How fast can it spread?

B 1

Mom had a pet scan two weeks ago. Results were that her left chest was lite (Stage 4 Breast on the left side) and a verterbra in her neck. The oncologist said "We're really really going to hope it's arthritis." Oncologist has told us all along she has a very agressive cancer.

Many complications later, port went in, chemo done, side effects awfull, she fell, port infected, taken to ER, port came out, blood infection, bladder infection, blood clot in leg.

She is now having back pain and the medical doctor said they are "watching" her breast bone as it is thickening (whatever that means).

Is it possible that it spread in just two weeks? I am so confused and frustrated with all the sh...t and everyday (sometimes every hour) it's something new to deal with.

Linda - Norwalk, OH
Live today because tomorrow is not promised.. 

pattynonews

No one knows how fast cancer
No one knows how fast cancer spread, I thought Jack had longer, his cancer was under control for awhile and then he got slammed I learn with Jack we had to live each day to the fullest Jack fought for 18 months, I dont understand why they could not tell the difference between arthiris or cancer unless i read it wrong, and yea the port getting infected is a common thing, when you enter a foreign object in the body the immune system rejects it, Jack's got infected, he crashed so fast, after he got his trachea, Jack got so many infection and we fought, but he could not fight no more there are no right answers, just be stong, and ask all the question, and dont let them push you off, demand answers \

Love Patty

B 1

pattynonews said:

No one knows how fast cancer
No one knows how fast cancer spread, I thought Jack had longer, his cancer was under control for awhile and then he got slammed I learn with Jack we had to live each day to the fullest Jack fought for 18 months, I dont understand why they could not tell the difference between arthiris or cancer unless i read it wrong, and yea the port getting infected is a common thing, when you enter a foreign object in the body the immune system rejects it, Jack's got infected, he crashed so fast, after he got his trachea, Jack got so many infection and we fought, but he could not fight no more there are no right answers, just be stong, and ask all the question, and dont let them push you off, demand answers \

Love Patty

I think we have a "Happy" Oncologist
Patty: Please accept me smypathy. I have read many of your posts about you and Jack. I can not image how hard this is for you and yet you are still here helping the rest of us. You are a very special lady.

He has this attitude that this is something he can cure this. (It's Stage 4 breast cancer and she is almost 73) He keeps saying "it's a very aggressive cancer" yet we're really really going to hope? I wish he would tell me the truth and stop dancing around the diagonise. I would rather her be comfortable and happy then this miserable and in pain from the "treatments".

Love Linda - Norwalk, OH
Live today because tomorrow is not promised..

angelsbaby

B 1 said:

I think we have a "Happy" Oncologist
Patty: Please accept me smypathy. I have read many of your posts about you and Jack. I can not image how hard this is for you and yet you are still here helping the rest of us. You are a very special lady.

He has this attitude that this is something he can cure this. (It's Stage 4 breast cancer and she is almost 73) He keeps saying "it's a very aggressive cancer" yet we're really really going to hope? I wish he would tell me the truth and stop dancing around the diagonise. I would rather her be comfortable and happy then this miserable and in pain from the "treatments".

Love Linda - Norwalk, OH
Live today because tomorrow is not promised..

Scans
Ny husbands cancer grew so much in two weeks that there was not much they could do for him so it just depends on the cancer because it seems to do what it wants.his was very agressive too colon cancer with met to liver kidney and many tumors on the outside of the small intestines he died at 53 just this past april he lived for 17months from dx. he died in so much pain. I miss him more every day it seems.
take care

michelle

SonSon

BONE SCAN
Have a bone scan done... and have a CT scan done of her head (to look for metastasis in brain).

This is the first post I've read from you... but the doctor is saying it is aggressive and I am sure you recognize this.

My mother-in-law had breast cancer and it began to grow on the site of her mastectomy...in just two weeks it had grown a 2 inch "pad" over her chest wall.

If your (or her) doctor wants to just "wait and see" I would suggest letting him do that while you go to see another doctor. The more you know about the state of her condition the more you have to go on for deciding what treatments to do next...or not.

