richinsdakota
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Posts posted by richinsdakota
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Yes, in our initial panic..isnt it great to find a site like this?
Sounds like you are aggressively treating it...keep up the good work. Enjoy your rest first tho...good luck..Rich B.
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Just another idea; I have a mild antidepressant called Nortryptiline...It makes me sleepy in about 20 mins., and I sleep pretty well. Works for me...ok..good luck. Rich B.
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hehe...yea, I think its a cyber pub...but I do get a dizzy feeling when I read her posts sometimes.
(J/K, cindi) -
Sounds good...celebrate! hehe
Yea, lot of us have gotten migraine headaches, acid reflux stomach, etc. after treatment. Dunno why, I might ask for an MRI brain again if they keep up too. But seems a fairly common side effect of our treatments and meds, ...I hope thats all it is.
Anyway, take care and good luck...Rich B.
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Hi; I assume you will have a Thoracotomy incision..? They are not able to attempt the VATS surgery, which is much less invasive? Worth asking about, tho the surgeon rules in the end, I guess.
My Thoracotomy was major surgery, painful and slow recovery. I was on heavy pain meds for about 4 months or more and could do nothing but walk for excercise. Even that was limited for about the same time. Couldnt sleep in bed, only in recliner chair...jus now able to use bed...but no rolling onto my favorite side...sigh.
Im about 10 mos. out from surgery now, still cant lift much more than a half gallon of milk, and short of breath at any exertion. (Lost full left lung) Im just about to try the riding mower, take it slow, might be ok. Driving even my automatic was hard at first...turns stress rib cage muscles at incision, ...litlle better now tho.
In short, its Major surgery, (thoracotomy), and recovery is painful and then long. I dont know if Ill ever be able to get back to regular work I used to do...even remodeling around the house, etc. Yardwork is still tough to do much.
Its a permanent disability, as far as Im concerned...lung capacity limited and chest wall muscles disrupted, lost a rib, numbness in chest area, no heavy lifting, (which is required for most any phyical work.) I dont mean to make it sound awful, youre lucky if the tumor is operable, get it out of there, but dont count on getting back to normal anytime soon...takes time and patience to recover to a reasonable level of function. Least for me, everyones diff., but it is major surgery.
My Onc. wanted me to have scans every 2mos. after treatment ended. Me and my family doc. overode that advice...too much radiation. Im waiting 5-6 months before first screening scan. Already had 25-30 xrays and scans during treatment..sigh. I never had a pulmonologist either. My bio info below tells my story. Anyway, good luck...getting it outa there has to be the priority, then we have to take what comes, what we are left with...go from there. Rich B.
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I had SOB, (pneumonitis, or pneumonia) from chemo...taxotere...Onc says it can do that , (now he tells me.) Took a week of antibios and steroids to clear up. Seemed to return to where I was, breathing wise, but steroids made me emotional wreck for awhile. Required anti-anxiety med to calm me down. (Lorazepam). Rich B.
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So sorry to hear the news...sounds like you fought the fight, ...all we can do. Good luck in moving on with your life. Rich B.
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Hi and welcome; I was formerly in Ca., now in midwest. My bio below describes my experience, My tumor was operable, lost whole lung, tho.
Taxotere did same thing to me..one treatment gave me pnuemonia, or pnuemonitis, ended up in ER short of breath, then a week of antibios to clear it up. Since mine was adj. chemo, I stopped at that point, so dont know about other chemos.
Anyway, keep posting and learning like u have, and good luck...Rich B.
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Yea; I know the feeling...Onc. dosed me w/steroids, didnt mention any side effects..sheesh. Ended up in ERoom crying like a baby..and Im 60. heh They straightened it out with Lorazepam, anti-anxiety drug. worked great, but wish to h... they would warn us of these effects. Hard to find good help anymore, is all I can say, even about Docs. Hope u get things back on an even keel...good luck..Rich B.
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Great; sounds good...sure a lot better than full thoracotomy. Prognosis sounds good. Even if they recomend adj. chemo, they like to wait 4-6 weeks anyway. Good u caught it so early...good luck. Rich B.
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I, too am hopeful that it will go away , but Im 10 mos. out from surg., and while Im not sure its 'reflux', it sure is an acid stomach. Tried to cut down on the daily Nexium, but it comes right back, acid and stomach nausea...yuk.
I also have been having migraine headaches, and headaches are one of the most common side effects of Nexium. Dunno if its causing headaches, cant get off it long enuff to find out...catch 22? heh. Hoping things clear up sometime. Rich B.
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Nice post, thx..and welcome..hope youll keep posting and learning here, as u find out more, etc...Rich B.
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Good luck, hope it works out well for u this time. We've had enuff troubles, dont need anymore,huh...Rich B.
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THERE u are..hehe...glad to hear ur ok,...yea, easy to get a little depressed with all this, but spring may make us perk up a little. (Im still taking a mild anti-depressant, my Mom said I sounded depressed, so...thot Id better get back on em.) K..take care...and keep in touch. Rich B.
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Great news..Congrats! NED is such a nice sound...
