Justakid

Pat and Brian- Well that's not what we wanted to hear! Hang in there! Try to be strong! Keep us posted and stay away from everyone so you don't get sick!

Mare- My Husband was dx with UC and Crohn's Disease 12yrs ago. He has had a few "Flare up's" over the years. Some "tumors" in his colon and on his liver over the years BUT has been in remission for 8yrs! It took a little while to get the medication and treatments straight but he is doing great. I'll pray that your daughter follows his path!

Although I am the patient and not the caregiver, I can speak for my husband. It has been about 15mths since dx and my husband is beginning to have problems. He can no longer look at me and tell me everything will be OK as I sit there with my oxygen on coughing and complaining that I am going to die. After all this time he is having a hard time being optimist. I have told him to come here and it's too much on him, when he reads the stories he can't take it emotionally. I think I have him convinced to try counseling. I think it helps (even in my situation) to have an unassociated third party to help walk you through it. Good luck!

Carol- Your gonna do great! Remember to WALK! Ask for a wheelchair, put your chest tube collector thingy in the seat and push it around the nurse's station! I walked so much at the hospital that when I got home and stopped walking so much my legs hurt worse then surgery! Good luck to you.....eat and walk!

TAnn- That sucks! Don't forget there is always Avastin that can go with the Alimta too! I'm sorry..........I just wonder if some of us are being pushed to the edge and maybe at the edge we will find the cure and others won't have to go as far (nice thought huh?!)

InCa- I am on Alimta (7 treatments so far), I have started to become tired and have started to have very bad pain in the torso area. I'm concerned about the dizziness and hearing. You do need a 2nd opinion. FayA. is one smart lady, check into what she said in her response. There has to be something that can be done to get a 2nd opinion! Good luck and keep us posted!

KMT- There is always hope! When I was first dx I was 36yrs old and at Stage 1, after surgery I was Stage 3A. After my radiation and chemo treatment it came back at Stage 4 and has been kicking my *ss ever since 02/05 at Stage 4. Thank God it's only in my lungs! I am in my 5th line of treatment and am currently on Avastin and Alimta. I know how scary this is, it is all I can think about day and night. I'm in pain, I'm scared and I am still in denial after almost 15mths. Just remember....you are not alone! Mine was also found by accident, I feel down the stairs and figured I better get an x-ray of my ribs. As I sit here on my oxygen with major shortness of breath....I still can not believe that this isn't some kind of sick joke. I just turned 38, I have a 14yr old and 8yr old.....I don't have time for this crap! I'm too young and and a Mom! Anyway, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here and understand. Hang in there and keep the faith, I KNOW HOW HARD IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW! What a week. It's been one week since my first infusion. Nausea (could be the chemo aggrevating the gall bladder), pain (near the surgical site from over a year ago), pain all over my torso. Just a general "I'M SICK" feeling! Slept ALOT! Headaches. I seem to be coming out of the hole some, feeling slightly better. Guess it will be a week of hell with this treatment. Just thought I would let everyone know in case they were interested.

Thanks for the update, she's so big!

Brandy give it some time. Because I just had chemo and am feeling so rotten I only get on the computer once a day, it's too much work.

What you are feeling in normal, it's just so damn hard to deal with! Hang in there!

I felt fine on Tarceva just BAD BAD BAD skin reactions. I look like an alien and diseased. Keep plenty of lotion on hand and keep him "gooped" up! Hope it works!

Common virus 'kills cancer' Wednesday, June 22, 2005; Posted: 9:17 a.m. EDT (13:17 GMT) The virus targets cancer cells, but does not harm normal cells, researchers said.VISIONARIES Aubrey de Grey on extending life spans Ronald Larsen on global health threats YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Cancer Diseases or Create Your Own Manage Alerts | What Is This? WASHINGTON -- A common virus that is harmless to people can destroy cancerous cells in the body and might be developed into a new cancer therapy, US researchers said. The virus, called adeno-associated virus type 2, or AAV-2, infects an estimated 80 percent of the population. "Our results suggest that adeno-associated virus type 2, which infects the majority of the population but has no known ill effects, kills multiple types of cancer cells yet has no effect on healthy cells," said Craig Meyers, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Penn State College of Medicine in Pennsylvania. "We believe that AAV-2 recognizes that the cancer cells are abnormal and destroys them. This suggests that AAV-2 has great potential to be developed as an anti-cancer agent," Meyers said in a statement. He said at a meeting of the American Society for Virology that studies have shown women infected with AAV-2 who are also infected with a cancer-causing wart virus called HPV develop cervical cancer less frequently than uninfected women do. AAV-2 is a small virus that cannot replicate itself without the help of another virus. But with the help of a second virus it kills cells. For their study, Meyers and colleagues first infected a batch of human cells with HPV, some strains of which cause cervical cancer. They then infected these cells and normal cells with AAV-2. After six days, all the HPV-infected cells died. The same thing happened with cervical, breast, prostate and squamous cell tumor cells. All are cancers of the epithelial cells, which include skin cells and other cells that line the insides and outsides of organs. "One of the most compelling findings is that AAV-2 appears to have no pathologic effects on healthy cells," Meyers said. "So many cancer therapies are as poisonous to healthy cells as they are to cancer cells. A therapy that is able to distinguish between healthy and cancer cells could be less difficult to endure for those with cancer." AAV-2 is being studied intensively as a gene therapy vector -- a virus modified to carry disease-correcting genes into the body. Gene therapy researchers favor it because it does not seem to cause disease or immune system reaction on its own.

Blood counts have been fne through the entire process. I pray a few more treament types pop up soon!

That's how my gall bladder attacks are.

Been thinking of you, let us know what July scans bring!

Here goes Alimta #7 with Avastin. So far so good, they said if there were any side affects it would be during infusion. The benadryl put my into my drunken stupper. Used my port-a-cath for the first time, that was werid and I didn't like the idea of stuff hanging out of my chest, couldn't look. Very tired from pain meds and benadryl, been sleeping most of the day. Hope this works cause it's the last line of treatment that anyone can come up with, we've done it all. Call the doctor in a week to tell him if I'm breathing better. If it's working we'll do this every 3 weeks for ever.

I had no symptoms. I had fallen down the stairs and the doctor was checking for broken ribs. Found more then we were looking for!

I am so sorry!

Went to the funeral home and saw Dave tonight, felt the need to post. Now remember I have only known Dave sick, I got to see pictures of him with a full head of hair and a mustache! That was pretty cool! Everyone always says how good people look in these situations, but to me he did look good! Flowers everywhere. The flowers from LCHELP were beautiful. I got to meet Dave's other sister (Tammy) too. Karen's Mom was there and she looked good (remember she just had major surgery), she said she was starting chemo back up next week. Even being there the first hour, I was surprised how many people were there. Dave knew and touched a lot of people! Oh well time to rest up for tomorrow! Just felt the need to share.

I'm with you Karen!

I just spoke with Karen and Dave passed away tonight. I do not have too much information, I can only tell you that Karen and "his family" (I assume his parents and Becky when Karen said his family) were with him. He passed shortly after 6pm, she is trying to have the funeral on Saturday. I'm gonna miss him! From what Karen said yesterday he has been unconscious most of the time and when he was awake he was delirious......I pray he didn't suffer.

See Grieving Forum for information on David C

Thanks Katie - didn't look there (makes sense it would be there though). Just speechless about the whole thing!

I don't want to upset Karen or Becky or Dave's family but felt the need to post. David C is not doing well, he is in the hospital. He needs all the prayers we can give him!