Fatima

geotina

Time to talk
If you mother allows it (don't know if you need her ok or not), call the oncologist and request an appointment for a one on one appointment with you. Express to him that you need to know the exact state of your mom's condition, no surgar coating. You are full of questions and your mom sounds like she is miserable. If the treatments are working then full steam ahead. If the treatments do not seem to be working what is your next option, either chemo, radiation, any surgery, etc. Sometimes the docs simply don't know. If you have reached a dead end with this doc, seek a second opinion regarding your options. Best of luck to you - Tina

lisaonthenet

angelsbaby said:

Scans
Ny husbands cancer grew so much in two weeks that there was not much they could do for him so it just depends on the cancer because it seems to do what it wants.his was very agressive too colon cancer with met to liver kidney and many tumors on the outside of the small intestines he died at 53 just this past april he lived for 17months from dx. he died in so much pain. I miss him more every day it seems.
take care

michelle

pain
Michelle,

I'm so sorry to hear that your husband's cancer grew fast. When it grows fast it feels like you're losing control and that you have no control. It's scary. I know for me it feels like Kelly's cancer isn't going to stop or give up. Either will we, but...

You mentioned that he died in so much pain - that must've been so difficult. My partner Kelly is in a lot of pain right now due to a pathological hip fracture and it's so hard to see her in pain and not be able to fix it. Your husband and you both sound so strong.

Lisa

Barbara53

lisaonthenet said:

pain
Michelle,

I'm so sorry to hear that your husband's cancer grew fast. When it grows fast it feels like you're losing control and that you have no control. It's scary. I know for me it feels like Kelly's cancer isn't going to stop or give up. Either will we, but...

You mentioned that he died in so much pain - that must've been so difficult. My partner Kelly is in a lot of pain right now due to a pathological hip fracture and it's so hard to see her in pain and not be able to fix it. Your husband and you both sound so strong.

Lisa

bone met pain
Hi Lisa,

Hope you are having a good day. My mother has a bone met going in her foot and leg, and it fractured this week. She is getting amazing pain relief from Tramadol. Don't know how long it will hold up, but for now it's great. Pain level down from a 9 to a 4.

Barbara

lisaonthenet

Barbara53 said:

bone met pain
Hi Lisa,

Hope you are having a good day. My mother has a bone met going in her foot and leg, and it fractured this week. She is getting amazing pain relief from Tramadol. Don't know how long it will hold up, but for now it's great. Pain level down from a 9 to a 4.

Barbara

Tramadol
Hi Barbara,

Thanks so much for the idea. I just emailed Kelly's drs. Appreciate it. So glad it's helping your Mom. May I ask what kind of cancer she has?

Lisa

Barbara53

lisaonthenet said:

Tramadol
Hi Barbara,

Thanks so much for the idea. I just emailed Kelly's drs. Appreciate it. So glad it's helping your Mom. May I ask what kind of cancer she has?

Lisa

should be tylox
Hi Lisa,

OMG, I messed up, it turns out Mom is taking tylox, which is oxycontin and tylenol. I'm not there this week, so I'm making lots of phone checks so she doesn't skip pills while nobody is paying attention. My brothers and their wives are in charge when I'm gone, and they do great.

Mom has ovarian cancer, only she thinks chemo killed the beast. Go figure, but in her mind all the things wrong with her are separate and unrelated. The fam knows better. As long as we are able to take care of her, she's staying on the cure track to maintain hope. It's her nature to need a future to justify today. Soon her care will be too much for us, and we'll turn the corner to hospice.

As I understand it, bone mets often occur near the primary site of the cancer of origin. Mom had a hot lymph node in her left thigh before her diagnosis. Looks like some cancer cells had traveled the lymphatic pipeine, and hid out in the bone marrow in her foot through chemo. Not common, but it does happen. Very relevant that she's almost 80, too. Now she's our baby.

lisaonthenet

Barbara53 said:

should be tylox
Hi Lisa,

OMG, I messed up, it turns out Mom is taking tylox, which is oxycontin and tylenol. I'm not there this week, so I'm making lots of phone checks so she doesn't skip pills while nobody is paying attention. My brothers and their wives are in charge when I'm gone, and they do great.

