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My mom has been diagnosed with NSCLC Adenocarcinoma Stage III & will be starting chemo & radiation on Monday, March 16th. I'm nervous & scared, but hopeful & really need to hear from survivors for encouragement.
Exercise Asthma Dehydration Cancer Taxol Surgery Compazine Ativan Avastin Carafate Pain Carboplatin Benadryl Stress Omeprazole
My husband has been Stage IV since 2005. That's 4 years ago! He has been fighting ever since he was diagnosed in 2001!! There are so many people on this site just like him and your Mom who are doing ok...Chemo is tough as is radiation but she needs to have HOPE and a good fight in her and she will do fine!!! There are so many ways to combat the side effects of the chemo these days and some of the Chemo drugs are very tolerable. Good luck, be strong and fight to beat this!!!
I am a 4 year Stage IIIB Survivor and am cancer free and doing great!! Never ever give up hope!! As one of our founders Dave Grant said, "This is doable"!!
Blessings,
J-me
Hi! Gabby is now 8 years old. She had her left lung removed when she was 6 years old with all the flubber(her word for cancer). She is cancer free........
Gabby and I are sending lots of good energy your way, Dana
a mom in a mission
Thank you for your reply. She's in a clinical study with etoposide (6hr) & cisplatin & radiation for 7 weeks. She's 65 years old, but in great health except for asthma. She's a really strong person & not ready to leave us, so I know she's ready to fight. Can you give any advice of things she can do (nutrition, etc) during treatment? This site is a great help!
I'm a 10 year IIIB adenocarcinoma survivor. Have been NED and living a normal active lifestyle for 9 years. See my profile for some details. It definitely is "doable". I highly recommend a healthy diet, nutritional supplements, and gentle exercise like exercise. This will strengthen the immune system so it can take care of any cancer cells the conventional treatment may leave behind and thereby prevent recurrence.
Good luck and God bless,
Kathy
Thanks Dana & Gabby for the good energy! It was more than that it brought me to tears of joy for you & your family. I'm a mother of two girls (5 & 9months) & admire parents like you on a mission.
Do you know how doctors make the decision to remove a lung? I was thinking they could just remove it & that would be it! ;) But, I know it's more complicated than that.
Demika, please let me know if your Mom is going to have Chest Radiation, I went through that from late September last year - mid December. I have some very helpful advice to share with you, including some side effects preparation that the Doctors may not exactly stress or even discuss with her.
As the others have stated above, her mindset is a big factor in this, however I think that knowledge is powerful and it helps to know what you're going to face next. Please do write me anytime.
God be with you and your Mom.
Hi Maikido,
I'm not for sure if it's chest radiation. I'll find out. This is the information that the nurse sent yesterday...
She will be on arm B, cisplatin and etoposide and radiation for the 7 weeks.
3/16/09: you will receive cisplatin and etoposide, 6 hours day, arrive at 8 am @ 6D (no fasting required or any restriction), chemo first, then radiation.
3/17/09 to 3/20/09: you will receive etoposide for 1 hour; arrive at 8 am @ 6D; then radiation after chemo.
3/23/09: day 8: you will receive cisplatin and radiation, it will again 5 to 6 hours day; chemo first, then radiation.
** For all the chemo days, you will receive nausea medicines.
I am a stage 3A survivor. I had 6 weeks of daily radiation and weekly chemo (taxol/carboplatinum). I then had surgery (upper right lobectomy). I had two more infusions of the same chemo but at a much stronger dose. My surgery was July 1, 2005. I was back at work, teaching high school at the end of August. My scans have been clean since my surgery by the Grace of God. Hope this helps.
Carol
If you didnt already know this prior to receiving Chemo she will most likely have a very high dose of Benadryl. I'm one who gets extremely tired with meds that make you feel as such, but this was a whole new experience for me... I hated getting benadryl more than Chemo itself. It's not painful, it just really kicks the you know what out of ya. My advice, ask the RN giving her the meds to push the benadryl very slow so that she eases into it.
By the way I had cisplatin, but that was along with taxol and I had some quirky side effects from that, but the tough part is radiation. I think it would be totally unfair to say it's anything less than tough, but when you find out which radiation she's getting please be sure to let me know and I will fill you in on what to expect.
