posted 09-16-2002 05:43 PM            

Now as good as this is...it scares me as he WILL overdo it. I knew if he went back to work he would end up back in the hospital - and HE DID - TWICE - IN ONE WEEK...- that was a few months ago - that is the last time I allowed him to work. So...he said he understands he must drink his Ensure, eat, see the doc each 8 weeks...and ONLY WORK PART TIME LIGHT DUTY. The doc DID stress that this is NO WHERE NEAR OVER...this IS GOOD...but it is no where near over...THANK GOD the doc explained that to him...THANK GOD. We can be elated...but we must remain realistic...this is stage four cancer...there is no cure - but he could have gone the other way...and never responded to treatment...yet his body DID...YEEEESSS.

My new favorite word: remission. Ahhhh...now we are going BACK to our "normal" lives...at least for eight weeks...and we are going to forget about "the cancer"...at least HIS cancer...I have my own issues w/possible cervical cancer...WONDERFUL...we get him in a good way and now I have a battle to face.

I DO believe in the power of prayer...and we never ever gave up hope...and we still won't. I truly believe attitude is half the battle when dealing w/cancer...and my husband is a fighter...he LOVES life...he LIVES...he remained positive and he laughed and he just took it a day at a time and will continue to do so...his doctor said he wishes all his patients had his "fight" as he too truly believes that made this possible.

Take care,

posted 09-20-2002 12:33 AM            

My sister passed away two weeks ago. Some idiot doctor took her off her blood-thinner while her oncologist was on vacation and she had a major stroke. She was in the hospital three weeks. Her blood platelets were low and they ASSUMED that the cancer was in the bone marrow, causing the platelet problem but after she had the stroke, they found a blood infection causing the platelet problem and gave her an antibiotic to fix that. It was too late though. The stroke caused her not to be able to talk, everything came out jibberish so she could not even tell us her last wishes. She came home with hospice and died with all of her family and the priest there too. We are all devastated as you can imagine. She was only 39 and left two children, 13 and 11.

A lot of people with lung cancer get blood clots so if any of you are on a blood thinner, make sure you stay on it.

posted 10-26-2002 03:11 PM            

I read your post on the HealthBoards.com and can certainly relate... I too have stage 4
lung cancer. I just had an MRI on Wednesday and will find out more next Tuesday.

But the one thing that struck my about your post was that your husband is soooo thinnnnn
and weak.... Well, I might be able to shed some light on how to gain weight....and
hopefully energy along with it. At least it works for me. I have gained some 15-20
pounds in the last 45-60 days. I have about 4 or 5 fruit smoothies daily. In the smoothie
is some "secret" ingredient that I will share with you. It is (now I hope this is not
considered an advertisement in any way) Naturade Weight Gain. It is a powder that has little or no
taste in the smoothie. The smoothie when made, is about 15-16 oz and consist of
various fruit, some frozen (helps with the consistency) some not frozen. As for some
liquid, it has some plain organic yogurt, some soy milk and some honey. I like mine nice and thick like a
thick shake, but you may like it thinner. You can experiment with various fruit using
frozen bananas, blue berries, peaches, whatever you like best.

As far as all things you hear about statistics and time left, ignore them. I do...and
therefore set my own agenda. NO BODY knows when, how, etc. that some one will pass.
So why give it any credibility. When your husband says something like he isn't sure
whether he will be around when the house is sold or not...just say something like, "Well, I
don't know either, and by the way, nobody else does either, but if you aren't, you won't
have to help with the move, but if you are, well then I am gonna work your a????? off!
Then kind of chuckle about it. Humor is our best medicine, and I try exercising mine at
lease daily! If this is to difficult for you to handle this way, find a way that works for you
and your husband.

Mary, with regard to the "pain". I have not been without pain for almost 2 yrs now, but if
he can find a good pain management Dr. his pain will not be an issue. There are lots of
ways to handle the pain, from pills to patches to epidural pumps. So just find that pain
specialist and have it taken care of for a better quality of life.

One more thing Mary, is the appetite. Mine was near non-existant in the hospital, but I
got a progressive Dr. that prescribed merinol. I had already tried Megase and it did not
work alone, but with the merinol, (the same chemical ingredient that is in pot), I can eat
and am actually hungry at times. As I recall, the Megase is a script an isn't to expensive,
but the merinol is a bit more. I don't know exactly because my portion was a co-pay but it
was $100. So the med itself must have been 2- 3 hundred???? But It worked...so I feel it
was worth it.

Hey Mary, if you have any questions, send me an email or post here.

