mets to lung
Comments
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Adnerb - Yes, Hospice means no more treatments for curing your disease but there are treatments for making you feel better. For example, if you catch the flu you would get antibiotics for it or if you're in pain you'd get pain meds. And at any time I can change my mind and go back on treatments. Nothing is set in stone.
Loveforlife - I will ask my onc about Xeloda. Anything that can help my breathing would be a miracle! What are the SE's?
Teri0 -
Teri,
Xeloda se's for me have been fatigue, loss of appetite, some coughing. Nothing too bad. Some people get bad diarrhea and hand/foot syndrome. I haven't so far (knock on wood!!!) It's pretty well tolerated by most people according to my onc. Plus it's an oral chemo, so no infusions! I know it's not going to cure me, but it's making my quality of life much better - stopping the disease from progressing, and even making it regress a little. I'll have scans in about a month, then we'll see how well it's really working. I was able to take a short hike in the woods the day after Thanksgiving. That is the real proof to me it's working!
Best to you!
Laura0 -
This is a lot to wade through, but really interesting:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3711709/
Tina0 -
I had to move quickly as the lump on my breast and lymph node were noticiably increased in size in two weeks (some of it may be inflammation too). Started on a combo of carboplatin and gemcitabine two days ago. Once a week infusions for two weeks and then a week off. So far I have low level nausea and burping and fatigue. Also they presume a spot on my liver is mets. Alkaline diet mostly continues but I felt so week today had comfort food of a tortilla and cheese and avocado. My cancer has changed from estrogen positive to triple negative. The above study seems a little too complex for me and still at the animal testing stage. Love to all of you out there sailing in this boat.0 -
Tina2 - I get along pretty well in the real world, but I do believe I have some undiagnosed ADHD which I can keep pretty well under control through practice But it kicks in full gear when I read something like what you posted. If it goes way over my head, I find myself skimming through the information and before I know it, my eyes have glazed over and I'm dreaming of the beach. I do want to understand what it's saying though. Could you please provide a brief Cliff Note summary re: the information if it's not too much to ask and if you have the time and the inclination?
Proser 2 - we have a nice group in the "Triple Negative Stage IV" thread. I hope you find yourself there as we would all like to welcome you to our group. I've been on the Carbo/Gemzar cocktail since March. I had to get backed off several times as it does a number on my platelets and WBC. I have been having problems with gas and possibly gallbladder attacks, which causes painful cramping around the base of my ribs and right shoulder. I've found that as soon as these episodes start, I take 3 or 4 Tums, and it really, really helps. I keep a bottle with me at all times now. I hope you can find some relief as well.0 -
last scans were good, no progression. Low blood counts, though, so no chemo til January. Guess I am okay with that since it's Christmas and I'm taking my grandson to disneyland and California to see his dad after Christmas. I should feel pretty good. Merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah to all!!
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Glenna, that is wonderful news! Now go and enjoy your Christmas and I'm sure you will!
Thanks for sharing this!
Judy
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Glenna! No progression is great news! I feel the same way about missing chemo when my blood counts are low. No chemo means no s/e's for a little. I'll have chemo when my body's ready.
Hugs,
Brenda
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Surfdreams, here's a summary of the paper provided by the editors of the journal:
http://www.cell.com/retrieve/pii/S0092867412008720
What I find interesting about this study--as I understand it--is that it found "Coco" not only activates dormant lung metastases, but is not found in other areas of the body such as the bone and brain. This allows me to take a ginormous flying leap of wishful thinking and wonder if this might portend that my mets might remain confined to my lungs where they may be controllable with treatment. I have a particular personal interest in the subject of long-dormant lung mets because mine were seen on scans and dubbed "nodules" and "scars" and "groundglass opacities" many years before they became obviously active and diagnosed for what they actually were/are.
Tina
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Thanks for the summary, Tina! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you when you take that big old leap!
Glenna - what wonderful news! And how fun to go to California and disney at this cold, cold time of the year! I'm more than a little jealous!
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Tina, that article is indeed very interesting. I had numerous mets in the lining of my left lung, and as of Nov. 4 of this year they are all gone. When I breathe very deeply in I still feel "cobwebs" in the left lung. I am hoping I don't have coco, and if I do that they find a way to blast it.
Hugs to everyone,
Brenda
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Adnerb, what was your treatment that got rid of your lung mets? (I may have already asked you this.)
Teri
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Teri,
On Nov. 4 of this year, the radiologist found no tumors after only 5 weekly treatments of Carboplatin and Gemzar. I only had Carboplatin once, and Gemzar only 2 times. So it really only took 3 infusions, as I could not do it one week because of low blood counts, and I had one week off. The schedule was/is: First week: Carbo/Gemzar; Second week: Gemzar only; Third Week: Gemzar only; Fourth week: Break.
Hugs,
Brenda
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Brenda, that is awesome! Enjoy your good news!! I have been absent the last week or so. Low blood counts, no chemo, but Christmas and all it's trappings have consumed me. Did manage a couple of days of R and R at the beach before things revved up. Off to California is in the morning. Not sure if I should stay up all night or try to get Some sleep! Take care, all. And happy new Year!!
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Thanks, Glenna. Are you moving to CA or just visiting?
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sorry, I haven't been on here since before my California trip. Took my grandson to visit his dad who ended up coming home with us. He was out there for 6 months and could only find temp work and was then offered a job back in Maryland. We had a grand time at disneyland and knotts berry farm where the roller coasters were awesome. I ended up with a bad cold, yuck, and have chemo tomorrow. Back to the real world ....
