Lost !!

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  • stayingcalm
    stayingcalm Member Posts: 650 Member

    Update
    Sorry I haven't been on here in a while but things have been busy --- Mom just had her third round of Chemo today - She hates it because it take to dang long. She had a scan the other day and saw the doc before the treatment today and he said there is still "something" in her brain but he doesn't think it's active and isn't worried about it but will send her for a PET scan next week. Since her 1st Chemo her Cancer Number has dropped from 14 to 10 and he would like her at 7 & has scheduled her for 2 more rounds of chemo. I have tried to find explanation as to what a Cancer Number is but I can't make heads or tails of it on the web - so if someone can help me out it would be so much appreciated. With that being said it brings us to side effects - Of course she is lost her hair and appetite, but she is also having really bad pains in her legs and feet - she has discussed it with her doc but he didn't seem to concerned and told her to take Motrin but that isn't helping so she's been taking Vicodin, which helps but not for a long time - Any suggestion? Also, I was wondering if anyone know if drinking has any negative effects on the treatments?

    Cancer numbers
    It sounds like her doctor is keeping his eye on a tumor marker - the level of certain substances in the blood that can indicate (by rising or falling) the presence of new tumors or the disappearance of a tumor. It's not a foolproof or definitive test by any means, but just one more tool the doctor uses to help keep track of your mom's cancer. My best hopes and wishes,
    stayingcalm
  • stayingcalm
    stayingcalm Member Posts: 650 Member

    Update
    Sorry I haven't been on here in a while but things have been busy --- Mom just had her third round of Chemo today - She hates it because it take to dang long. She had a scan the other day and saw the doc before the treatment today and he said there is still "something" in her brain but he doesn't think it's active and isn't worried about it but will send her for a PET scan next week. Since her 1st Chemo her Cancer Number has dropped from 14 to 10 and he would like her at 7 & has scheduled her for 2 more rounds of chemo. I have tried to find explanation as to what a Cancer Number is but I can't make heads or tails of it on the web - so if someone can help me out it would be so much appreciated. With that being said it brings us to side effects - Of course she is lost her hair and appetite, but she is also having really bad pains in her legs and feet - she has discussed it with her doc but he didn't seem to concerned and told her to take Motrin but that isn't helping so she's been taking Vicodin, which helps but not for a long time - Any suggestion? Also, I was wondering if anyone know if drinking has any negative effects on the treatments?

    Twice! Sorry!
    Repeat
  • stayingcalm
    stayingcalm Member Posts: 650 Member

    Update
    Sorry I haven't been on here in a while but things have been busy --- Mom just had her third round of Chemo today - She hates it because it take to dang long. She had a scan the other day and saw the doc before the treatment today and he said there is still "something" in her brain but he doesn't think it's active and isn't worried about it but will send her for a PET scan next week. Since her 1st Chemo her Cancer Number has dropped from 14 to 10 and he would like her at 7 & has scheduled her for 2 more rounds of chemo. I have tried to find explanation as to what a Cancer Number is but I can't make heads or tails of it on the web - so if someone can help me out it would be so much appreciated. With that being said it brings us to side effects - Of course she is lost her hair and appetite, but she is also having really bad pains in her legs and feet - she has discussed it with her doc but he didn't seem to concerned and told her to take Motrin but that isn't helping so she's been taking Vicodin, which helps but not for a long time - Any suggestion? Also, I was wondering if anyone know if drinking has any negative effects on the treatments?

    Oops
    Sorry, repeat!
    *thing to remember: Impatience does not make the site move faster!
  • sleepless in jersey
    sleepless in jersey Member Posts: 185

    Oops
    Sorry, repeat!
    *thing to remember: Impatience does not make the site move faster!

    Your going to
    Your going to cause a whole lot of havic now...I have'nt heard from you in such a longtime and I use to read some of your foreums to my Mom, and now she asks me has she been on yet??? Keep saying no...So im sure her mind is playing games with her, but she's going to be happy as well as I am that your BACK...LOL (sorry not on FB either)

    Sorry Worried in PA.~ didn't mean to take anything away, but Mom doesn't have the leg pains, however she gets the RT. shoulder pain and crazy enough the xtra strenght Tylenol helps. So crazy. She also does drink during treatment I think they said it was OK to have a glass or to of wine. However Mom was drinking her red wine (how could she not we make it at a wine school), but since she became a diabetic during this hole havic her sugar levels were not good so she switched her cocktails vodka with seltzer and that seems to be OK.
    Please dont get me wrong she is not an alcoholic she just likes to have her couple of drinks on the weekends or a family function.
    Stay strong!
    Lots of prayers your way...sleepless in jersey
  • WorriedinPA
    WorriedinPA Member Posts: 10

