Mom’s Tumor Shrinking, Spreading to Lung
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Wow, it’s kind of amazing how similar our three stories are! Thank you Julie for giving me some encouragement because my mom is feeling the way your mom was, so at one point when this disease does not have a hold on her body she will again be able to live the way she wants! Right now she is on vacation at my friends parents lake house in tennessee, and we have begun plans to go to NY to see the Rockette’s at Christmas time! I love her spirit and hope to be just like her when i’m older.
Btw, her back is easing some. We found out it is an acute strained muscle and she is taking muscle relaxers and heating her back! Thank goodness it wasn’t worse than that. Thank you for your prayers, and I will be praying for all of you as well!
Andrea
Andrea,
I am so sorry to hear about mom and the setback. I do understand about trying to be the cheerleader all the while being afraid yourself. My mom was diagnosed last May and it was the worst day of my 45 year old life! As I’m sure you experienced, the waves of despair subside and you learn to live without knowing what will come (some days better than others.) I too have a brother who either doesn’t understand or refuses to acknowledge what is happening. As a matter of fact, when she first went to MD Anderson, he almost forbid her to talk about cancer, death or any negative emotions. Obviously my dad and I did not allow this to continue, but this has been a constant struggle.My wonderful, positive mom called me today to talk about a friend of mine who is battling lung cancer and struggling emotionally. “I don’t think about it if I don’t have to,” she said. She keeps focused on the day at hand. She has tremendous faith and is so grateful to be here far past her original forecast!
Mom has six grandchildren ages 11-2 and wants nothing more than to see them grow up. She takes every opportunity to be with them. I KNOW that she is handling this better than my dad. He is struggling to keep things “normal” and often asks me if I know what she’s thinking (she doesn’t talk to him about it). He has even complained that since her proton radiation, she’s a bit sassy (that sounds odd) which she has never been in her life! I have to chuckle…maybe she’s decided life’s too short to put up with anything.
Regarding back pain, that was what originally led Mom to the doctor. I am not familiar with any other chemo than what Mom took. I hated chemo for her. I know she may need it again and would willingly do it without complaint. By the end of her 8-months of chemo she could barely walk five feet without getting winded….she was a shell of herself. But today she is feeling great physically, emotionally and spiritually and who am I to worry. I hope to grow more and more like her, taking each day as it comes and trusting God more along the way.
Andrea, again I will pray for you, for God’s grace for you & your family!
Julie
Andrea,
Feel like you are telling my story. This is my first time to post although I have gotten plenty of info from this site. My mom was diagnosed in April 2010 and is determined to fight this to the end. She has been on several different types of chemo over the last year and 3 months…I am concerned that she is taking a turn for the worse. She had 3 small lesions on her lungs as well with the initial diagosis but over the last two weeks developed fluid build up around her lung which has hampered her breathing. They drained the fluid and as of today put in a plurea cathather to keep the fluid from building up as this would most likely have re-occured. Not sure what this actually means in terms of prognosis; the doctors don’t ever reveal anything. It’s very frustrating and heartbreaking all at the same time. She will continue with chemo in a week or so, she is certainly a trooper. My father is not dealing with any of this very well(angry and almost in denial of everything that is happening) and my brother although 40 sounds like your 18 year old brother(oblivious to it all) The one thing that amazes me as well is how much of a fighter she is thru all of the this…..always polite and never complains to anyone no matter how nauseous or how much pain she is in. I will pray for you and your mother as well to be able to navigate this aweful disease and know that you are certainly not alone.
Hi Andrea, I am concernd about Mom’s back pain. Is she taking anything for her back? I know when Teddy would lay a lot it would eventually bother his back but I would still alert the Doctor. You are a wonderful daughter trying to be so strong for everyone. It would make it so much easier on Mom if everyone joined the tough fight together with a united front. A patient cannot be strong for very long if everyone around is falling apart. We all draw our strength on each other. I believe that once Mom has started her therapy you will feel better as a plan in action seems to help so much. Again our bottom line is comfort as the CC Patients need their strength to fight and if in pain they can’t save that evergy. So, again I would talk to the doctor about her back. Please keep us posted as we care.
Grace4five,
This post jumped at me. My mom has basically done the same thing as yours. My mom has 3 lesions in her lungs now, and the numbers haven’t changed much with her liver. She did the gem/cis since last November and now they have decided to do something new. I can’t remember at the moment what it’s called but she will have 3 different types and it’s in a bag she will wear for a couple days. Do you know what that is? And if you do, is it harsh? I’m just so torn up about this. We had great momentum going then bam, bad news… My dad isn’t taking it well so it makes it so hard because I feel like I have to hold them both up, along with my little brother who is 18 and pretty much oblivious to everything. My mom is 54 and was in perfect health. Crazy how things change so quickly. The best thing though is how much of a fighter she is, I mean, AMAZING! I was dreading seeing her after she heard but she was still so full in her heart, and still has faith that God is with her no matter the outcome.
