mets to lung
Comments
-
Cathy,
I have had some chemos that left me bedridden for a week. I believe taxotere was the culprit. I really should have kept better notes of which chemo caused which SE's. They are all running together now! I am still dragging today and actually took a 3 hour nap. I have been told (by my nurse sister) that I push myself too much. I know you all understand that "can't waste a minute" attitude. I have to admit though, sometimes those minutes are better spent in bed! I will NOT have grandkids the week after chemo again! Lesson learned!!
0 -
Been away from BCO for a bit. Good news is test results shoqed a bit of regression in lung, a bit of progression for liver, but basically stable. Bad news is, I have been feeling weak and having pain in ribs. Life is good though. Kids and grandbabies all well and all keeping me happy and busy. I have enjoyed reading there has been much good news shared on this thread.
0 -
Hi All! I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm stage 4 w/mets to bones and lung. My lung was biopsied last July, and it collapsed too. Then more scans revealed more. I'm taking the A/A combo, and back to Zometa for bones. Tumor markers keep rising from 30something last Sept to 240something now. I'm feeling crappy a lot lately, achey, tired, no appetite, but I keep pushing thru each day. Just wanted to say hello, will add this thread to favorites. Thanks.
0 -
Glenna - the worst chemo for being bed ridden was FEC .. it left me bedridden for days and took a week for me to feel near normal again. I couldn't eat, (forced myself to drink) and over all just felt near dead. The taxotere was known for its tin taste and I had severe bone pain with it. We all react different with each chemo I know.Chanah - any regression is great! Pain is not good but speak up if u need pain meds and glad life is good with the family.
Skylotus - sorry your here but welcome!
0 -
Hi Everyone: I have been away from thread for a few days but read comments. I have had no energy to do anything for the last couple of days. I try though; I do accomplish very little. Currently, I had a very bad mouth sore on my lips; it's so painful I can barely eat or drink. I see my onc tomorrow and hope he can give me something for it.
I am on A/A 5 mg. I was on 10 mg. and had to have my dosage of Affinitor cut back. I hope I can stay on it. My CA 27/29 was 200 last month. I hope I get better news tomorrow.
I keep up with everyone on here and so glad that there are wonderful times with children and grandchildren happening!! That is what life is all about--being with our loved ones and finding joy in each day!
Take care!!
Judy
0 -
Seen oncologist yesterday and he was not happy that I had not had my chest, abdominal, pelvic scan yet. He got on the phone with radiology and told them he wanted it STAT. I got a call first thing this morning and I am booked for Monday. Good news was that the bone scan did now show anything that they were too concerned with!!! I asked him about starting back on Tamoxifen but he said he really wanted me on this drug trial which is doing so well and if I started on Tam now I would be turned down. The is done .. just waiting for these tests they require.Hope everyone has a relaxing nice weekend! Best to all!
Cathy
0 -
Cathy, good news on the bone scan! Glad you will have the other ct-scan. That will give you more comprehensive information, Will you have to drink something for contrast before the scan? That's the part I hate the most.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Brenda
0 -
I don't often look at this thread but I felt I would share the good news I got after my CT scan this week, after 7 cycles of taxol. I have two lung tumours. One has shrunk from 4.5cm to 2.5cm and the other has shrunk from 3 cm to 1.5cm.
My bone mets have responded positively, too. The report on my sacral and pelvic mets says 'excellent response" with significant reduction in activity and the met in my neck is now inactive.
I am carrying on with the weekly taxol. I hope this encourages others with lung mets who are on the same treatment.
SW
0 -
Glenna, Its so tough to hit the sweet spot between too much and too little activity. I hope that getting some down time and generous amounts of rest will help things balance out a bit. I am still pretty new to the mets world, and to chemo, which is what affects me the most, and in somewhat unpredictable ways. Its very easy to run with activity when energy is up, since I know it may plunge soon. We do muddle through, though, one way or the other.
Spring, That is good news about the Taxol doing its thing. I just had news that my eye tumor is regressing and my vision is improving. Monday I will have a CT to chest and see what is going on with lungs. That will be the first look since staging back in April. I do weekly Taxol, too.
Today a friend is picking me up for a short visit to a wool and yarn show at a fairgrounds nearby. Oh, boy! Color, wooly things, and people who love to work with yarns, what a blast. I am a basic knitter, but always get psyched seeing the raw materials.
Hugs to all,
Mame
0 -
Good news spring!! I've had great response with taxol Gemzar combo. Se are doable too. Keep the good new coming!!!
0 -
SW, Mame, and Maureen,
Wow! I am so happy to hear good news and great responses from treatment!
That really makes my day. Thanks for sharing, fellow-metsters!
Brenda
0 -
So happy to hear all the good news! Keep it coming!
