shineladysue

Brenda, I am so very sorry about the loss of your Dad. Sending prayers for your family . Love, Sue

Tina, Mike is on Prednisone, Tessalon Pearles, Tussinex Suspension, Zithromycin, Flovent inhaler, and Nebulizes with Xopenex+ mucomyst . In the hospital they put him on two different antibiotics.. codeine plus all the rest. His cough is non productive , but it sounds like stuff is down there. His case is a bit different in that he has a stent down in his trachea that may be blocking phlegm from coming up.. don't know.. hope that's not the case. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to share what Charlie is on and I'm so glad he is improved. sue

It's Sunday, Feb. 5th and Mike came home yesterday. I am very beside myself this am. He is coughing as bad as ever. I'm not happy with the term the "new normal"... what does that mean and why. Okay, I'm venting.. We will be back to see the doc tomorrow if not sooner. Waaaaaaaaa........ We won't switch doctors. He has had this one for 5 years and he has given us 5 years to gain confidence in him, but this time he needs to do better or if he can't do better , he needs to explain better. Thank you guys. I'm really venting this morning , but as I write this the tears are falling and I feel like I'm going to burst wide open with frustration. Love you all. Keep the prayers coming that we can fix this.. Love, Sue

Fay, you are such an inspiration.. God be with you. Love and Prayers, Sue

Larry, May you and your family accept my heartfelt sympathy.. I am so very very sorry. Love, sue

Peggy, 3,000 is an awesome number of posts. You've given so much of yourself to us. Thank you, Peggy, for being here for us even during your own very hard times. You are a special lady and one I will never forget. Love, sue

It's Saturday, Feb. 4th and we are home. The doc ordered one last dose of IV antibiotics this am and released Mike with a fist full of prescriptions. He's so very glad to be home. Is he better? I don't know . The doctor says yes, but he's still coughing, short of breath etc.. Guess we have to give it time and see. I had hoped for so much more by now. Mike says he thinks he is better. The doctor calls some of this the "new normal" for Mike. He says Mike will get used to the cough and the way it feels and know when it is worse or he is in repiratory distress. He also said a temp of 99ish isn't a bad thing. Anyhow, he has been up sending emails and doing some stuff on his computer. He says he's not really tired. We shall see. Thank you everyone for your prayers and well wishes. sue

Thanks for the update, Ann. Been wondering where that girl got off to. Sure hope she gets it fixed soon. Love, Sue

Charlie, You sure know how to rally the troops. You are so right that we all need to pull ourselves up and continue doing what we can to fight. For you, Charlie and everyone here .. Let's Get R Done... Cheers Charlie. Love and Prayers, Sue

Just a quick update as of today Feb. 2nd. Mike is coughing a lot less and is doing much better. He is still in the hospital and the pulmonologist is talking about sending him home on Saturday. He would like to keep him there one more day to get IV antibiotics and make sure he is ready to go home. Thank you all for your wonderful messages and prayers. It means so much to me. Hope we get settled back home soon so I can keep up with the board. I'm trying to read , but don't have time to post much. My prayers to all. Love, Sue

Kelly, That's wonderful news. Thanks for sharing and know your mom has my prayers. Love, Sue

(((Pat))) Love and Prayers, Sue

Thanks everyone for all your support. It's Tuesday night. I left Mike a couple hours ago with a smile and feeling better. The doc came in and said that his chest xray looked good. His one lung looks clear and all stents are in place. He says the infection was in the airway and it appears to be responding to the IV antibiotics. He's hoping with a little more time and patience we can knock this infection out. He is already coughing less today. He's eating like a pig.. steroids at work, thank God... He's not sending him home until we are sure. Fay, I did mention fungal infection to him ... and he more or less ruled it out due to infection, but he was listening and I know he will take my thoughts into serious consideration. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. It's always helpful. Looks like we may be getting somewhere with the help of love and prayers of all my lung cancer family . Love & prayers to all, Sue

