New here, daughter in law of a Squamos NSCL patient.

[crazesandy]

Good afternoon. I've been looking for a place to come and get informative information...not just from a clinical perspective, but from a human perspective. My father in law was diagnosed April of 2004. He was given chemotherapy only until August of 2004. At that time his scans showed that the tumor was untracable. Things went very well until the Christmas holiday season. He began to get pain in his right side chest. We knew the cancer had returned. After a petscan it was confirmed that the cancer returned. His doctor decided to give him an option: He could go back to chemo (he did really well with chemo, very minimal side effects) OR to try Tarceva. Well heck, who wouldn't want to pop a pill as opposed to going to the chemo center? So he opted for the Tarceva. He's been on it since Feb 14 2005. After about a week and half of taking it, the pain in his chest started to subside BUT he began to get a rash on his face. We expected as much since it was listed as a side effect. Well, after more than a month my Dad looks like he was burned in a fire. The rash is more like blisters on some spots, he's constantly taking Benadryl to control the itch, which in turn makes him exhausted, his lips are so blistered he has a hard time eating and drinking...and the list goes on.

Is there anyone else here who has used Tarceva? If so, did you get the rash and if yes, what did you use to help combat the side effects from it?

Sandy

[Ry]

Welcome Sandy~

My husband also has the rash (which isn't a rash, there's just no other word to describe it). He uses lotion on it and it helps but it is always present. Any good rich lotion should help. He just bought the Curel Ultra Healing to try, before that he used St. Ives Whipped Silk. Others have reccomended Nivea, and Udderly Smooth. There is also a perscription ointment you can ask your dr about but that didn't help John.

Good luck, I hope the Tarceva works for your FIL.

Rochelle

[MelanieLR]

Dear Sandy,

Welcome to our little family. The one place we all wish you didn't find yourself in need of, but we're glad you found us. While I have no personal experience with Tarceva, From what I've read in this community, your FIL is having a fairly common reaction. I'm sorry to hear of his troubles & wish I could do something to help. My heartfelt prayers will have to be enough for the moment.

Sometimes just the littlest thing can help. Please know that any time you need to try to gather info from our shared experiences or even just take a moment to vent or find comfort, we'll all be here for you. We'll find the strength we all need to get through this together. There really is strength in numbers. Sometimes, we just want someone to hold our hands like Momma used to do when we were little. If even one of these things brings comfort in any way, then we've accomplished our mission.

Again, welcome & please let us know how we can be of help.

Hugs & Prayers for you, your FIL & all who love him,

Melanie

[Justakid]

Welcome!

I was on Tarceva and at 150mg I looked like an alien. Used all the lotions, finally cut back to 100mg and took antibiotic and non-fingal meds everyday with the Tarceva. Tarceva also caused yeast in fections in my throat.

My doctor told me it could take months to get "use to it" and I agree about the rash, you can't even go out without people treating you like a monster.

Tarceva did not help me, I hope it helps your dad and you can get things under control, perhaps a lower dose and antibiotics will help (I took Clindamicin twice a day and Diflucan for the yeast)

Good lucK!