0 -
Great news ladies! Do you ladies get the bad taste like tin with the Taxol? Another question. I did Tamoxifen for 2 years and it was holding my "spots" (unknown if it was cancer or not at that time) stable. However I had extreme s/e of being hot and severe hot flashes with it. I will be getting Letrozole in this drug study and hopefully the trial drug (66% chance) rather than Letrozole and placebo. My onco did say it can also cause hot flashes. Did anyone have bad hot flashes or sweats from it?Brenda:
Not sure if I have to drink anything for the scans or not. I can not have anything to eat or drink after midnight on Sunday other than clear fluids. I will have to drink some apple juice so sugars stay stable.
Cathy
0 -
I get the taste from the heparin flush I try to have a piece of hard candy in my mouth to mask that taste.
0 -
Cathy, I did have hot flashes from letrozole, but not severe. I only took it for 3 months because it did not work. There is a femara thread: Letrozole is generic for femara.
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/78/topic/...
There's a myriad of side effects, but not everyone gets them. I hope you are one of the lucky ones.
Brenda
0 -
Thanks Brenda will look into it!0 -
Hello Skylotus, welcome! It's fine to say you feel crappy. So many of us do, and like you, we just keep pushing on.I've learned so much from the Stage IV ladies, and I'm proud to be here. You're at home here.
I'm glad to read that I'm not the only one who takes breaks of a week or two, and then has to take awhile to catch up reading all the posts, and gets kind of lost. lol
Glenna, I wanted to just add "Wow" to the beautiful wedding photo. What a lovely couple and YOU WERE THERE!!! Whooppeeee!!! :-D .... You had asked about morphine and my reconstruction. I finally had fat grafting reconstruction to fill in my left breast, which had a partial mastectomy in 2008. But I am on morphine for the cancer pain. My bones and lungs hurt. I don't think the lung has nerves, so it's my pleura or something. I can't be off pain meds for longer than an hour or two or it's unbearable. It is getting better though. I no longer have bone pain that wakes me up out of a deep sleep if I sleep too hard against my ribs. Thank God.
Adnerb, yes, I can drive on morphine, but only short distances (30 minutes or less) and I have to be very cautious. I've been on 3 painkillers, Fentanyl, OxyContin and Morphine. Morphine definitely has the least side effects when it wears off, so that's a blessing and I wish I had tried it sooner. But the memory loss ... not sure if it's the morphine or the Tamox, but it seems to be getting worse, not leveling off. I am trying every trick I can think of. I shun phone calls, because I can't remember what people tell me. I communicate with friends primarily by text and email, so I can refer back to what they have told me. I can't be honest with my husband about how much I don't remember. Only with you ladies can I share how frightening and sad it is not to remember meeting people, or eating at restaurants, or even more important things. I've stopped locking my car door because I'm afraid I'm going to lock the keys in the car (which I've done 3 times already) Sometimes my speech or handwriting is jumbled.
My son gets his driver license in two weeks, he is a very good, careful driver. He will be happy to drive me around, I think. Adnerb, you also asked about the Tamoxifen. It has slowed down the tumor growth, though not as substantially as Aromasin (which I couldn't tolerate, the bone pain was excruciating). So, while the Tamox is keeping the tumors at bay, I still have to deal with the tumors that are there, and the pain they cause. I hope that over time Tamoxifen may help reduce those tumors, so I can reduce my dependence on pain meds. I'm back at Sloan-Kettering for my 3-month scans in a couple weeks. I am feeling good and expect the scans to show tumor stability. A little regression would be nice!
Someone mentioned hot flashes, Here's something that helped mine. It's kind of embarrassing because it took me a while to realize I was causing them! I bought a down comforter about a year ago, for the first time, something I have wanted my whole life. Even though it was a lightweight down, it was doing a superior job of trapping the heat, and almost every night I would wake up covered with sweat, have to change out of my pajamas, or grab a towel and sleep on it, etc. My husband suggested we take off the down duvet, and sure enough, my nighttime hot flashes disappeared. Admittedly, once or twice a week I wake up a little warm, and I keep cornstarch on my bedside table, and apply that. It's not that down/feathers are "bad" -- it's just that my body can't regulate its temperature properly, and I can't cool myself down when the down heats me u[. Now, whenever my husband and I travel, I have to find something to sleep under besides the down comforters that most hotels are using these days. I hope this helps someone else stay cool.
Wishing all of you ladies lots of energy and happy moments with your family. I think my son may have landed his first job at 16. He had an interview today that went well, with the restaurant manager, "putting stars beside my name and work hours on the piece of paper he was writing on while he interviewed me."
0 -
Ronda,
I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that your next scans show regression! Thank you for updating us. There is so much that we can learn from each other!
