Question about stage 3 or 4 quality of daily lives

ARobben said:

Other things to look for
Has he begun chemotherapy yet? Chemo can affect different people differently and at different times.

Another thing that comes to mind for me, because of my personal experience, is Pulmonary Embolisms (blood clots in the lungs). When I was diagnosed with Cancer (Stage 4 NSCLC), I was diagnosed with Pulmonary Embolisms a few days later. The doctors informed me that lung cancer did not typically present with the sort of extreme shortness of breath and fatigue that I was experiencing. I was put on blood thinner for six months which helped to clear up the clots. This is something I may ask your doctor about. They have to do a special CT scan with contrast to detect the Embolisms. They can be easily overlooked if you're not specifically looking for them.

Just a thought. Hope this helps!

Jager said:

Hi MichelleP
Where in the lung is the tumor located?

My shortness of breath was caused because the tumor is blocking one of my lung lobes.

Is he under kemo? That also affects you for a few days after every kemo.

Another reason could be that his inmune system is compromised fighting.

You need to ask for a complete blood test and with it his doctor can check his red/white cell account, if there is any infection or any other problem that can be treated.

I tell you this because my doctor ask me for one of this blood examinations every time I go to see her and she can even tell if I am smoking or not (even if I try to cheat), she can detect everything and prescribe me some medication to boost me up again.

Jager said:

Hi MichelleP
I obviously don´t know if you have insurance as this medication is very expensive, $2500.00 USD a shot here in Mexico but it is really good to help his inmune system to hold on kemo attacks, the name is Neulastim, it is made by Roche.

As I said to ARobben in another post, recently they changed this medication for another one named Bioclin or Biocilin (I promise I will give you the name as soon as I return home), it seems to be cheaper but for me it was a really good change from Neulastim, my oncologist prescribed me one shot for 7 days after kemo and I did great, still some tired for a few days but nothing compared to past experiences, I was able to assist my wife at hospital, to be there when my new baby came to this world and to deal with doctors, medications, to carry them home and assist them the first days when wife was not able to move.

I am mentioning this because I have a blood test a week after kemo and two days before next one, all leucocites (don´t know if it is written right) and the important things the oncologist check are always above the normal-maximum level (which seems to be good) as first I started kemo with Alimta/Cisplatin, then, after a treatment she gave me (with medications I told you above), she added Avastin to the misture and I am doing fine.

I am taking my kemo every 4 weeks and something I have noticed is that after 3rd week I started to feel a little tired until next kemo. Doctor said that I am supposed to take my kemos every 3 weeks but that means to loose more than half my income and I can´t afford that as I am paying my home, my car, my retirement founds and a lot of things you get for your family. Many people would say money or possesions are not worth it and I already considered that but my feeling is: If I am going to die, I don´t want to leave my family in poberty, so I choosed to keep working as I am strong as usual and to get my kemos every 4 weeks. I can stand a week or a few days of the week feeling a little tired

I receive Prednisone only for 3 days, one the night before kemo, then two days after kemo and that´s all.

Cheers

Mario

Jager said:

Neulastim
Hi Soccerfreaks, good afternoon.

I know for sure Neulastim is good for a week according to my doctor, that´s the reason for her to prescribe 7 (1 every day) shots of the other medication when neulastim was not available at the hospital.

Now, a week is the lapse of time when kemo chemicals are in your blood torrent (at least, the time when it is more concentrated) so it helps, I know it is expensive but as I stated in my first post, I don´t know if they have insurance or free medications as I am Mexican and don´t know the american Health system.

Now, something that I am thinking about, the fatigue that people feel is because the medication is in their blood torrent and killing good and bad cells. Now, with my first kemo I had this tireness just for 3 or 4 days (with Neulastim shot included), after that, I felt as strong as healthy like before the disease so recovering or keeping your white blood cells count in the high levels is usefull to keep the fatigue away?

Some other major point to consider here is the psicological side of the disease Michelle. When diagnosed I was so affected that first week I spend it laying in the couch in my living room, felt really tired, wasted as some may say. I analized the situation and after a month, I did find some curious stuffs, when at home thinking only in my disease, I felt tired and wanting to do nothing else than been at home but when the time came to go back to work, I felt really fine as to go offshore for 14 days and I spent this time working, busy and not thinking about cancer so I think my mind was playing tricks, you know, at home everybody was aware of the illness, everybody was paying attention to me, I assumed the victims role and my body started to react that way.

Talk to his doctor, if there is not a medical explanation for this problem, it may be good to try to get him out of bed for short periods of time and to try to do other things together (no need to be physical demanding) as playing a board game, sitting in the front yard, go out in the car to nowhere, you know, just to get him out of your home to see other people, new constructions, nature, going to a far starbucks to get a coffe and a piece of cake, etc. that can distract his mind from mind traps.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers

Mario