My new diagnosis

[Patty Gottlieb]

Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement.

That was our daughter, Kerri-Ann Patricia's, wedding 2 years ago.

Luckily, my husband, Andrew, and all 3 of my children and their wives and husbands have been VERY SUPPORTIVE.

Kerri, in the picture, comes with us into NY City whenever I have to go to Sloan Memorial. She's a WONDER! Doesn't take NO for an answer! Her determination blows my mind away.

Please continue to pray for me! Monday, I go for my 1st CHEMO treatment.

Hugs, Patty

[Patty Gottlieb]

I HAVE SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR TODAY.

Kasey: You are a pretty lady too!

Carol: Thanks for the advice on ALEVE and HAIR!

WendyR: Your husband Maurice's sculpture in the background is incredible. It's a beautiful color of blue. He's a very talented man.

Don M: Thank you for the good luck. Your beautiful babies are so vibrant. Congratulations on all 3 of them; AND

Hawkeye: Massapequa,NY, is even more beautiful then when you left it. Long Island has become VERY EXPENSIVE over the past 8 years since they DOUBLED THE TAXES.

Thank you for the wonderful and heartfelt welcomes!

Hugs, Patty

[fillise]

Hi Patty--Just wanted to stop in to wish you good luck with your chemo on Monday! My mom did Carbo/Taxol and got significant shrinkage after 4 rounds. She did real well with it too. She was fine the first and second days and tired and sore the 3rd and 4th days (mostly from the neulasta shot). Then she felt better until time for her next treatment. She didn't experience any nausea, but did lose her hair. You might want to go ahead and get fitted for a wig now so you can match your hair color and style. Mom's is so close to her own color and style that most people don't know it is a wig. Fortunatley now her hair is growing back.

I'll be thinking about you on Monday!

Susan

[Patty Gottlieb]

Hi Susan: Thank you for the good-luck wishes for Monday. I needed to hear what will happen. How is your Mom now and what stage was she in then?

Kerri, my daughter, and I went for a WIG yesterday. I'm so glad my insurance (GHI) pays for 80% of the cost. I can afford it; but, I was so HIT IN THE FACE with the STAGGERING AMOUNT.

Sometimes I think I live in CUPCAKE VILLAGE. My life has been so easy and the Lord has been so kind to me.

Warm greetings, Patty

[Maryanne]

Hi Patty and welcome here!

I have to appologize for being late with this post. Iam usually pretty up on our new members.

As you can see and as you have told us, we are very supportive of your situation. We are the most knowledgeable family here. We have all walked in your shoes be it the victim of this horrible disease or the caretaker of a love one.

You are blessed with a beautiful family and with their support and your positive attitude, this will give you the lift to get through this.

I know how scared you are especially being staged at IV but there are many people on here who are staged at IV and went through treatment and are still with us doing really great.

We are always here for you 24/7 with any questions you may have or if you need support or prayers.

I love your Onochologist attitude!!

Since you asked for prayers, Iam sending them out to you.

Good luck on Monday and keep us posted. We are right with you through this.

Maryanne

[Patty Gottlieb]

Thank you for the post, your support, and prayers. It's so nice to know that when you are not feeling yourself, you can come here and get the SOLID SUPPORT from warm and loving people.

I will keep you apprised of my 5 hours at the hospital tomorrow.

Hugs, Patty

[Connie B]

Good luck tomorrow Patty. Your added in my prayers and I'm sending you good vibes and well wishes.

Hugs are nice too, ((((PATTY)))).

[Welthy]

Patty,

I'm wishing you the best for your treatment tomorrow. Please bring a list of ALL supplements you are taking to your Doctor for approval. Many doc's do not want people taking certain things as they can interfere with the chemo. You want the chemo to do it's job in the best way possible.

My hubby was also on carbo/taxol for eight cycles. He did fine -- never any nausea and didn't need any blood enhancers. It worked quite well for zapping a lot of his cancer. Hope it goes great for you too!

Glad you addressed the hair thing before the fact. We'll be here for you when it does start coming out, because it may be hard emotionally. You are such a beautiful woman! I would have thought you were in your 40's from your photo -- seriously!

Hugs,

Welthy

[Patty Gottlieb]

Tis great to hear from you again. Your grandkids are adorable!

Thanks for the hugs. I'll write again tomorrow.

God Bless, Patty

[Patty Gottlieb]

Hi Welthy!

Dear God! You have been through soooo much with your husband!!!! Up and down, up and down. You must be a very strong Lady Warrior since he is a strong Warrior.