Brenda
0 -
My unbelievably wonderful MO e-mailed me after midnight last night to give me my scan results: "Nodes much better. Lung mass stable but much less active. Overall improved!". Got the written report today and it did sound very good. Everything is either better or stable with the exception of my eye tumor which I already knew was thicker from my photos done in Ocular Oncology. My first scan since diagnosis two months ago. Feeling relieved!!!
0 -
hello ladies..I am new to this thread. Just wanted to pop . I had my recurrence almost 3 yrs ago now. Many many nodes in neck, clavicle, alongside neck by jugular , lung, rib, spine..think that's where Waldo has been showing up. I stay on chemos for about 4 months then we have to change cause Waldo starts to move around again...always need to find him. Can't to targeted treatment anymore cause I became hormone refractory . Waldo eats up those treatments like food and spreads even faster. So general chemo for me. This last one I started December 13 th, havelan.....and I am still on it. And with good reports. The only node detectable is one in my jawline on left side, but it is smaller than it was in December. Best news I have had in 3 years. Maybe this one will,work for a nice long time. Se are very very doable. I have been having a blast since February, and will continue to do so
, for as long as I can!Hope we can all get on something that gives us great relief for quit a fee months so we can live fully and maybe for a moment, maybe, just forget we have this......hugs to all
0 -
SusaninSF and Susan3,
What great news from 2 Susan"s!!! Hope the rest of us get equally wonderful news...eventually!
Brenda
0 -
SusaninSF - so glad to hear that my metster friend! Great news.. happy for you! Hugs!
Sunsan3 - welcome to this thread. Amusing post (Waldo). I guess we have to use our sense of humor when we can. Glad to hear you had good news too!
Tarhee - NO down for me, I usually take off comforter too. I sleep under a sheet and one light blanket usually. Good news for your son.. a job and a drivers licence! Here's hoping you do get great results stable or yes some regression!
Hi Brenda - hope your doing well!
Cathy
0 -
Thanks, Cathy. I hope you are also doing well. I am patiently awaiting the result of my LiquidBiopsy. I will share them with everyone here as soon as I get them. Not all oncologists will recommend this procedure. Mine needed some convincing.
Hugs to everyone!
Brenda
0 -
Brenda - the old waiting game.. wait for test .. wait for results.. wait for treatment .. wait to see if its working.... seems to be part of life with mets huh? I see my onco and lady who sets up the drug trials Tues. Get my ECG's (3) and blood work and then its all sent in and as long as it all is ok start Thursday with drug trial. Finally!Cathy
0 -
Hi ladies! Just had my once a month check in and my tumor markers jumped 120 points in one month to 360something. They were 30something last Sept. Will get scans in a few weeks and see doc again in July. I know tumor markers are not the final word, but that seems like a big jump? Lessons in patience. More waiting...
0 -
Skylotus - sorry to hear that! However it wouldn't be the first time they were wrong. Hope that is the case for you. And if not your doctor will start you on another line of treatment that may knock 'em back down.. good luck!
0 -
Skylotus: I echo Cathy's sentiments plus: For me tumors markers do not mean anything. My onc said they appeared normal even when I was actively growing tumors.
Cathy: Have you shared with us the result of your latest scan? Just curious. Anyway, I do hope you get the drug and not the placebo. Also I hope that letrozole will work even better than tamoxifen. Your team seems to be doing a good job of taking care of you.
Brenda
0 -
Thanks Brenda, I have not yet got the results for my latest scans but will on Tuesday. I spoke to the lady that works in clinical trials and if I pass the ECG's and bloodwork and I get accepted to the study (which I believe is a go so far) then I should start the drug trial on Thursday! I do like my new onco and loved how he had to look at the chest cat scan himself (just not taking someone's word for it) and how he got on the phone and told radiology he wanted my scans STAT! It does seem he is doing his best to get the ball rolling.Cathy
0 -
Hi all,
I've been away from BCO for a while ... Having fun at the beach with some relatives from Ohio, then had our grandson over the weekend. Will get some r and r this week since I have chemo tomorrow. Hurrah for all the good news that has been posted. Love hearing the words stable and NO progression. That is what I wish for all of us. Welcome, sky lotus and susan3. My onc very rarely does my tumor markers. He thinks they are not always reliable. Cathy, I sure hope you get the real thing! Sounds like you've got a great onc. Ronda, I also have a lot of pain that seems to be in my ribs. My onc believes it's the cancer in the pleura. I think this is how he described it: He likened it to the pain you get from a paper cut. Not a big cut, but hurts like the dickens. He said there's not a lot of cancer in the pleura but because of nerve endings it hurts a lot. I take more pain meds now than ever before. I guess it's because I do like to get a good night's sleep. I like the idea of communicating by text and email so that we can remember what has been said. I'm going to try to do that more!! Brenda, you are always so encouraging to everyone! Thanks for that!
0 -
Cathy, Did you get scan results yesterday? Hope things are still on for the trial.
0
