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 naunie's Cancer BlogFebruary 26, 2008
Things here have been ok. My mom has been pretty much the same. Exhausted and trying to get through the day… She seems to be down lately. I know that she is getting nervous bc she has shortness of breath and heavier breathing. She is nervous that this means her lungs are really bad. I know that she has spots on her lungs. We go for a test soon. Has anyone ever gotten shortness of breath from chemo? Thanks! 
February 6, 2008
WEll my mom went for chemo last Wednesday and everything went crazy! She passed out in the waiting area, her blood pressure went way down, threw up, and was brought to the ER. She stayed for fluids for two days and scans. What a rough couple of days. She seems back to “normal” now (exhausted and not really hungry.) SHE IS HOME that is the good news. They went today and the doctor said there is really no major change that they see that caused this. She got chemo again today. The scans showed more nodules in her lungs but their main concern is the liver which they see as having no change (that is good they said). They are going to keep an eye on the lungs. The Cancer Numbers went down—what does that mean? I have been looking it up but wasn’t sure I was following. I guess going down is a good sign. So she will stay on the same chemo for 6 weeks and see what is new. I am praying that this is working! The doctor said that her nerves are very high when she comes into the office which leads to her feeling worse when she is there. I see it. Sometimes she will be ok all week and then the day of the doctor she is sick. They suggested taking a valuum(spelling) to calm her nerves before she comes which I think will help her. I know that I am a lot like my mom and your mind is a tough thing to deal with! Yikes that sounds like a tough couple days. Glad to hear your mom is back home. Hi Naunie I’m so sorry, I would be freaking out. The cancer numbers that went down are probably her CEA levels which is her blood antigen level or tumor markers. My Mom’s have been up to 300 and are now down to 60 but we want them down to about 15. A normal cancer-free non-smoker should have values around 3-8. Has your Mom tried MegAces? It is this great medicine they gave my Mom. It is a white liquid that you take a teaspoon and it made my Mom gain 20 pounds back! It is great stuff but it is a little expensive and I don’t know what her insurance situation is. But if you can get it, I highly recommend it. It is so nice to see her eat and eat. And she looks healthier. My mom also got put on antidepressants and they made a HUGE difference for her. It doesn’t make everything go away but Mom was starting to seem like someone else. They have allowed her to cope in a much better way and we got our mom back. My mom would also have problems the day of her doctors appointments but hers was more of an anxiety and they gave her some xanax for it which really helped. She would get really anxious from having to sit still for so long with the chemo as well. I hope she feels better! Naunie, Cheryl Thank you for your comments. She is not really strong enough to stand for a long period of time—I mentioned the yoga but she said she just isn’t ready… The anxiety is always going to be an issue that we have to try to conrol I guess.
January 29, 2008
My mom just started them about a month ago. Anyone else finding them helpful. She has been down and not wanting to get up much. Hoping that this may help. I hope these help your Mom too…if not remember that there are many different kinds to try. I am currently taking Cymbalta and for me it made a big difference. I’m sorry it took me so long to get started.
Lately I feel like I am in a movie and should get an award for being an actress. I walk around trying to smile and act normal at work. I even think I do a pretty good job at it. I went shopping for my mom and brought her home dresses that she could wear to my wedding and smiled away when inside my heart was breaking. She said she was excited to try them on but I know that she is breaking too. It is like this is all a movie where we need to play a role and can only cry sometimes because what is it going to do if we just cry all of the time… Hang in there Naunie! We are thinking of you.
January 22, 2008
It is so hard sometimes… Everyone’s life is going on and being “normal.” I try to appear that my life is normal but many times I am screaming inside. I look at my friends and think, “You have no idea what I am thinking.” I don’t want them to feel what I am feeling because that would mean that they are hurting but it is so frustrating! I can totally relate. It really hit me one time in the grocery store. I looked around and everyone was shopping, probably thinking about what they were cooking for dinner and I remember feeling so different and alone. I was thinking about if I should do chemo or not or have a mastectomy or not. So many of us could have written what you did. Everyone out there isn’t thinking about their normal lives. Many people are thinking about the things in ther lives that scare or worry them. It may be cancer, it may be a sick child, it may be an abusive relationship, it may be if their next paycheck will cover their expenses… You and i fear our cancer, but I also worry about my kids, and fear my husband. This is what life is. Our lives, and sometimes they suck. But try to focus, when you can manage it, on your blessings. I have trouble doing this, i mostly am screaming inside. Don’t you wish that you could just forget for a short while and not have cancer cloud your every thought? Me too. Hi Naunie. Welcome to our little community. I am so sorry to hear about your mother’s diagnosis. Her fight is very similar to mine. You questioned my blog yesterday and asked how you should look into your mother’s eyes. Very simple…unending love. When you look at her let her know you love her, support her and send her positive thoughts. Smile through your eyes… Please do not let this disease consume either of you. Live life fully. I have learned the more I approach each day with a positive attitude and live as closely as I did before….that energy is sent back to me. If you would like to learn more about me, please visit my personal blog at http://kathybienapfl.blogspot.com/ I will try. I like what you said, “Smile through your eyes.” Thank you!
