hoot. Cindi o'h

Hi Jen, I like that you aren't posting everyday. I like that you are getting on with other things. That is what should happen. Kids, school, family fun, and trash day are the stuff that should be occupying your time. You just got a bit of cancer trauma. It's over now and back to the real world as you know it. When Dad is doing so well, I don't see a reason for you to be here. Not that I am shooing you away, by any means. When you were posting regularly about what was going on in your family and with your life, you were a big help. You were open and honest with your lives and compassionate and caring in your responses to others. You don't owe anyone here anything! God bless you, girl. Cindi o'h

Hi Candy. SOB is nothing to sneeze at. There are so many things that can be causing it. Could be short of red blood cells which can be easily replenished. Could be her heart or could even be chemo induced pneumonitis. Is she seeing a good pulmonologist? Be sure she uses a space with the albuterol inhaler otherwise it is virtually ineffective. Opti-chamber is the one that I use although there are others that will disperse the medicine appropriately. The vacuum cleaner hose-like attachments they give at the pharmacy are ineffective as well. Get a good chamber, okay? So many things can be causing the SOB, none of them are innocent. Cindi o'h

According to oncodoc, a former poster and expert here, his opinion was a pathologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Apparently, slides are sent to him especially for questionable, difficult to diagnose lung cancers. Supposedly, he is world-renowned in the path. community as the expert. Cindi o'h

Hi Liz, Welcome to this place. We will surely help you through all of it. (except rides!)lol. I am a lllB too. I had the taxol/carbo, taxotere/carbo regimen. It knocked the pis_ out of the cancer and me too. I also had the daily rad. tx. for 8 weeks. Smoked those little cancer cells. With Taxotere, I lost a couple of toenails! Isn't that strange? Was good advice to drink lots of water. Eat eat eat! Very important to keep your calories up even if you don't feel like eating. Get some ensure or slimfast or something that is easy and nutritional for the times you may not feel like cooking. Yes. You are young. That is on your side for good treatment recovery. You can do it. We can help. Cindi o'h

Debi, Congrats, dear. You have earned, doubly earned, every good feeling that comes to you. What I like about you is that you stop to appreciate even the small things; things that we usually take for granted. Thanks again for the encouragement. I am so happy that there is life after dx for you! Keep it up, Debi. I am really proud of you! love, Cindi o'h

step: climb, increase, build next word lips

Maryanne, girlfriend, Your post just brought me to tears. Honey. You and Joel both just reinspired me. I needed that. I have been feeling all boohoo lately about other stuff.... not cancer stuff but I suppose consequences of the change. Anyway. I needed to hear some real-life hope. You inspired me today. Thanks for the ignite. You two rock. Cindi o'h

guitar: strum, break, carry next word: newspaper

Prayers for Darrell. Get well soon, Darrell! Cindi o'h

Hi again Valorie. Does sound like you got kicked in the rear with the Hep treatment. One friend went through the treatment for a year like you. Never before had he ever experienced clinical depression, but for some reason, he was hit with it during his treatment. He said he then understood and felt compassion for those people who lived in a chronic depressive state. I just want you to know that I talked with my family phys. last Friday about antidepressants. He told me that some of them (depending on the one) you have to start slowly and then build up to a certain dose. He then mentioned that others can be stopped abruptly while others do require a "weaning" off period. He said there were certain ones that needed to be taken by the clock and a dose not missed. Some are even geared toward compulsivity. I think if you were to make an app't with a doctor who is knowledgeable and understanding you could find someone who might be able to help in this area should you find yourself in need. I had an internist who did not prescribe anti-depressants. She said she didn't know that much about them, so she was uncomfortable prescribing them. Instead, she referred me to a nurse practitioner. (I went to her and without even opening my mouth, she wrote a prescription for an antidepressant) I have every confidence in my good and kind doctor who I now use. He is a good listener and smart with helping to meet my needs. By the way, we can all probably relate to getting pooped from a shower. Very good luck to you in your recovery and getting your old body back. She will come. Just give her time to heal. Cindi o'h

The worse thing for me while waiting in line, is the guys always trying to rub up against me... geez I hate that. What. Do you want my BAW-DY? Cindi o'h

Hi Valerie, welcome! Bummer that you have had to go through all of what you have. Were you on Imuran? I understand that the treatment for Hep C can knock you down pretty hard, including emotions. With treatment, depression and anxiety levels running high are common, I have read and heard. Now you have to wait to find out what about your lung? Yikes! Is there any way you can think of to avert your mind away from going toward a lc diagnosis? Just the sincere "thought" of it scares a person badly. (caused me to curl up in a ball inside myself) It really does a person no good to dwell on a firm diagnosis when there isn't one to be had as yet. Please try really hard to reclaim your life before hepC and enjoy every waking moment healing from all that you have gone through. In other words, try to live in the day today and not in the future. It will be there for you to worry about when it gets here. Cindi o'h

While I was in high school, one of the favorite debate themes was spending money on funding research of the outer limits (sending man to the moon) or spending money on cancer research and ultimately cure. Here we are 30 years(can you believe it?) later and we have yet to discover Martians or a cure for cancer. I feel... I don't know how I feel. Hopeless is the word, maybe. I feel disappointed, I guess. Will there EVER be a cure for cancer? With all the great minds and work done in this area, there seems to be no cure in sight. After listening to our high school debaters, I was on the side of cancer research and forgetting about the man in the moon. Would there be a global cancer cure if all the money that had been spent on space programs had been funneled into cancer research? Really, I don't think so. Cindi o'h

So much, Tina. I can't believe it's been six months either. Sorry honey. I can still see his pictures that you posted. Big ole teddy bear of a guy.. Cindi o'h

p.s. made me wet my shirt. love, Cindi o'h

bummer. I couldn't log-in for some reason to be able to read the article. Cindi o'h

Happy Birthday, Lee Acosta! Thank you, Eppie. Your Dad is proud of you. You are just the sweetheart to share all the great stuff. Lee would have turned 64 today? What a great tribute to honor your Dad. Cindi o'h

Oh my gosh, Eppie. How I can relate to being that racoon right now! You are unreal savvy. love, Cindi o'h