nancy c Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 hello---my husband c/o's of alot of bone pain with his chemo-he has the usual nausea and vomiting and then it does get better--but i am concerned--he has alot of lymphedema in his left arm--which his neck and lung tumor is on the left side--and his cat scan did say he had clots in the superior vena cava vessel and he is on coumadin; his arm swells then goes down-and swells a few days later--is this not a very dangerous problem?? his onc saw him this week and told him to just keep trying to keep his arm above his head as much as possible when lying down. i feel maybe we are just being pacified. his dr has always told us he is prolonging his life-and cancer is hard to treat. but i feel he is not being honest with us--and informing us on what is ahead of us. i know he doesn't want us to lose hope-but how fair is it to leave us hanging?? just venting--thanks! love and peace, nancy c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remembering Dave Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 Nancy, if he does have the lymphedema (fluid in arm because of armpit lymph nodes removed or damaged) he can get a compression sleeve that will help keep the fluid there under control. You might want to post this question under General where more people will see it. I know there have been others on this board with problems at their superior vena cava area. I think you need more answers from you onco doc. Do you have absolute confidence in him/her? If not you may want to find a second opinion on his treatment. Or switch altogether. He/she doesn't sound like they are giving you much hope or fighting very hard for you. A Stage IV diagnoses is not necessarily a death sentence. Take care and God Bless, Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy c Posted April 23, 2005 Author Share Posted April 23, 2005 thank you for your response; it is a struggle with my husband; he will not go anywhere else for any other opinions; you see-he had his neck tumor for almost a year before he told me or went to a dr. he is so afraid of medical people and needles! i was so mad at him when he was dx-because he didn't seek medical help right away-and by the time he did--it had spread thru his body. sometimes i think the less he is told the better he feels. he is comtfortable with his onc-but i wish to seek other opinions and advice. until i have his co-operation i guess i'm stuck. thank you and god bless you. love and peace,nancy c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remembering Dave Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Nancy, how awful! I must tell you, my favorite cousin, his fiance, with whom he has been living with for four years but she keeps putting off marriage - she had a mammagram a year ago and they saw something and recommended a biopsy - she didn't do it because she didn't have health insurance - he said, well, good time to get married, then we'll put you on my insurance - she put it off - all of it - finally got her own insurance - lump got so big she had to do something about it, so had "emergency" lumptectomy - so far everything looks good, clear margin, clear lymph nodes (still waiting on results of sentinel node) and so she may have gotten away from it. But I ask, how can an educated, professional woman, who's own fiance's sister died of breast cancer, put something like that off? well, hang in there. you're doing all you can. it's tough, isn't it? God Bless, Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy c Posted April 25, 2005 Author Share Posted April 25, 2005 karen-thank you for your response; it is awful and i feel at a loss. there is only so much that can be done--he has to take the bull by the horn-so to speak-he is also an educated person--who's mother died of lung cancer 3 years ago.take care-god bless,nancy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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