I don’t know if anyone is in the New York area but there is a Colon Cancer Run/Walk in Central Park on March 9th. I do not hear too much about walks for Colon Cancer so I thought this sounded great! Naunie, I saw you are 28 and getting married. Donna, I will check on Avastin. I am not sure. The others definitely stink! They get her down for a few days but she has been doing better with the side effects. The most frustrating thing is the fatigue. Just brings you down! But if they work BRING IT ON! Thanks Again! Unfortunately the fatigue is always there. I haven’t had chemo in almost a year and I get more fatigued all the time. Some of it is the drugs, some of them have very long term effects adn some ot it from the cancer. I am trying to get my dr to put me on Providgel. They used to use it on narcolepsy patients but it has just been approved for cancer patients for energy. I will guiny pig it for everyone on the board and see if it works. If I could lose the fatigue, I would feel almost 100% normal.My doctor is running lots of test first to rule out anything else. I sleep 12 hours straight on the weekend and still wake up feeling like I need more. I checked and meant to tell you that she is on Avastin. Hope it does wonders!
January 21, 2008
Well, I am new to the community and if you read my bio you know that my mom has stage four colon cancer with a tumor in her liver and mets to the lungs. She was diagnosed in August 07. I am twenty eight years old and lost. I find it incredible everyday, maybe every minute, that this is happening. My family is everything to me and I just feel like it is being taken away from me.
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06.22.08 - 
Thanks for your support -
I am so sorry your Mom has to suffer. I had shortness of breth during chemo both times and it has never gone away. I don’t know what chemo drugs she is taking but some of them can cause shortness of breath. I can understand her being nervous when it comes time to see the doctor. You are always afraid that they will give you some more bad news. Tell her to take the pills if it helps. It is so hard watching your loved ones suffer. I just wanted you to know that I care and that I will be praying for your Mom and you.
Love, Joyce
My Mom also has shortness of breath from the chemo. Especially when doing anything remotely active. She didn’t used to have that problem, she was never a smoker etc. But now when we walk from the car to the doctors office, she can get very winded. She had that side effect with both the Folfox and Folfuri.
Thank you. I have told her about your comments. They help us so much!
Good Morning and that is what I hope it truly
To answer your question about shortness of breath, all I can say is that my oncologist told me that it wwas the radiation that cause the damage.. I had been fine for over 1 1/2 years and then I started getting short of breathe.. and it was getiing quite bad… Nothing the Dr’s could do and so i decided to get an exercise big.
Firts time I got on it one minute was all I could not as I was totally out of breath… Next time I got a bit smarter and put an oxygen tan onto the frot of the big, and then I was able to do 5 min.
Now I am up to 12 minutes… It si a slow process but at least for me it wouks.. Making going for short walks, or something but you do need to excercise, to build up your lung capacity again other wise thisgs will get worst.. So keep plugging away and she will notice athat after even one week she will notice a small difference but she will noticed a difference… Sometimes it is nnot so easy, and you have to keep plugging away at it and it does get bettre.. Yesterday I had to shovel wet heavy snow from my side walkway, then do the frot, then I taclked the big job as I have 1500 sq. feet of comcrete pation in the back and I try to also keep that clean..
Best of luck and tell your mom that sometimes we need to get stubborn about things if we want to get better.. I don’t know how old your my is but I am 67 years old and like everything else we do not like getting old… The one thing that truly helped me when I had 37 radiation (5 time a week for 71/2 weeks plus chemo every Tuesday for 7 weeks…) the thing that really carried me through that was that I was able to turn it over to God totally and completely, and know what during all that time I never worried about it not one single little bit. besides that I still worked 4 days a week and that sure helped to take my mind off of thinks… Tell your mom to try to exercise on a daily basis,,, it does help..
Best of luck.. and God Bless your misfortune…
(by the way I had even accepted death, because I thought that if it is my time to go what can I do about it…
Help to try to lift up her spirits.. it makes a difference … God Bless Ray