Andrea Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 I have no new news to report, except to say what transpired on our oncologist visit today. I figure it will bore those who have been there, done that, but maybe inform those who are about to come to where we are and know what to expect. So many people on this website, everyone at different points of treatment, and I personally find and found it helpful hearing about people's updates to know what to expect when my mom had surgery,tehn radiation, etc, etc. Brief recap: Diagnosed 11/03 IIIA, chemo 11/03-2/04, Surgery 3/04, Radiation 4/04-5/04. Done on Tues. My mom is TIRED, she describes it as being more tired than any other point of her treatment, even after surgery. The onc told us today that this is normal, she is at the low point of feeling icky having finally finished the three big treatments. She has lost weight, but not too much, and it is good for her diabetes b/c she was fluffy to begin with. She is coughing a lot, expected as normal part of radiation and lasting a month after. Codeine cough medicine constipated her and made her out of it, so she got a prescription for a non-narcotic one today. Port-cath is coming out next week. I asked the dr if it was better to keep it in, almost not to jinx any potential recurrance. He said he does not anticipate on using it and if he does, it just goes in other side. Since it is a foreign body, it could be infected and better to take out. CEA is 0.5 which is good. She is going to "recouperate" and "rest" for the next 3-4 weeks until the next dr visit. Then we will set up new scans two weeks from there. After scans, we will decide on further treatment. G-d willing no deamons come back and it will be either a clinical trial or Iressa. The original clinical trial he wanted her to go on is now closed, but he is going to a conference this week for a new clinical LC trial which looks promising. That's all folks Again, sorry if I bored you, but if I did, hopefully you didn't read the entire thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamie Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Andrea, Im glad your moms done. Im gonna send ya a PM, in case you didnt catch the update on my Dad yet. I think it helps to just to recap; cant tell you how many times if sifted through posts, trying to look ahead... Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MO_Sugar Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Glad to hear things are going well for your Mom. Prayers continue for healing. God Bless, MO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nushka Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Andrea, this is going to sound stupid but I don't know what CEA is. Can you explain. Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted May 20, 2004 Author Share Posted May 20, 2004 Nina, I cannot find it right now, but a few days ago, someone posted with the subject how important is CEA and someone responded witha link. Here is my li mited knowledge:) CEA is a "tumor marker", it is a blood test basicaly for cancer, but it does not show up in all cancers. If CEA is elevated, good chance there is cancer. Mymom's was elevated at diagnosis and with treatment the number kept going down and down to n ormal range. Howevert there are many people with LC whose CEA always remained normla, I think it depends on the tumor. Hopefully that made wesnse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hebbie Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 I recently asked my oncologist about a "tumor marker" test and he said they aren't very accurate for lung cancer. Just wanted to throw that out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloesmom Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Just FYI--my onc did a baseline CEA last week. I don't know that she's counting on that for much of anything, it is just a good thing to have as a baseline to compare to future readings. Saw my thoracic surgeon yesterday, and he places no value on those at all....... I myself think it's ok to cover all the bases. Just for what it's worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nushka Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Thanks for the explaination of CEA. I wondered because none of my docs had ordered one and wanted to know if I should ask for it. I know now that I probably don't need it. Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phyllis Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Maybe the clinical trial is for tarceva or has that just been approved. I was offered that drug, but since Iressa did not work for me neither would tarceva. I guess the two drugs are very similar with maybe tarceva being the new and improved version. I don't even want to ask about the CEA because I am the type that would obsess over it and make myself nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaL Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Andrea, Hugs out to you and your family..I am sure mom is looking forward to a few weeks of rest. Thanks for keeping me posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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