I cant offer much on scans/contrast, Im just coming up on my first screening, hope its as good as yours. Good to hear good news here. Take care...Rich B. -
Hi; welcome...sorry about ur diagnosis, but you have found a great place for support and learning. Most of us have been where u are now, and Im sure you will get some helpful replies in short order, usually. The bio info under ppls reply posts are a wealth of info too.
I assume VATS is the scope and instrument surgery? If so, this is the least invasive procedure, hope they can do that for you. I had a full thoracotomy incision w/rib removed, and lost the entire left lung. Major surgery, but one does recover , tho a long and painful process, and hopefully they get all the cancer, whichever surgery they choose.
As far as preparation; they like u to quit smoking, if u do...I prepped by building up my physical stamina, by walking a lot, or jogging, just generally be as strong as possible. I think it really helped me to recover faster, and get back home. Mentally, I spent a lot of time here, and on online cancer sites, researching, learning. (Web MD, NCInstitute, Lung assoc., etc.) Others here may know of more ideas they used.
Know that cancer diag. is not necessarily a death sentence anymore, ....soounds like u have a good chance to be cured by surgery. They may recommend adjutant chemo sev. mos. after, depends on Docs, what they do there.
Keep posting with your questions, feelings, requests....ppl here are glad to help with all. Good luck and welcome again. Rich B.
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I dunno if this helps at all...I probly was dealing with much milder symtoms....but when the prednisone had me sobbing in despair in the emer. room...doc gave me Lorazepam and it completely nuetralized the steroid reaction. I still take a few jus for general anxiety, sure works for me...
Also, my acid stomach from pain meds, etc., was nuetralized by Nexium...the "purple pill"? Fairly expensive, but when taken every other day...rivals the cost of lot of otcounter stuff and works better. Sure helped me. Course, its an every day pill for severe symptoms at first. Ok...anyways, good luck to you...Rich B.
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Geez, sounds like some of you have a lot worse migraines symptoms than me...mine jus hurt like h... and will make for vomiting if I dont get it knocked out. Fortunately, the meds I mentioned do that ...so far. Hope yall get relief too, somehow.
Diet,..hmmm...dunno, I consume about half or more of that list Cindy posted...enuff caffeine to wire up a horse all day, probly...plus the headache meds have caffeine. May have to start a process of elimination in diet, but....cut down on caffeine?? Dunno if I can...wont wake up till 3pm..hehe. BTW, I quit the vitamin B12, dont think it helped any...jus gave me a tense, angry feeling, if thats possible...
Thx again for your posts....good luck...Rich B.
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Kaf....u still there hon? havent see u post for awhile...hope ur feeling ok....check in if u can ...miss ur posts. take care....Rich B.
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Yea, biopsy is the only way to know for sure....hope it turns oout well for you... Just for comparison, my tumor was 3.2x 10.1 cm....god knows how long it had been growing, they offered no estimate. But it had remained quite isolated, no spread was detected anywhere, so even my prognosis is as good as anyone's , so they say.
Anyway, a tumor the size of my fist came out , along with the entire lung, and there is no evidence of disease anywhere yet....get my first screening xray and bloodwork in next few mos. ...wishing us all luck... Rich B.
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Yes I was coughing frequently for first month or maybe more...after pnuemonectomy, very painful, but I could usually cough up some phlegm which gave me a little break between coughing spells. Have u used an inhaler? Albuterol inhaler helps to loosen up any junk in lungs so it can be coughed up. dunno if it would help a dry cough, but worth a try...huh? Id ask doc...he could call in prescrip. for that...fairly cheap too....If he thinks it might help. Good Luck...hug that pillow too when coughing of course. Rich B.
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Dittos all above; and why not ask doc for some anti-anxiety med....I got Lorazepam...works great, I took a lot when steroids made me an emotional basket case..heh...but now only one/8 hrs. or so....
Hoping for the best on tests....good luck...Rich B.
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Thanx all; least I know others are in the same boat, sorry u have headaches too tho....
Yea, spose it could be stress related, since we wake up every morning realizing the pawl of life threatening recurrence hangs over our heads from now on...sometimes I cant believe this has all happened to me, before Im completely awake.
Anyway, I did see doc...since I didnt know what was happening, it had been so long since migraines. (age 10 or so)....was severe enuff to induce vomiting, so I thot I had stomach troubles...heh...duh. He gave me a migraine miracle called Relpax...and if anyone has migraines that cant be knocked out, I bet this stuff will . Unfortunately, it has outrageous price of 11 bucks per pill ...thats right ...per pill. It does knock em out tho. My insurance, of course, wont touch it....so I ended up with a prescriptioon for generic Butal, which dont work very much, but combined with otcounter acetaminaphin, after 2 hrs., it knocks em out. much cheaper..heh.
I tried vitamin B12, which some nutritionist said helped some ppl with migraines....didnt seem to help me tho.
Thx for ur replies...and I hope we all find answers for this prob....Rich B.
(J/K, cindi)
I cant offer much on scans/contrast, Im just coming up on my first screening, hope its as good as yours. Good to hear good news here. Take care...Rich B.
OKAY CINDI... LETS HAVE THE NEWS!!
in GENERAL
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Sounds like a cool place...best of luck to you there...you deserve it. Rich B.