Can you tell me what the acronym SOB means,regarding Lung Cancer?

I told my doctor about the herbs; he didn't seem concerned. He did advise me to share this information with the SLOAN MEMORIAL STAFF Consultant Department. I will tomorrow a.m. before I go there. Since I don't have a doctors appointment tomorrow, I can go in at any time, before 11 a.m.

God bless you Welthy. I'm curious. What is your given name?

Hugs, Patty

[/code]

[mary colleen]

Patty- "SOB" means 'shortness of breath'.

[Patty Gottlieb]

My my! You are still in the battle with his illness!!!!

I'm so very sorry for what you have to go through!

Even though there hasn't been any improvement since May of 2007, we can't lose hope.

I'm going to pray every day for his recovery. The brain is a complicated organ.

Hugs, Patty

[Welthy]

Patty,

Mary Colleen answered re: SOB.

Tony is the real warrior, I'm just along for the ride. For the most part it comes down to him being a hard-head and me being stubborn.

Glad to hear you're on top of the supplement reporting. You sound like an organized fighter!

If I told you my given name, I'd have to kill you. Just kidding. It's Debi. My profile says why I use Welthy.

Enjoy your rest time tomorrow during chemo. Tony loves the benadryl nap he gets. He also likes how perky the steroids make him later on chemo day. He goes tomorrow again too.

Best of luck,

Welthy

[Patty Gottlieb]

Best of luck tomorrow to Tony.

Hugs, Patty

I'm going to bed. Getting real sleepy

[neilb]

Hi, Patty! I'm sorry you have to be here, but I hope being here helps you. Good luck tomorrow!

It sounds like you're doing all the right things, and you're in the right frame of mind. All we can do is the best we can.

I would double-check that supplement list with Sloan-Kettering tomorrow. Indeed, they run a site that has information on supplements. That site is http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11570.cfm

As you can see, it's a pretty complex issue. Evidence is mixed on nonexistent on some of these supplements, and the usefulness of others may depend upon the particular chemotherapy regime that you are doing.

Best of luck to you!--Neil

[Sis]

Patty,

Been reading all the wonderful posts... Add my name to those wishing you the very best tomorrow. Tons of prayers and positive vibes heading your way. You're a beautiful woman with a lot to look forward to in the future. Keep that positive attitude. We're here to support you. Ellie

[Kerri Gottlieb]

I just wanted to say the people on this board are absolutely amazing! I found this site for my mom, Patty, because after we heard Stage IV you immediately think OMG it's over. I knew a few days before she did and I knew she would be thinking the same thing. My family is extremely close, and being that I'm the youngest and the only girl, I'm even closer. Which is usually a great thing. But when you want to tell one of your best friends that your Mom has Stage IV NSCLC but that friend is your mom, it pretty much sucks! LOL SO I HAD TO FIND HOPE!!! I needed to know and, even more importantly, I needed HER to know that this is not a death sentence and she's not going anywhere. So thank you for all the wonderful thoughts and prayers. And since my dad and I are her main caregivers, I'm sure I'm going to need a lot of help. It's such a relief to be able to have a place to vent, chat and get info. I'm sure I'll be posting a lot now that I'm over the deer caught in the headlight phase of this.

[dadstimeon]

Kerri,

Stage IV is by no means a death sentence-- it is doable and one can still have a life. As long as there is life there is hope! Hang in there and stay positive and be pro-active.

Rich

[Nick C]

I'll echo what katie said...welcome and hope yesterday was OK.

[Kerri Gottlieb]

Thanks Rich,Katie B, Nick C and rest of the LCSC Gang:

Mom's 1st Chemo went really well! Aside from some mood swings yesterday morning and last night from the steroids (Mom says they were minor, Dad and I ummm agree but next time will bring some hard liquor with us for he and I to share) it was fine. It was just a long day. We didn't know that it took an hour and a half to mix the chemo drugs so we got there at 10:30am and got home to Long Island at 8pm. But Mom was such a trooper and today is doing great. Just a bit tired. Drank 2 shakes but wasn't really hungry. But we've been giving her lots of juice and water to keep her hydrated. Hasn't needed anything for pain except Tylenol.

I was wondering what we should be expecting in the next few days??? Her oncology nurse called today to see how she was feeling and said that she might experience some nausea after the steroids wear off or she might not. I know we have to be conscious of the drop in her WBC in the next week. We bought an ear thermometer and Biotene instead of Listerine. Any other tips????

