stand4hope

Oh, Nina, you are such a sweetheart. I so much look forward to your posts, and I'm so sorry you have this new worry on your mind. Congratulations on your big celebration today, and I'm glad it helped to lighten things up for you. Let us know the results of your ultrasound as soon as you can. Love, Peggy

Hallelujah! Love, Peggy

Bill, I don't remember exactly when the rash & diarrhea started. Maybe 1-2 weeks. It was worse in the beginning, but just kept getting better. The rash was especially bad in the area where his shoulder was radiated. It was one solid, bright red, burning, itchy area. He used over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream and it started getting better very quickly. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by your second question. If you are asking if the degree of the side effects affects the effectiveness of the drug, assuming the worse the effects the more effective the drug, I would think the answer would be "no" in my husband's case. His side effects have been mild and the effectiveness has been positive. In a different scenario, however, I think it was Fay A. that reported that she had pretty severe side effects, but now has clean scans. I sure hope and pray that your wife is still improving! Love, Peggy

Praise & Worship, and songs from the 60s, get my feet to dancin'. Peggy

Well, I don't know if that helped you to cheer up, Mike, but it sure made me smile. The pity parties are normal, of course, but should hopefully be gone in a few days. Prayers for successful treatments coming your way. Love, Peggy

Oh, dear Ann, Your post just breaks my heart. I am so, so sorry! Maybe this year you will be able to focus on the fun memories and not feel as much pain and sadness. All my love, and a GREAT BIG HUG!!! Peggy

Ginny, Thank you for letting us know. Rosemary, I am so sorry to hear this. God love you! This breaks my heart. Please accept my condolences, and may God richly bless you with His comfort. Love, Peggy

Ditto the good wishes! Go, Frank, go!! Let us know just as soon as you possibly can how things went. Love, Peggy

Wow! It doesn't get any better than NED! A big congratulations coming your way. Sorry, I don't have info on PCI, but others will sign on and help you out. Again, CONGRATULATIONS! Love, Peggy

YAHOO! YAHOO! YAHOO! Big congratulations to Val and her whole family!! I see a new avatar coming. Love, Peggy

Cindi, Sounds like you love your pulmonary onc the way we love our radiation onc. He's just the best! It's kind of nice when you actually look forward to seeing your doctor, huh? And, since you like my turbo-powered prayers - sending some with super-powered fuel injection straight to God and back to you! Love, Peggy

Well, if know if he's like most dads, he will be madder than heck at you if you INSIST, but that's what you might have to do. If he can't lift his head he can't hit you (just kidding) and he probably isn't strong enough to cuss at you, so go for it. Tell him what Ry said: and start bawling if you have to, but get him to the doctor if at all possible.

Jana, I can't answer that one because my husband's brain mets were stable at the time he started Iressa, so I don't know if they would have done it if they hadn't been stable. Wish I could help. Love, Peggy

Today I am thankful: 1. For our radiation oncologist who, combined with my crazy husband, always make me laugh at our visits, and also makes us feel good about bad results. (Hmmm. How does he do that?) 2. That the radiologist didn't make a mistake AGAIN. Since I'm not very good at confrontation, I'm thankful I didn't have hurt him. LOL! 3. That my husband is sooooo happy that he can ride his motorcycle this spring. 4. God's love. 5. That my boss didn't yell because of a mistake I made today. Love, Peggy

Oh, and by the way, Bill. This was a very good question. I have searched the internet until my fingers hurt trying to find out the answer to this same question. I have tried to get stats on a larger scale than the info we get from our friends here. I haven't been able to find ANYTHING. I think these drugs just haven't been out there long enough for articles to be written on how long Iressa or Tarceva are keeping people stable. Thank God we have this site to collect information like this. Anyway, good question, and thanks for posting it. Love, Peggy

Bill, My husband has been on Iressa since June 2004 (8+ months) and until now has been stable. Today we got reports of some minor increase in 2 brain lesions and his pericardial effusion. We don't know yet if that means Iressa has stopped working and probably won't know for sure until the next set of scans are done. Even with this, he still feels really good. Love, Peggy