Mom has ovarian cancer, only she thinks chemo killed the beast. Go figure, but in her mind all the things wrong with her are separate and unrelated. The fam knows better. As long as we are able to take care of her, she's staying on the cure track to maintain hope. It's her nature to need a future to justify today. Soon her care will be too much for us, and we'll turn the corner to hospice.

As I understand it, bone mets often occur near the primary site of the cancer of origin. Mom had a hot lymph node in her left thigh before her diagnosis. Looks like some cancer cells had traveled the lymphatic pipeine, and hid out in the bone marrow in her foot through chemo. Not common, but it does happen. Very relevant that she's almost 80, too. Now she's our baby.

tylox
Hi Barbara,

Thanks for the clarification. Sent that info to Kelly's drs as well. Your mom is lucky to have you guys to take such good care of her. That's wonderful that your mom and you guys have hope. That's vital I think. Kelly and I have hope but we're terrified at the same time. The cancer doesn't seem to stop.

What helps you deal with things, the toughness of it all?

Thanks,
Lisa

pattynonews

TO BI
Hi Linda , How is your mom doing, Well it has been 8 weeks and it is still hard, I went back to work as a caregiver, ( home health care ) I took on another patient starting next week, so now I have 3, one has cancer, she goes to the oncologist on wed to see what her options are. and I guess this is my calling, I even gave my little lady my cell phone, and I can hear it in her voice that she is scared,Have you gotten any news about your mom, We also had a great oncologist, he was fighting so hard for Jack, but poor Jack he kept getting infections, sometimes I think it was not the cancer that got him becasue he was doing so good until he got the trachea, yea the tumor was growing, but, once they open him up he just crashed so fast, and he did not eat nothing by mouth for a year, And just like Michelle hubby I could see the pain that Jack was in, but my man had such a fighting spirit, and I think that is what gets me through all of this, I video taped him 2 months before he passed and he told me Im going to get rid of this cancer and we will have forever, he had that native fighting spirit that never gave up, I miss him so much he was the one that kept me going, and my advice to any one you out there, please video tape, I wish I would have started sooner, I just watch the video, and I cherish them and if you are told like Jack was told there is nothing else we can do, love each other, our motto was quality over quantiy, I still find my self shopping and buying little gifts for Jack, And yea I still come here, becasue if I can help one person , that is all good, I met Jack Jack right before he was dx we had only 18 months, but would not trade that for anything, I have met so many nice people, who knows exactly what Im feeling, and I have gotten alot of support and I thank all of ya,

angelsbaby

pattynonews said:

TO BI
Hi Linda , How is your mom doing, Well it has been 8 weeks and it is still hard, I went back to work as a caregiver, ( home health care ) I took on another patient starting next week, so now I have 3, one has cancer, she goes to the oncologist on wed to see what her options are. and I guess this is my calling, I even gave my little lady my cell phone, and I can hear it in her voice that she is scared,Have you gotten any news about your mom, We also had a great oncologist, he was fighting so hard for Jack, but poor Jack he kept getting infections, sometimes I think it was not the cancer that got him becasue he was doing so good until he got the trachea, yea the tumor was growing, but, once they open him up he just crashed so fast, and he did not eat nothing by mouth for a year, And just like Michelle hubby I could see the pain that Jack was in, but my man had such a fighting spirit, and I think that is what gets me through all of this, I video taped him 2 months before he passed and he told me Im going to get rid of this cancer and we will have forever, he had that native fighting spirit that never gave up, I miss him so much he was the one that kept me going, and my advice to any one you out there, please video tape, I wish I would have started sooner, I just watch the video, and I cherish them and if you are told like Jack was told there is nothing else we can do, love each other, our motto was quality over quantiy, I still find my self shopping and buying little gifts for Jack, And yea I still come here, becasue if I can help one person , that is all good, I met Jack Jack right before he was dx we had only 18 months, but would not trade that for anything, I have met so many nice people, who knows exactly what Im feeling, and I have gotten alot of support and I thank all of ya,

Patty Good Idea
I wished i would of video angel but i didn;t i don't have anything with his voice on it , i so wished i did.

michelle

pattynonews

angelsbaby said:

Patty Good Idea
I wished i would of video angel but i didn;t i don't have anything with his voice on it , i so wished i did.