John......Not ready to go yet either!
[removed].net

[Hi John Please note that the board guidelines do not allow
the posting of personal contact information. Please
communicate through the message boards. Thank you! ]

posted 10-26-2002 10:53 PM            

I am very sorry about your sister. ( I was not aware of blood clots and lung cancer - I will jot this down as a ? for my husband's oncologist as he never mentioned it to us, thank you for the heads up. You are in my prayers.

HI mo mccaa,

I am sorry you too are in the same fight. Actually my husband is not tired anymore. He works now and we just moved and he moved all the boxes and furniture and ran around 14 hours a day non-stop, as I did, for about three weeks. I am amazed as is the family at how well he is doing. It is as if he does not have cancer, yet he sure does. My husband is off chemo now and his hair is coming back. He has to shave daily again - which he hates - LOL - and his eyebrows came back and his hair on the top of the head is like a buzz now - it is as if he had a buzz haircut, yet he of course did not. It is a bit gray and he never had gray hair and some areas are black - his natural hair color and it is SO SOFT.

No, he never had coumadin - is that a blood thinner? He never took any blood thinners. He took Prevacid, Marinol - but the Marinol made him pass out so we had to quit it ASAP, he took a steroid when he first got home from the hospital in April, Percocet when he first got home from the hospital, and I think that is it. He did take anti-nausea med's when he was on chemo - but they made his nausea worse. He took chemo pretty well. He got super tired from it for about three weeks - but now that it is working out of his system his energy is back.

Protocal - Radiation to the brain for three weeks and Chemotherapy every three weeks, 6 treaments. His chemo was Taxol and Carbinol.

We are in Parma, Ohio.

How is your husband? What did his scan show?

HI justjon,

Thank You so much for the tips! My husband is on Boost or Ensure but he gets so bored w/it. I will make him some fruit smoothies and add that weight gain product, thank you for the great tip!

Good for you for having such a positive attitude!! My husband is the same way - he is VERY positive and he NEVER ever gives up his hope, which is fantastic.

My husband tried Marinol and he got ill from it - it lowered his BP so much he was passing out. They had him quit taking it immediately. I told him to suggest Megace or another one - but he never did.

The thing that scares me is he didn't change too much. HE NEEDS to take better care of himself - and he does not. I am constantly after him to drink his Ensure or his Boost and to eat and to rest and to just take care of himself. I worry about him.

We have had a "cancer break" and his next appointment is coming up soon so it is like reality if slapping us in the face again. We fight a lot...he got so mean since he got cancer and I think it is fear and it turns into anger and I get it...he yells at me and we just argue A LOT. And I walk away feeling guilty. (

I will give my husband your e-mail as he sure needs someone to talk to that is going through this. It is I who go to the cancer boards for support and he needs the support yet he just does not bother taking the time to do any research - the cancer center has a support group as do hospitals in our area - he won't go. I want to go w/him JUST SO HE GOES, but he won't go. URG

Thank You John.

Hi Cheryl,

Gosh I am very sorry to hear Dan is not well. ( How is he feeling today? What chemo did he have the first time? Did Dr. W change the chemo for this time around? We see the doc the first week in November...YIKES. My husband has pain today - in the lung area. He is doing well though - VERY well. Most do not know he is ill...these last weeks were like so "back to normal" for us it was nice.

I hope all goes well for you and Dan. Keep us posted.

posted 10-28-2002 08:37 PM            

Well I have bad news.

Bob's remission was short lived. He had to go to the ER yesterday for tests as he was having a lot of pain and a lot of trouble breathing. They ran a CAT SCAN and a bunch of other tests and found enlarged lymph nodes in or around the lung and some that were not affected before are now affected, which means his cancer is progressing. I spoke to Dr. W today and he compared yesterday's CAT SCAN to his last CT and he said he will try chemo again. He reminded me that there is no cure...well I knew that. He also reminded me to be sure our affairs are in order - so we will update the Will this week as there is a change he needs to make.

CANCER SUCKS.

There is not much more that can be done - just prayers. This is hard on him, on the kids, on the entire family, and on me. He has become so mean - very, very mean. He just isn't the same person anymore and the American Cancer Society told me just because he is ill does NOT GIVE HIM ANY RIGHT TO BE SO MEAN TO ME. He has been AWFUL...so do I stay mad at him or feel sorry for him - it is a mix of emotions and VERY HARD.

I don't wish this on a soul. I feel so sorry for anyone losing someone to cancer. I often think about how my life will be as "a widow"...I hate that word - "widow"...ICK. BUT, life DOES go on. I am a survivor and intend on doing what it takes to get through this and to see HIM through this.

Take care,