Can Dr's. really tell?

• By chessie-too
• Posted October 30, 2008 at 4:03 pm
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Shelly,

I'm sorry to hear about your husband. But if his doctor has offered him Tarceva, I would definitely go for it. There are some side effects, rash, diarrhea, nausea, in the beginning but they diminish the longer you take it.

I also have stage 4 nsclc and given 6-12 months. I was put on Tarceva and that's all I have ever had. That was TWO YEARS ago on Oct 5. And I do not have any mets. The main thing about Tarceva is it crosses the blood/brain barrier and helps prevent/shrink brain tumors.

I have a very good quality of life and would never have believed I would make it this far with stage 4, but here I am, and there are many others out there that have been on it longer that I have. Everyone responds differently, but it certainly is worth a try if the other stuff isn't working.

Good luck on whatever you decide and God Bless.

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• By ShellyNY
• Posted October 30, 2008 at 5:12 pm
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thanks for the insight. I am hoping he decides to try it and we shall go from there. He does have 3 mets to the brain right now which they did 14 rounds of radiation on back in august/sept. and was cleared from the radiation dr. So I do hope it starts to help him. We have not heard on the MRI he had a week and a half ago on Tuesday, so maybe no news is good news and nothing more is going on with the brain mets. thanks again.

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• By peyz33
• Posted October 30, 2008 at 8:18 pm
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Shelly - I was on Navelbine and cisplatin as well - for 16 weeks - every friday - what side effects is your husband having that are so severe? Cisplatin - while very strong is one of the best chemo drugs out there right now - maybe you should get a 2nd opinion. As to the "how much time" question - only GOD knows the answer to that one. Praying for you
Karen

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• By ShellyNY
• Posted October 30, 2008 at 8:52 pm
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well he was suppose to have 4 to 6 cycles of chemo (12-16 weeks). 3 fridays in a cycle, one long navel w/ cisp. then 2 short just navelbine. He did start 9-5-08, long day. Since 9-5-08 he has only been able to have 2 long and 3 short. He should be well into his 3rd cycle and has yet to fully complete the 2nd cycle. The cisplatin knocks his white cell count down for 2 to 3 weeks and prevents him from having chemo at all. first they tried the antibiotics to bring them up and it didn't work so he was started on neupogen shots after that. It seems like he receives chemo and his count is down so the next week it is shots, then possible chemo that upcoming friday. He has lost almost 25-30lbs since 9-18-08. he really doesn't eat maybe a piece of toast or a pudding a day. After chemo he will stay in bed for 4 or 5 days, gets up long enough to go to his next chemo session. The dr. did lower the doses as he started to lose weight. The dr. was thinking he may tolerate the Tarceva better, not sure. So far, from past experience, looks like his count may be to far down tomorrow to get the final session of the 2nd cycle. The dr. also did mention doing the shots automatically after chemo. I know with his count down it will make him feel twice as bad. The dr. did say it would wipe him out but even the dr feels it knocks him down to far. He will be fine on that friday after chemo for the steroids pep him up. come 2pm saturday he is in bed and will stay there until weds night, thurs. morning. He gets up long enough to go to the bathroom and take his meds. Even my husband has told the dr. he is tired of being tired so I am not sure just what he may chose to do. We will find out definitely 11-6-08 as to what the dr. has to offer and what my husband feels he should do. Other side effects are pretty much what he was told he would have. He has nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath, vision changes, etc. I just pray they choose the right course of action and it gives my husband a fighting chance.

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• By Scaredwife
• Posted October 31, 2008 at 8:22 am
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Hey I am so sorry about your husband. My husband has Stage III-B NSCLC.
I am going to tell you what one of the girls on here told me......"LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF HIS FEET AND SEE IF THERE IS AN EXPIRATION DATE STAMPED THERE" !!!!

Dr's can make an educated guess but only GOD knows when any of our times are up. GOD makes the final decision.
You guys are in my prayers
Faye

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• By claires
• Posted October 31, 2008 at 9:24 am
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Your husband MUST eat, maybe frequent small meals and maybe even ice cream or whatever he loves. The selection of food is less important than just food into him.. Have you tried any of the anti-nausea drugs?

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• By ShellyNY
• Posted October 31, 2008 at 11:03 am
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Thanks Faye, I have never heard it put that way but it is true and I need to take it day by day rather then dwelling on what the dr. said.
Claires, he is on 2 different nausea meds daily along with what they give him on Fridays with chemo. On long days the Emend is added to his list of meds for that chemo day and 2 days after. The other 2 he is on daily is compazine and zofran. We tell him to eat small meals and he just picks at food. I try to be sure the food he does take in has as much nutrition as possible. Our daughter, hates when he doesn't eat so she has asked him to do atleast 2 ounces of carnation breakfast shakes and ensure combined a day, that he has started doing, doesn't care for it, but drinks it. I knew it had some nutrient value and purchased it but he wouldn't drink it for me and she happen to see it in the pantry and read the nutritional value of it and asked him to do that much. He says he just doesn't have an appetite at all, we have told him he still needs to take in something daily whether he really feels hungry or not. For he needs to keep his strength up and needs nutrients to help him daily. He was not able to have chemo again today due to count being low but this time around they are doing both the neupogen shots and an antibiotic, usually it's just one or the other never combined. We will find out how that works when we go thursday to the dr.

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