We got results today, and at least 1/2 of the plan. The bad news is that largest tumor in the brain has grown some, as well as one of the small ones, and there is some increased edema. The largest tumor is plus or minus 2 cm. The good news is that the onc doesn't think the growth is significant enough at this time to take any action, and especially since hubby has no symptoms or discomfort. He said, of course, to let him know if he starts to have headaches or any symptoms. He doesn't want to do stereotactic radiosurgery on them again at this time. I would assume (although we didn't ask) that his reasoning for this is that they can probably only be zapped one more time, so it would be better to wait and see and do it only if necessary. The lung scan shows that the moderate pericardial effusion has graduated to large. D*@#!!!! He is deferring treatment for that to the primary oncologist that we will see on Friday. The primary onc has said in the past that if it got worse he would send him to a cardiologist to see about getting it drained. But then again, the onc today said they might want to just watch it real close before doing this invasive procedure since he doesn't have any symtoms with it either. The rest of the CT report referred, again, to the extensive bone metastatic lesions (thoracic and lumbar vertebra, pelvic and sacral). Everything else is unchanged. While we are not happy with the new growth, we are still somewhat pleased. First of all, we thought the results could have been a lot worse. The second reason is because the onc didn't think these changes were significant enough to stop Iressa and go to yet another chemo. We might get another opinion from the primary onc on Friday, but we are pretty set in our minds to stick with Iressa. My husband does not want to do more chemo, especially now. He really wants to spend some time on his motorcylce this spring since he missed out on that last spring because of treatment. I want that for him, too. Love to all, Peggy P.S. By the way, the report they faxed to me that said things had "shrunk" was the March 2004 report.

Hang in there, my friend. Take comfort in the fact that there are many people praying for you. I hope Connie is ok. Love, hugs and prayers! Peggy

Hi Karen, My husband had radiation for a met to his shoulder that was causing severe pain. He had to be on pain meds before and during the radiation treatments. I can't remember for sure, but it seems to me that he had 14 treatments, and the shoulder starting feeling better on maybe the 8th or 9th treatment. They can give much stronger radiation to the bones than the lung, depending on where the met is located. The radiation completely got rid of the pain. His shoulder is just fine now, although he's a little more careful with it, i.e., he uses the other arm now to start the lawn mower, etc. The cancer doesn't "eat" away at the bone, like some people think. It's just stronger, more aggressive, than the bone cells and the bone cells can't fight it off, so the bone cells weaken and can't fight it back and, therefore, deteriorate. The radiation kills the cancer and then the bones are able to heal. Works like a charm. Hope this helps. Love, Peggy

J.C.: Are you having a hard time? Why don't you start a new thread and tell us what is going on. We're here for you and we love you! Today, I am thankful for: 1. I, too, have the day off. 2. Our son's cell phone isn't lost. 3. A good insurance company. 4. We're closer to getting results. 5. Money to buy food. Love to all, Peggy

Cindi, See what you can get directly from the insurance company first, medical bills plus a little for pain and suffering. They will usually settle and ask you to sign a release. If they won't pay up to your satisfaction, call another good personal injury lawyer. These types of cases are handled on a contingency basis (no money from you except for expenses), are common and are quickly settled by insurance companies, especially if a lawyer gets involved. You shouldn't have to pay anything, except maybe the court's filing fee - small fee if it's filed in a small claims court. If you have a good p.i. lawyer, he should be able to not only get your bills paid, but get you a little pain and suffering money, too, without a lawsuit ever having to even be filed. They love these cases - they aren't bad enough to ever make it to court, but good enough to get them a small quick cash payment - it's their bread and butter money. Just be sure you go to a lawyer that only does p.i. cases. They usually have rooms full of paralegals that do most of the work since this type of work is so routine. If you ask for the moon, the lawyer probably won't take the case. There is no way he/she will want to put the time and expense into a lawsuit/trial fo a case that will only pay little $$. The lawyer usually gets 1/3 (before expenses are deducted). Example: The settlement is for $3,000, lawyer gets $1,000, medical bills are $1,000 and paid out of the settlement, and then you keep $1,000. A lot of people think it works this way: $3,000, minus $1,000 medical bills, lawyers gets 1/3 of $2,000 (or $666), and you keep $1,334. That's NOT the way it works. Don't hesitate to pursue this. That's why these places have insurance, and handicapped areas should be their top priority. Hope this helps. Love, Peggy

Bill, this just made my day. How incredibly remarkable! We all needed some good news today, and I'm so glad it was in your corner. Don't know if you're a drinking man, but Cindi's pub will probably open just to celebrate this good news. I don't drink, but I'll be there and have a thick, frothy cappucino to celebrate this wonderful news! Prayers always. Love, Peggy

Thanks, Beth! David always has my prayers, but I will put a turbo boost under them! David: Hurry up and get out of there! Love, Peggy

Beth, I'm not the one with cancer, and I still get those moments of anxiety. Praying for God's peace and comfort to calm your fears. Love, Peggy

Rosemary, Things are hard right now, but I will be praying for better days ahead for Fred, and for you, too. Love, Peggy