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Welcome back, Glenna! Glad you had a great time. It sounds so fun. I've never been to California. We're expected to get 5-7 inches of snow tonight and it's supposed to be 0 degrees in the morning when I have to drive the hour to my clinic to get a Neupogen shot. . California sounds like a fine place to be. If you get this weather in Maryland, your son will be California dreaming! I hope your cold is short lived!
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Happy New Year all. Hope your cold gets better soon Glenna and glad you had a good time in California. I hope everyone has been feeling okay and getting through the holidays as best you can. Am expecting snow here tomorrow and frigid temperatures. Had CT scans yesterday. Meet with onc tomorrow afternoon. I have been on a three week chemo break and tomorrow will learn what the next treatment will be. I haven't felt well at all lately. My SOB has been worse and I've had pain in the right side just under the rib. Been trying not to worry and resting more than usual. My DIL is due to have her first baby on the 13th, so that is something I'm looking forward to and gives me something special to set my mind on. Take care all. Jean
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I now know why I haven't been feeling well. My lung mets are stable thanks to Abraxane which is good news. The bad news is that I now have mets in the peritoneum. I will start Halaven on Tuesday. Anyone have experience with these type of mets? Jean
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aw, jean, that sucks. No experience with mets to the peritoneum. you mentioned pain just under the right rib and that's where I have my pain. My onc says the pain comes from cancer in the lining of the lung. I take an oxycodone every afternoon about 3 ish and that takes an edge off the pain. Thankful your lung mets are stable. My chemo was postponed again today because I have a terrible cold. I'm thinking what's one more week? And I really do feel terrible. Will be so happy to be rid of the cold and breathing normally again. Ah, but then it will be back to the chemo and not feeling normal! This crazy new normal that we deal with!!
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Glenna: I do hope your cold goes away quickly so you can get back to your treatment. Are you resting as much as possible? I'm still trying to wrap my head around the new mets. I was happy to hear the lung mets were stable. I needed some good news too. I actually thought I had appendicitis and asked the CT tech to make sure I didn't. She told me all my organs would be viewed and not to worry. Now to check out the Halaven threads. Take care. Jean
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Glenna and Jean,
I hope you both sort out your respective issues. Glenna, having to skip chemo might not be such good news, but look at it as a reprieve of sorts! Jean, I don't even know what a peritoneum is. Hang in there, stabilizing your lung mets is a very good thing!
Hugs to everyone,
Brenda
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The peritoneum is the membrane that lines the walls of the abdominal cavity,
I wish everyone a wonderful 2014 and pray new medicines will be developed this year.
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Hi Chanah, it's good to see you again. Thanks for the wishes. I echo your sentiments!
Europa, are you on another reading binge? I sure hope so! I also fervently hope that xeloda is successful in zapping your mets. Please tell us how you are doing!
Love,
Brenda
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I am doing nothing BUT resting. Have no energy for anything. I'm glad there's lots of football on this weekend!! The bad thing is I've lost my voice and can't even talk. My husband may not think that is such a bad thing! LOL! Though he is doing all the cooking and taking good care if me! I go back to the oncologist on Thursday so hopefully will be well enough for chemo by then.
New medicines this year .... YES! Jean, hope the halaven isn't too hard on you!
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Glenna, I have lost my voice as well. Do you know what's causing it or do you think it's just the cold? It is very frustrating.
Thanks,
Teri
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Teri, I am sorry to hear your voice is gone. It could be the cold, or a cold, or something else. For me, losing my voice was how they diagnosed my lung mets, as a met had been growing against my laryngeal nerve which in turn paralyzed my vocal cord. With systemic therapy my voice has come back over time. There are outpatient procedures available whereby a paralyzed vocal cord can be plumped up to meet the vocal cord that is working, thus bringing back the voice.
I hope the cause is something totally unrelated to this disease - perhaps it's even a reaction to a medicine.
Wishing you the best!
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Brenda, hi, not sure if I missed something previously, but if the drain your lung dry, why haven't you had the talc put in to stop the fluid refilling? I had mine drained 3 times last year and after the talc, nothing since thankfully, even though i have lung clots now. Regards, G
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G, they did not drain my lung dry. Every time I got drained, I was left with about 500 cc's of fluid. I was going back every 4 or 5 days because of shortness of breath, but one day, though I was feeling much better, I showed up anyway. They said that I did not have enough to drain. I still had something left, ~100 cc's, but I had not sob symptoms. During my last CT scan my pleural effusion did not show up.
The surgery involving talc, according to my research, is a lot more complicated than the thoracentesis, which was what the draining process is called. I probably would have looked into it if my pleural effusion did not go away by itself (or because of chemo).
Brenda
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My pleural effusions were drained twice, but no cancerous cells were found in the exudate. When I was finally diagnosed with bc and the lungs showed activity on the PET/CT, the plan was to do a lung biopsy and pleuradesis at the same time. However, while the biopsy showed metastatic bc, the pleura had adhered on its own and the talc procedure was not needed. My current mo says that it's not uncommon for this to happen spontaneously after several thoracenteses. I still have loculated pleural effusions, but I've had no lung symptoms since then and it's been nearly three years.PET scans still show activity and nodular thickening at the base of the lung, but I've been stable all that time (knock wood!) on anastrozole.
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