charlea
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My condolences to you and your family. I believe you experienced your father and should feel a lovely peace knowing he is near. Before I was diagnosed with CC I had a “visit” from my deceased parents who told me that I had a deadly illness but that they would be at my side and not to be afraid. I felt such serenity and still, 12 months after diagnosis, feel very positive towards my disease. It is a part of living and its existence has revealed a generosity and kindness from many friends both near and far.
What a wonderful thought that Teddy was there with you knowing that you needed him to bring you peace. You were so fortunate to have that special relationship with him and I hope that all your wonderful memories will bring you joy when some of the pain begins to diminish.
Lainy,
You were one of the first to welcome me to this very unique website and so many of my questions and concerns were taken care of by you and the other loving, knowledgable members. The fact that you have been able to share your experience with Teddy says volumes about your kind nature. I can understand how special your relationship is. Having hospice to share the caring responsibilities allows you more time together as Teddy approached the end of his journey. How blessed he was to have you….as we all are. May God walk with you.What a wonderful thing you did when you cared for Tad at home. I am a nurse and have cared for so many patients in the hospital where family were not in attendance when the patient died. You gave so much comfort at great expense to you but it meant everything to Tad even when he was comatose. God bless you.
Hi David, from an old Buckeye. I had a port right from the beginning as do most of the people who go to my oncology clinic. I cannot imagine receiving chemo or having blood drawn through my peripheral veins. I was told I had 6-12 months and have passed the six month time frame five months ago. I received just one course of Gemzar/Cisplatin and later a chemoembolization directly to the left lobe of my liver. One of the things I did was have a liver and onions dinner the day of my chemo and my blood counts stayed stable. My white count did drop and I received Neupogen twice during my treatment with good response and none of the bone pain that I was told would occur. I hope that you will recover your energy rapidly from the treatments because staying active with something you enjoy really helps.
I wish you the best.Harmony, that was the best “hug” I’ve had in a long while! What a beautiful attitude. I’m sure it makes your husband and family and friends feel like they are seeing an angel in disguise. You reach out to others while you face this daunting illness but you know, it makes others who love you go through this disease with you so much more easily. I was diagnosed in January of this year but I still feel relatively new to cc as I have not had any real symptoms of the disease. Chemo was easy on me but did not shrink the liver tumor or the lymph nodes. A chemoembolization only caused one day of mild pain but did manage to cut circulation to the liver tumor. I wish I could trade places with you as I have lived a full life at age 67. You need many more years with your precious son and husband. Your loving attitude will carry you a long way…..
Marion, thanks for your response. I do hope you will pursue your “bucket list” as you probably deserve to have something positive to look forward to.
I just received results of my CAT scan. My last chemo was in June and in July I had the chemoembolization to the large tumor in the left lobe of my liver. The radiation oncologist said that I am stable with no increase in the tumor or the lymph nodes. It is hard to believe that I have had no growth of what seems to be a pretty aggressive cancer, at least from what I have been able to glean from the other posts. Have others had this experience? I still feel very well in spite of the right flank pain and still have no symptoms of any kind. I feel blessed…..
I have had my Bard Power Port since February of this year and I would not want to try to do without. Chemo can be so hard on veins and I have few good ones so the choice was not difficult. If you anticipate a prolonged treatment period you may want to consider one. I am not currently receiving any treatment but will keep my port in the event more chemo is prescribed.
You mentioned Miralax which I found to not work at all for me. My mother took it as well when she had metastatic cancer and it did not work for her either. Lactulose can be helpful for some people as it draws water into the stool and helps it pass more easily. Prune juice is still a great stand-by to add to the regimen and adding wheat bran to cooked foods helps too. I add it to meat loaf, quick breads, cookies, and cooked cereals. I hope you find something that works well for you soon as a poorly functioning gut takes a lot of pleasure out of daily living.
While visiting my regular physician yesterday she made the statement that a person with cancer still can develop problems outside those caused by the cancer and its treatment. I have MS and part of the symptoms include painfully cold right hand and foot but I can still have the sweats which I assume is related to my cancer. I hope your husband finds a solution to the cold hands and feet. The exercise sounds like a good start.
It has to be so disappointing for both of you and all of the family and friends who are praying for you. This disease seems to be so much more variable than other cancers and diagnosed much later due to its insidious nature. I hope you find an alternative that can be effective. Good luck.
I was diagnosed in January of this year and was started on Gemzar and cisplatin without reduction in my liver tumor or lymph nodes. I then went on to a chemoembolization in July which is just showing a response on a 9.5cm liver tumor. After these two treatments I have felt better than I have since before my diagnosis and have returned to my previous activities of art classes and working/showing in a local gallery. I was given an initial prognosis of 6 months which I told my doctors that I didn’t believe. Perhaps your mother-in-law would benefit from the chemo combination I had in addition to the other procedures such as stents that others have had. When I saw an oncology surgeon he said that surgery would include removal of the left lobe of my liver where the tumor was present and half of my right lobe and that would stimulate a rapid growth of my cancer due to the liver’s capacity for regeneration. I am 67 and feel like I have had a wonderful life and am not willing to use medical procedures that cost my insurance company incredible amounts of money. Just the embolization cost $46,000. I cannot imagine what an extensive surgery might cost. My husband says you can’t put a price on survival but I want my time to be quality time. For those who are younger I can certainly understand wanting to do all that can be done so that you can enjoy your young families. I pray for all of you being treated for this disease but remember that we all make our choices and they must be accepted as we are the ones who go through the procedures.
I too had Gemzar and cisplatin but I was fortunate to have a Power Port so I did not have an IV in my arm. I had Emend an hour before starting chemo plus two other drugs to prevent nausea. I pretty much sailed through the whole process without one bit of nausea. Fatigue was more of a problem and a drop in my white cells for which I received shots to bring my white count back up. I was told that might cause bone pain but I did not experience any. The only thing I had trouble with was the steroid which caused my blood glucose to go to 276 (should have been around 120). I am a diet controlled diabetic so I wasn’t surprised but it took several days to bring it back down to normal. After discussing with my oncologist he dropped my dose to less than half. That made blood glucose control much easier. I don’t want the complications of diabetes added to anything I might experience with my cancer.
I am currently on no treatment, just watch and wait, but I feel great so I keep enjoying my life as I usually do. I wish all of you the best with your own journeys and hope that some of the things on this discussion string helps you cope with your own issues.