Again thanks for all the support. It has really helped keep my whole family's spirit up because we tell my dad and brothers about what we read and how amazing everyone here is.

Mom will be posting a little later. She ate dinner but not dessert. LOL Maybe later. Yesterday she ate all 3 meals with gusto!!!

[Kerri Gottlieb]

Realized how confusing using same pic in posts would be, so that's me and my husband's niece. I'll change it periodically since my mom loves photos and we have TONS!! LOL

[Leela]

"Kerri Gottlieb"]But when you want to tell one of your best friends that your Mom has Stage IV NSCLC but that friend is your mom, it pretty much sucks! LOL SO I HAD TO FIND HOPE!!!

Kerri,

I'm right with you on what you said above. I was so glad to find this site and everyone here is so wonderful.

Everyone reacts differently, but my mom usually feels the worst about 2 days after her actual infusion. She is achy (mostly from the Neulasta shot we think), doesn't have much appetite and is wiped out. Then each day after that she feels a little better.

Welcome to you and your mom!

Lisa

[fight]

Kerri,

What a wonderful family you have! You and your mom's beautiful spirits show through in your emails. I was so worried after having my first chemo (almost one year ago) that I was going to have nausea but thankfully I had none throughout all my cycles of chemo. I also had the Carbo/Taxol combination. The only difference was is that I also had Avastin added to my regime. What I noticed after chemo was that the first day I was exhausted but I don't think it was from the chemo but from the marathon day of being at infusion and the benadryl they give you. The next day after chemo I felt "normal" and that second and third day after chemo I experienced some extreme fatigue but like I said earlier I was sooooo thankful not to have nausea and vomiting. I took a ativan and Zofran the day of chemo and for two days after whether I was feeling nausea or not. I think that really did the trick for me. The subsequent days after that 3rd day of chemo I begin to get more energy and quite honestly maintained a fairly "normal" lifestyle. I say fairly because I have two small children and I had help taking care of them. I just know with your mom's positive attitude, faith in God and with you all by her side she will do just fine. Wishing you all the best.

Take Care,

Rachel

[recce101]

Hi, Kerri and/or Patty:

I'm glad the first chemo session went well. You too, huh? Now you'll know what to expect and what sort of books/magazines/DVDs/etc. you want to take next time.

You mentioned Biotene -- I assume you're talking about the mouthwash. They also make a toothpaste that is very soothing. Even now, over 7 months since I finished the Taxol/Carbo, my mouth is still too tender for the rest of the family's standard Colgate. I think that's because I'm still on Avastin, which really slows down the healing process. A little baking soda mixed in water is also good for brushing.

You'll need to stay ahead of the constipation, which many people experience a few days into each cycle. Plenty of fruit and fluids now, before it starts, may help you avoid stronger meds which can take you too far the other direction. It's a real balancing act.

At some point, maybe week 2 or 3 of even this first cycle, various foods might become difficult to eat. Everyone is a little different in this -- some find that certain foods, even favorites, start to taste really yuk and even sickening. Others (like me) find that the taste buds and sense of smell essentially shut down, and while nothing tastes "bad," the mouth and throat are so irritated that many of the foods we're accustomed to eating become painful to swallow. With a little experimenting it's possible to find a few things that actually feel good going down -- cold canned fruits, cool or luke warm soups with no solid chunks, milk shakes, ice cream, Ensure, etc. At this point it's more important to pack in the calories than to maintain a perfectly balanced diet -- you won't be on chemo forever. Most people need MORE calories to maintain weight than before, since the body is burning calories faster than normal. A good slogan for this phase is "eat what you want, when you want."

Any time you have more questions, don't hesitate to post them. You'll get a better response if you start a new topic thread with a descriptive title each time you have a new question or comment -- if it's buried toward the bottom of this introductory thread many people will miss it. Anyway, you're not a newbie any longer!

Continued best wishes and Aloha,

Ned

[Nushka]

Hi Keri and Patty. I don't know how I missed the first post but glad I found you now. I hope the chemo reaction stays fairly mild and that it does the trick in kicking this disease. Its not easy but it sure is worth it. I bought my wig by mail order (well my beautician did) and it was not expensive. I was able to use it until my hair came back. Every one I saw told me they thought my hair was going to fall out...it did...they just couldn't tell. You might want to check on something fairly cheap and easy to fix that you can change up when you want a new style etc.

Keeping you all in my prayers and wishing you all good results.

Nina