chesney Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Hi All! I have been lurking on this board since January and finally decided to sign up. My mom was diagnosed in December 06 with Non-Small Lung Cancer. Some of the details that I know are in my signature below. It's been very frustrating and there have been many sleepless nights over all of this, including every night for the past week. I thought that maybe if I had someone to talk to that I can help get it out. The hardest part of all of this is that she wants to do all of this alone; going to treatments and doctors appointments. That's why I don't have more information posted, b/c she won't talk about it. Thank you for your time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary colleen Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 It's got to be pretty frustrating and isolating to you to not have all of the information that you would like. I guess my main questions would be whether your Mom is in Stage 2a or 2b....and specifically why surgery is not an option. I'm sure though, that if you knew, you would have included that info. It's good that you joined the site. You'll find lots of support and information here, and will know that you always have a place to come for company and information. Welcome aboard, and stay in touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatlemike Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Hi Chesney and welcome. I to wonder why surgery wasnt performed. I was stage 2b,had surgery and followed by chemo.Hopefully they will be able to do surgery yet. My prayers are with you and your mom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernrol Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Chesney, Welcome to the site. It would be good if you could get your mom to accept help from others. The bigger your team the easier it is. What kind of chemo is your mom getting? Have they mentioned Tarveva or Avastin? These are two drugs that have helped a lot of people. I would get a free copy of a book "Fighting Cancer" by Richard Bloch and give it to your mom. She may welcome your help after reading it. Go to this web address for a free copy. http://www.blochcancer.org/articles/letter.html From this web site you can get a free copy of fighting cancer and get a list of places to get good second opinions. I think this book is a must for anyone interested in beating this disease. It may help a caregiver to know, but unless the patient gets involved in his cure it will do little good. Stay positive, Ernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trish2418 Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Welcome, Chesney. I hope your wife's new tests bring good results. Trish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesney Posted August 23, 2007 Author Share Posted August 23, 2007 Thank you for your resopnses and questions... As for why they said no surgery, the only response that we got from 2 Pulmonary Surgeons was "It will not improve her quality of life". I think that maybe they are trying to shrink the tumor first then re-evaluate surgery options? Not to sure since I have not talked to Drs. myself. The two Chemo drugs that she had been taking were Taxol & Carboplatin. Last month, after 11 treatments, she has the reation to the Taxol. Drs. said not completely uncommon, but that usually patients have a reation around 5-6 treatments not 11. She goes back to the drs. today so hopefully we will have good news. I have to say that getting on here to see that people are surviving and living with this cancer is very uplifting. When mom was first diagnosed, I went on the internet and all I read was negative statistics. Thank you all for your inspiration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recce101 Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Hi, Chesney, welcome to the community! It's not uncommon for a parent with cancer to want to "do it alone" and shield their children from the details. Their intentions are the best, wanting to spare their offspring inconvenience and disruption to their own lives, but (as in your case) it often has the opposite effect. In spite of that, your grasp of the essential facts is quite good, so your mom must be willing to share a lot of the details with you and just doesn't want to dwell on the subject. And from what you're written, she seems to be getting excellent medical evaluation and treatment. I think this past week you've been suffering from a condition familiar to all of us -- one of our members came up with the perfect word for it, SCANXIETY. Please let us know what you find out today. You know what? I just realized that my oldest daughter is within a year of your mom's age! How do you think that makes ME feel?! My best wishes and Aloha, Ned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesney Posted August 24, 2007 Author Share Posted August 24, 2007 Ok so the results are in...this is the only info that I have gotten out of her so far about her drs. visit. "Little to no change from the April scan, except for a 1 centimeter "density" on my liver. He said he wasn't worried about it at this point . I'm going to have a chemo treatment next Thursday with a new drug (Alimta). It only last 2 hrs. I got a Procrit and B12 shot today and have to start taking folic acid tablets every day." I will visit with her this weekend and try to get more info from her. I did talk with her after I first posted on her about not knowing anything. She did respond pretty well and said that we could sit down and have a good talk about it this weekend. Another question I have is, if it never changes (which it hasn't since we started in 12/06), will we just keep going round and round with Chemo? Will they ever just say "Ok we have done all we can do"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linzy Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Hi Chesney, Your mum sounds like a strong lady and is probably being like all mums...trying to protect her children from as much worry as possible..doesnt work though does it? Why not ask her if you could go with her to her next appointment? she maybe doesnt tell you to much because she cant remember herself...I know when I go to see my oncoligist I find it all to much to take in and if it wernt for my daughter n son I would never remember half of what they said to me...its all to much to take in... your mum may feel the same...my daughter asks the doctors questions I would never have thought of and remembers a lot more than i do...if it helps, show her this thread...I know I couldnt go it alone and I think your mum will probably be relieved to know that you want to help and be there for her...I know i would Love Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryanne Posted August 29, 2007 Share Posted August 29, 2007 Hi and you are very welcome here. So glad you stopped lurking and decided to join us. Now we can help you if you need us. Your mom does sound like a brave lady. What I'm wondering is if anyone goes with her to her treatments and especially when she getresults of her tests. I am sayint this because first, I would not want anyone to go through this alone, and sometimes you need someone there to take notes as sometimes its hard to remmeber what was said. Having another person present besides being there for support would probably remember more than the patient. I hope she has success with her treaments. Keep us posted on her progress Please know that we are always here for you 24/7. Maryanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadstimeon Posted August 29, 2007 Share Posted August 29, 2007 Welcome Chesney, Glad you found us. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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