No matter what you've got to convince her to get through one day at a time, take full advantage of the good days, if she's tired that's fatigue so it's ok to nap, and if she gets cranky it's ok too, that's just part of having cancer.
Talk to you soon I hope.
God's speed
Hello
I celebrated one year since diagnosis...remission sonce July 2008
Still battling Radiation pneumonitis symtoms....
Leo Hanes
I didn't mind the Benadryl. Gave me a chance to sleep for a while. :-)
Kathy
I was diagnosed 3a last June...had neoadjuvant chemo and radiation for 5 weeks (chemo for 6 days at beginning and end of the 5 weeks - radiation every day) - Cisplatin and Etoposide. I was in good shape going in and had very little side effects. Some nausea after the chemos, but nothing to speak of. My scans then showed a complete result. They did a lobectomy in Sept 08 and could not even find any residual tumor, all nodes negative! I then had 2 more followup rounds of chemo, 6 weeks after surgery, three weeks apart. Those were tough..you are wiped after surgery. ,,.alot of nausea, I didn't eat for 7 days both times. You need hydration big time, so if your mom starts not being able to drink, you get after it before dehydration starts in. One way is to ask for an extra litre of fluid after the chemo, which they usually do. I would recommend light food before chemo...not an empty stomach.
Also, omeprazole (OTC) 40 mg per day to protect her stomach, sometimes the radiation can cause reflux. Also, get the radiation onco to write sc ript for some Carafate to have on hand if she runs into esophageal problems, and also ATIVAN, IV push during the chemo ,really helps with nausea if she runs into that. Also, get a script for Ativan po, and she can take it sublingually (under the tongue) for nausea too! Get a script for compazine suppositories from your doc,(in addition to the compazine tabs they will give you)_ to have on hand if she is unable to get anything down by mouth at any time. None of this, I repeat, none of this means she is going to have these problems...but I say be prepared, so you don't have to be trying to figure it out. No need to reinvent the wheel...just ask us at this site and you'll get a lot of good info.
Also, have your mom or you (she really needs an advocate to be present at appointments to write down everything that is said)...get a 3 ring binder and notebook to put all of your notes into for this healing journey. Get copies of scans, reports, everything. Prescriptions, etc. I also got one of those business card holders (about 5inx6in) and put everyone's card from the hospital into that....oncos, nurses, physicians secretarys, everyone affiliated with your care. Sometimes just knowing someones name can get you far. It's a whole lot to grasp, and sometimes you'll feel like what is this voodoo that they do, but it is possible to get a cure, and you have to go for it, and believe that tumors will shrink, nodes will melt...all of it. You let me know if you need any info.
I'll be praying for you and your mom.
Blessings,
Jill
Hi Jillie,
Congratulations on your recovery & thank you very much for all of the great information. I'm going to definitely use all of your advise. You and everyone that I've spoken to on this site have been heaven sent!
Hi everyone...I got strengthto hear ur stories. One month back my mother dxd stage IV adenocystic carcinoma in left lung. $ yrs back she has undergone surgery for adenocystic carcinoma in right buccal mucosa. This time Dr told that there is no standard chemo and it has poor prognosis. They prescribed some palliative oral chemo and supportive care. My mom is 55 yrs old and of good general health. She is doing fine except little bit chest pain. But we are very scared because we dont know what is happening inside her body. I dont know how many days she will survive. Can anybody pls suggest something or share their stories so that I can get mental support.
Hi everyone...I got strengthto hear ur stories. One month back my mother dxd stage IV adenocystic carcinoma in left lung.4 yrs back she has undergone surgery for adenocystic carcinoma in right buccal mucosa. This time Dr told that there is no standard chemo and it has poor prognosis. They prescribed some palliative oral chemo and supportive care. My mom is 55 yrs old and of good general health. She is doing fine except little bit chest pain. But we are very scared because we dont know what is happening inside her body. I dont know how many days she will survive. Can anybody pls suggest something or share their stories so that I can get mental support.
This is all very scary stuff, especially when you look out there on the world-wide web ... stay with the Inspire sites and you're much better off hearing from REAL people. I am 52, dx w/ NSCLC Stage IV adenocarcinoma in January '09 and took three rounds of chemo ( Carboplatin /Taxol /Avastin ) and am NED as of my three-month CT scan! There IS hope -- try your best to stay positive! Good luck!
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