    Your going to
    Your going to cause a whole lot of havic now...I have'nt heard from you in such a longtime and I use to read some of your foreums to my Mom, and now she asks me has she been on yet??? Keep saying no...So im sure her mind is playing games with her, but she's going to be happy as well as I am that your BACK...LOL (sorry not on FB either)

    Sorry Worried in PA.~ didn't mean to take anything away, but Mom doesn't have the leg pains, however she gets the RT. shoulder pain and crazy enough the xtra strenght Tylenol helps. So crazy. She also does drink during treatment I think they said it was OK to have a glass or to of wine. However Mom was drinking her red wine (how could she not we make it at a wine school), but since she became a diabetic during this hole havic her sugar levels were not good so she switched her cocktails vodka with seltzer and that seems to be OK.
    Please dont get me wrong she is not an alcoholic she just likes to have her couple of drinks on the weekends or a family function.
    Stay strong!
    Lots of prayers your way...sleepless in jersey

    It's been so long
    I have not been on here in so long -- life has been very busy for us -- my mom is still hanging in there -- it's been one year since diagnosis -- since my last post they found that the cancer had spread to her lower spine which caused her much pain and made her pretty much unable to walk -- They radiated that area and it worked thank god!! She still has a very minute spot of active cancer in her lung and for that they have her on oral chemo med, Tarceva which she's been on since December -- she didn't do well with IV Chemo (to many debilitating side effects) She is very unsteady on her feet and has the tendency to fall & did so a few months ago -- banged her head & face off the pavement -- since then she's been experiencing pain in her neck (around the hump area) ... her doctor put it off for a while then when she had a scheduled MRI noticed something funny there -- but on the CT scan did not notice anything -- They couldn't for sure say it was another spot but due to her history (lower spine) decided to treat it as if it were another spot -- Problem was that since she previously had whole brain radiation they were afraid to radiate that area due to it's closeness to the previously radiated area. She was sent to a neurosurgeon for a consult to see if surgery was an option (I am guessing because they didn't actually even explain why they sent her there) He said he couldn't confirm it either but he did see something -- suggested radiation and not surgery .. so 3 weeks ago she started radiation & since then her pains have become excruciating & her unsteadiness has increased by 90% to the point she cannot be left alone at all. They put her on Fentanyl patches & Lortab which did nothing -- I had her in the ER last Saturday because she woke up on my guest room floor in a puddle of pee -- she can no longer hold it & since she couldn't get out of bed unassisted she had no choice but to pee in the bed & on the floor .. I never imagined it would get this bad to where I'm changing my mother's diaper and I can't imagine how she feels about it. Anyway at the ER they gave her a shot of Dilaudid which instantly relieved her pain & sent her home with a script for Oxycodone which helped way more than the Lortab -- Her Oncologist increased the pain patch at her next visit. She has now developed a severe sore throat, which is what we beleive related to the raddiation however she is now a week out from that and it's still very sore .. she has been unable to swalow her pills so I called for a liquid pain med & they put he on Morphine which I am unable to get at any local pharmacy -- they had to order it in so my mom is currently on just Lortab crushed in apple sauce - but she seems to be fairing well without anything else so I'm thinking her pain is subsiding a little & she informed me my father refused to permit her to wear another pain patch because it's messing with her mind. So, without that patch and limited Lortab she's doing ok in the pain dept. However, she is still having issues with ambulation .. she can walk assisted w/ a walker but someone has to be right along side her because her legs will just give out with no warning. She says they feels like jello & no matter how much she tries she can't get them to move. I initially thought it was to much narcotics in her system but since she's not on very much any longer that can't be it. Well she goes for another MRI tomorrow and her 4 week follow up with her oncologist on Tuesday and then we will be flying off to Chicago to the Cancer Treatment Center's of America for a second opinion on what options she has going forward & what they can do to make her remaining days joyful or at least bearable -- I'm counting on her holding out through Christmas -- this was my initial goal for her and she did it so we are going to keep on trucking -- but if it get's to the point where it's not worth it then what do I as her caregiver do to aid her to the other side so to speak? I don't want to see her in pain like she was last week again. No matter how hard it is on me to loose her I can't expect her to keep on keeping on in pain. And when the time has come how to I remain strong for my family & how on earth can I explain it to my 3 year old sons? Sorry so long but it's been a long long time since I've posted so there was alot to cover :)