Hello All, It's late , but I wanted to tell all of you that Mike is in the hospital again. His cough got progressively worse over the weekend. Took him to the doctor today and he put him in the hospital to put him on IV antibiotics, steroids, do blood work, culture , xrays etc. He may have to go down and clean out the trapped phlegm . We hope this will be a short and productive visit. Will keep you informed. I know nothing more. Left Mike bouncing off walls with the steroids. Take care everyone and thank you for all your love and wonderful messages etc. Sorry to make this rushed and short, but it's late and I'm tired. Love, Sue

I just wanted to drop in and let you know that things haven't changed a lot for Mike. He is still struggling to bounce back from his two stent procedures (trachea and esophageal) in December. He was in the hospital til Christmas and has been struggling with cough or infection since. He is on the 4th antibiotic, extra steroids, cough meds etc and things aren't any better. We will call the doctor tomorrow. I think it's about time for x rays and or scans to be done. We need to know exactly what is going on. We were just there this past Thursday and he gave us a choice of inpatient or outpatient to treat Mike. Mike wanted out , but the tons of meds he is taking aren't helping. I come here and try to keep up with everyone. I care about you all and pray for you. This month has brought us all down. In my time here, I've never seen so many deaths or reports of bad news in one month. I know that I have shed a ton of tears for all those folks here that we have come to love so much. Damn this disease. I'm having a terrible struggle myself these days. Just can't keep it together. Would appreciate any prayers or positive thoughts you can send our way. Thank you. Praying for all of you. Love, Sue

Linda, Mike is on 2 liters of oxygen continuously at home. You can get tubing that will go 25 to 50 feet so that it will stretch a good distance in the home. We are fortunate in that it will stretch to our bathroom and there is a big enough gap at the bottom of our bathroom door for the tubing to go under. Our oxygen provider also has provided us with a large tank that will last 4 hours ( in Mike's case) to use in event of power outage. His portable tanks will last an average of 3 hours and they serve our needs for most outings. We order 7 at a time and call when we are down to 2 . Like Fay's provider, ours are on call 24/7. Our cancer center and doctor's offices are equipped with supplimental oxygen to help us out. There is even a concentrator at both. Hope this helps. sue

Pat, thank you for the 2,000 times you came here and shared a part of yourself. It seems that even when you were going through some of the most difficult times you still found time to give support and love to others. God Bless you Pat. You are truly a special person and a wonderful friend. Love, Sue

Congratulations , Heidi and Family. Chloe, oh what a beautiful name... I love it.. Love, Sue

I wasn't prepared for this flood of tears that won't stop falling from my eyes. Rest in peace dear Addie and God Be with all your family and friends . Love, Sue

Soooo Happy for you Geri!!! This news was worth waiting for. Count me in at the pub.. Love, Sue

Eppie, Your latest news sounds very encouraging. Hope your Dad continues to improve. Love, Sue

Fay, Sending many prayers for your doctor and you. Your positive attitude is my inspiration. Love and Prayers, Sue

Lori, I just want to say that your mom is so blessed to have you. I think you are doing the absolute right thing to check everything out ahead of time. Enjoy your QT with mom this weekend.. Know that you have my prayers. I don't always post because you have had problems that I couldn't begin to know how to handle. God Bless. Love and Prayers, Sue

Thank you , Kasey. I do hope Mark knows how much we cared for Leslie and I hope he will join us later. When Leslie had the picture of her fish face up, it always brought a smile to my heart. It just said so much about the spirted, optimistic, fun loving person she was. When she shared her trip to Rome with us, I enjoyed the sights, but most of all I enjoyed the story that she and Mark told in facial expressions. It was a joy to share those times plus so many of her words and the spirted attitude Leslie brought to this board. I won't forget her Love, Sue

Eppie, Just know that you and your Dad are in my thoughts and prayers. Love, Sue