Anyway, seems like I have went off on a tangent! My mom has been in a lot of pain with her back today and it just got me worried and pensive. I had two aunts die of cancer and a couple months before they passed their backaches got worse and worse, so I hated to see my mom so pail because of pain. Ugh!
Thank you for posting, it was so nice to find someone going through the exact same thing I am.Andrea
Hi Julie,
Welcome to the site. Sorry that you had to find us all but you have so came to the right place here. You will get a ton of support and help from us all here and I am glad that you have joined us. I came here back in 2008 when my dad was diagnosed and it was the best thing that I could have done. It so helps to be able to come somewhere where everyone knows what you are going through and how you are feeling. So I hope that you will come here as often as you want, ask any questions, shout, scream or vent away, we are all here for you.
My best wishes to you and your mum,
Gavin
Julie…..Metastases to the lung is not uncommon and yes, we have seen it frequently on this site. It appears that the liver lesions are presenting to be the bigger issue and the physicians at M.D. Anderson are addressing it. Should the nodules in her lungs increase in size and cause problems to your Mom then I would assume that the physicians will then focus on it. You will know more following the next scheduled scan.
Many have compared fighting this disease as being on a roller coaster ride. It seems that we can never let our guards down. The terrific news is that your MomFrom someone who is on your mom’s side of the fence with cc, a 3 month “vacation from treatment” is absolutely wonderful! Although I’ve always known what could happen within the 3 month time frame, being told I did not have to come back for 3 months was like I was given 3 more months to live like I wanted. She may really understand, but chooses to rejoice in her present blessing.
In my personal experience, outside of the people on this board who have dealt first hand with cc, it’s only medical people that understand what cc really is. They probably have never had a patient with it and don’t know how to treat it, but they seem to understand the implications. People keep asking my husband if I’m cured now. Doesn’t matter if we’ve explained this to them before, they don’t get it.
Sounds like your mom is in good hands with MD Anderson. Doctors need a presence that isn’t flustering. You are a very caring daughter. Keep on learning as much as you can.
Thanks to both of you. It did help to talk about it and now I am moving on to find out all I can to help Mom through this next hurdle! I am now really curious about the met to the lung. Does anyone know if this is common? Does the cancer typically grow quickly/slowly in the lung? Has anyone out there had proton radiation treatment?
Mom completed chemo in May so this growth has occurred since then. I’m not sure if that would be considered fast-growing or not as the largest nodule is .9 cm. I trust that her oncologist at MD Anderson would have recommended some treatment if it were necessary, but we want to know what to expect (that’s a lot to ask, I guess). He didn’t focus on the lung nodules very much in our meeting yesterday as the liver tumors were the greatest concern. I would appreciate any information on this new development.
Thanks, Julie
Grace4Five,
You’ve come to the right place – vent away and allow yourself to feel your moment of sadness. CC is a very challenging disease and the fact that there really seems to be no pattern or consistent trends is what contributes to the complexities in providing treatment.
It sounds like your mom has a good medical team in her corner who are watching her closely and will offer treatment options where possible. As well, I suspect you will have others here share some thoughts on what a lung mets might mean in the grand scheme of cc.
Sometimes gratitude for what we have seems insignificant when compared to our hopes – but in the end gratitude and grace can make this journey much more peaceful.
Bz
Dear Grace, you are so right, this IS a monster of a Cancer but we have found that a strong and up attitude is part of the battle. I am wondering that if the spot on the lung is so small and there are no other mets why they would not consider Cyber Knife. Not to put your husband down but you would be surprised at the amount of doctors who do not know what CC is. So, I feel you are feeling perfectly normal. We all try to remain realistically optimistic and it seems to help a lot. Best of luck to Mom and please keep us informed of her progress.
This is my second time posting and I feel as though there is no one in my current circle who can understand where I am right now. My 74-year-old, wonderful mom has survived 15 months since her CC diagnosis. She underwent 8 months of chemo (Gem/Cys) and 5 1/2 weeks of Proton Beam Radiation at MD Anderson. She finished up her radiation in early May and we just returned from Houston yesterday with results from her follow-up scans.
Her oncologist showed us the dead cells in her large mass and that was very encouraging. However, he mentioned, almost in passing, some changes in her lung. He noted slight growth (less than a cm) and said we’d watch it. From the start they noted some nodules in her lungs, but attributed them to years of smoking. This time, however, the report indicated “consistent with pulmonary metastases.” Ugh! My mom read the report, but said she didn’t understand. She is just so happy to be on another three-month vacation from treatment. She heard dead cells and didn’t hear the lung part. She is an amazing person of much faith.
My husband, a medical doctor, doesn’t get why I’m upset. She has felt so good and looked so good since her proton radiation, I sometimes forget this disease is lurking! It’s just the word “metastases”! I know this is part of cancer…I get it. But my mom is fighting so hard and it is still growing. Just for today, the day after, I am sad. I will gather myself again, I will. But today I want to say to someone how horrible this disease is!!!
I AM so grateful for this precious time we’ve been given and I am grateful that we have more. I am grateful, but today very sad!
I so appreciate a place to say this.
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