michelle

video
You can buy those little flip camera cheap I got one for $50.00 and it connects straight to your computer, I go back and just watch them, I lost a couple of them but the ones I have I cherish them forever, I just wish I thought about it earlier, and the other thing I did was blog on myspace , I set up a myspace cancer page for Jack for his friends and family only, I took picture and blog everyday about what Jack was going through, and how I was feeling and how he was feeling and them I printed them all out now I have the most memorial of Jack I started it the the day he found out he had cancer and I still have it going, and the book is over 100 pages long, but I can actually go back and read about it and it will be something I will always cherish it,I lamitated all the pages and bought a Ed Hardy notebook and made a beautiful book of Jack and then Jack had so many close friends so I made a meorial package for them and I put a picture of Jack , a special poem, his prayer card, a special note that he wrote,and 2 incents,( jack loved to burn his incents, and Jack loved his music so we picked out songs that were special to him and made a cd and that is his memorial package,
Fay and Michelle please send me your address you two have been great and I want you have a piece of Jack , Cindi I have yours ready to go out, Its my way of saying thank you, we all belong to this really bad club, but thank god we have each other, My sister in law said we should all try to meet at a central place and meet each other Well we are going to christmas mass tomorrow night, it is dedicated to Jack, so it is going to be hard
Take care love patty

grandmafay

pattynonews said:

video
You can buy those little flip camera cheap I got one for $50.00 and it connects straight to your computer, I go back and just watch them, I lost a couple of them but the ones I have I cherish them forever, I just wish I thought about it earlier, and the other thing I did was blog on myspace , I set up a myspace cancer page for Jack for his friends and family only, I took picture and blog everyday about what Jack was going through, and how I was feeling and how he was feeling and them I printed them all out now I have the most memorial of Jack I started it the the day he found out he had cancer and I still have it going, and the book is over 100 pages long, but I can actually go back and read about it and it will be something I will always cherish it,I lamitated all the pages and bought a Ed Hardy notebook and made a beautiful book of Jack and then Jack had so many close friends so I made a meorial package for them and I put a picture of Jack , a special poem, his prayer card, a special note that he wrote,and 2 incents,( jack loved to burn his incents, and Jack loved his music so we picked out songs that were special to him and made a cd and that is his memorial package,
Fay and Michelle please send me your address you two have been great and I want you have a piece of Jack , Cindi I have yours ready to go out, Its my way of saying thank you, we all belong to this really bad club, but thank god we have each other, My sister in law said we should all try to meet at a central place and meet each other Well we are going to christmas mass tomorrow night, it is dedicated to Jack, so it is going to be hard
Take care love patty

Address
Hi Patty, I've sent my address in a PM. Take care. I will be thinking of you and all of our friends here tonight. We need extra love and care this time of the year. Be good to yourself. Fay

angelsbaby

pattynonews said:

video
You can buy those little flip camera cheap I got one for $50.00 and it connects straight to your computer, I go back and just watch them, I lost a couple of them but the ones I have I cherish them forever, I just wish I thought about it earlier, and the other thing I did was blog on myspace , I set up a myspace cancer page for Jack for his friends and family only, I took picture and blog everyday about what Jack was going through, and how I was feeling and how he was feeling and them I printed them all out now I have the most memorial of Jack I started it the the day he found out he had cancer and I still have it going, and the book is over 100 pages long, but I can actually go back and read about it and it will be something I will always cherish it,I lamitated all the pages and bought a Ed Hardy notebook and made a beautiful book of Jack and then Jack had so many close friends so I made a meorial package for them and I put a picture of Jack , a special poem, his prayer card, a special note that he wrote,and 2 incents,( jack loved to burn his incents, and Jack loved his music so we picked out songs that were special to him and made a cd and that is his memorial package,
Fay and Michelle please send me your address you two have been great and I want you have a piece of Jack , Cindi I have yours ready to go out, Its my way of saying thank you, we all belong to this really bad club, but thank god we have each other, My sister in law said we should all try to meet at a central place and meet each other Well we are going to christmas mass tomorrow night, it is dedicated to Jack, so it is going to be hard
Take care love patty

Patty
Thank you
michelle