SJAS

Have a great time and try to get more of them than they get of you (skeeters, that is....)

Whoa - two lanes of traffic coming at you and two husbands - that could add a bit of excitement to your life. Seriously tho', sorry about the double vision and hope it just turns out to be some freakish incident. You're a brave soul to undertake selling a house at these times. That can be stressful even when your health is fine. Hope the next buyer doesn't flake on you.

Hello Minnie, Sorry we had to meet this way. Hope you get some answers soon. Yes, she certainly should have an MRI. My husband was checked regularly by his radiologist for symptoms (he does have brain mets) and she always questioned about speech and memory problems. Then she ran a quick series of tests, like reflex and eye movements. Also wanted to mention the triple dose MRI. Steve has had two and they can pick up things missed by a regular MRI.

Hello all, Well, this has been a rough couple of days (hmm, make that weeks, months, etc.) Steve's CT results showed that many of the old lesions are gone , but several new sites have shown up . His blood counts aren't good and the liver function which had been getting progressively better (almost normal last week) has taken a sudden downturn. He was supposed to have chemo today, but just got Zometa. He will start on Iressa asap - or as soon as I can convince the "insurance gods" to authorize it - which better be tmw. The last few days he has been having some bloating. We mentioned it at his doctor appt. today and then got distracted by all the other issues and forgot to pursue it. Now, of course, tonight it has become much worse, to the point where I called the on-call doctor. He says it could be ascites. I know some of you have talked about bloating issues (Tess, I know you said you were going to follow up on it for Rob). My brain is in "park" right now, so any helpful info you could pass along would be appreciated. We will talk to the doctor tmw also. Trying to hold it together - have had to use my dark glasses indoors a couple of times today. Just hoping people will think I'm just trying to be soooo cool. Thanks for all your help, support and sharing.

Hurray!! Go get 'em!

Welcome to a wonderful place to be if you're dealing with lung cancer. Just remember that bad chemo days are followed by better days. I agree with the breath too - deep, deep breath and you'll get through it.

I'm so very sorry for your loss. May you take comfort in knowing that he was there with your arms around him at home.

Uh oh, 'fraid this Saturday will send me running to the fridge! Comfort food - here I come. (Wonder if the upscale bakery in town has teacakes....)

Cat, Glad you're back and that you're getting some answers and action. Hope the ball keeps on rolling in the right direction for you.

Cheryl & Jack, I am so saddened to read of your report. Steve also was diagnosed because of pleural effusion which totally collapsed his left lung. He had 2 thoracentesis and then a chest tube put in and, after 9 days, a pleuradesis was performed to prevent any more leakage around the lung. That part has been totally successful and he has had no further breathing problems. Steve's original dx probably included "innumerable" - there were so many places mentioned, I just kind of went numb. But when he received a treatment which worked for him, the next sets of scans all came back clear, and he was doing great, walking 2-3 miles and doing all sorts of family activities. So "innumerable metastases" can be beaten. Steve is hard at work on a new set and we are going to get those too. You just keep walking on down that road - you'll get there.

David & Karen, I have trouble getting time to come to the board often enough, so just saw your post about the brain mets. I just want to scream about this. Those $#@^% brain mets. They just don't give ya a break. Just when you think you've got a handle on things, someone raises the bar. Get LOTS of info and maybe talk with a neurosurgeon. We had two "camps" going in the WBR vs. Gamma Knife issue and they were 180degrees apart. Although Steve was forced into WBR eventually by the army of lesions (15), it has taken a huge toll. Prayers for strength and guidance coming your way.

Lovely, Jane. Going to have Steve read this before going in for chemo next time.

Those boys will have the greatest memories to reminisce with you over the years. Then you get to relive them over and over. What a cool dad you are - my sons would be totally impressed with an outing like that. Don't you worry about the $$ if you can come up with it, because your family would gladly spend that many times over to have you able to be feeling good. You go for it! (p.s. - if the $$ become unmanageable, some of the major drug companies do have programs to help. Contact the maker directly to find out if they have one and what are the guidelines for qualification.)

Soooooo cute. Thanks for brightening our day with the kids' pics.

Just can't believe Charlie has to go through this on top of the cancer. Steve was supposed to have a port implanted, but his platelets were way too low for surgery so they installed a PICC line again. After reading about Charlie, I think I'm glad. Hope everything will be looking up soon now that they seem to have a complete picture.

Glad you're back and that Earl is doing well. Whew, that was sure no way to take a break! Will be saying a prayer that all this will be something soon to be forgotten.

Tess, Don't know how you could have gotten through that post with no tears because they're sure flowing here. Rob is a remarkable man with the very good luck to have a remarkable wife and family. He has had the greatest gift possible with all of you. No medicine on earth can do anymore for him than what you are giving him. My prayers are with you both.

Gayle and family, My deepest condolences to you on this sad turn of events. Any mother with a daughter like you must certainly be at peace. Please take some time now to be good to yourself, because I know what this disease can do to the rest of the family.

Welcome Kim and mom (hopefully ) You certainly have gotten off to a flying start in helping your mother fight this monster. If your mom starts checking this site out, bet she'll get addicted to it with all it's wonderful support and great info. I just wish I had more time to check in more often myself. Anyway, you keep coming and at least get support for yourself. It really helps!

Roanna, My husband had WBR in Feb. and had a follow-up MRI I believe in May. Also, I have read some studies where Gamma Knife was used to remove subsequent lesions after WBR. Steve also has bone pain for which he is using morphine, but his onc. said that if it gets severe, they will radiate it which tends to be very effective for bone pain. Hope you can get some other opinions soon.

Hi Katie, I'm fairly new myself (well officially anyway) and am just getting to know everyone here. It's just great that we now get to know you better too - just wish it didn't have to be that way. By the way, there's another thread going on how we chose our user names. I can't help but wonder if yours might have anything to do with your sister. Your user name just took me back and gave me a laugh thinking about the standard response from me and my sisters when someone broke something... "Not me! (Sister's name) did it!

Joni, My heart is breaking for you and Alex. There really are no words... except to say how deeply sorry I am to hear about Robert.

Welcome Jane! Sorry I'm so slow to greet you. Sometimes it is tough to get enough time to do more than a quick glance thru so many wonderful topics here, so I hadn't gotten to the Newcomers recently. I hung on the periphery for a long while too, even filled in the registration a couple of times and didn't send it. Go figure.... Anyway you've certainly come to the right place. I tend to focus on NSCLC too, so see you there.

Sherri, Welcome to the place which is a blessing for families dealing with lung cancer. Hugs to you all as you begin your journey.

You've definintely got my prayers, lots of them....