BS: Chemo

Subject: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 08:36 PM

Looking over the description from the hospital of my wife's chemo ..
I swear to God, One of the Chemo drugs is made from a derivative of mustard gas.   Well I guess there is some good that came out of WWI.

Amazing.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 08:42 PM

Poster is Bobert.

---

Don't know about that but Taxol was originally from the bark of a tree from Mexico...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 08:55 PM

No...Taxol was originally from the Pacific Yew tree ...Taxus brevifolia

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 08:58 PM

Fortunately for the tree, they learned to make artificial Taxol and then found even better cancer treatments, as Taxol was only in the bark and they couldn't easily take the bark without hurting the tree.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 09:20 PM

anyone don't believe me look up Cyclophosphamide

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 09:30 PM

This is the description straight from the Cancer Hospital one of the finest in the US.

"is a class of drugs known as alkylating agents. It is a relative of mustard gas"

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: LilyFestre
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 09:35 PM

Taxol is still used as a primary first line treatment for ovarian cancer in combination with carboplatin. Taxol is a bitch....creates unbelievable leg pain. The upside? It kills cancer cells. :)

It's been almost a year since my last chemo treatment and I'm STILL tired. They tell me it may take another year before I begin to feel my energy return and to be patient. "You've had chemo, you've been poisoned and your body has taken a major hit." ~ One of my many doctors.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Janie
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 09:39 PM

Here, Dan.

Especially for your lovely wife, and also for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Bobert
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 09:44 PM

Yeah, taxol is a bitch...

Nasty drug...

If the idea is to take on cancer and do everything short of killing the patient then Taxol is the drug to do it... You get the best results on the cancer and the worst side-effects...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: LilyFestre
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 10:28 PM

Dan and Bobert,

How are your sweet women doing?

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: artbrooks
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 11:52 PM

Much more important than where it comes from - may they come out of it all in good health.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: LilyFestre
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 07:43 AM

Art...AMEN.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 08:50 AM

I'll second that

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 09:40 AM

Amen for sure. She is doing quite well, just gets exhausted but so far so good .. Thank you ...

Love you all

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: GUEST,999
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 09:46 AM

She's mending, Dan. Keep hanging tough.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: fat B****rd
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 12:07 PM

Hello again, Dan. I don't know much about chemo but I do know you have my best thoughts along with everybody else's.
Charlie

Good afternoon , Bruce.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 12:54 PM

Michelle,

The P-Vine is doing well... She'll begin the skin expansion in a couple weeks and may be ready for the last surgery in September with the implant...

Back to the Taxol... My late wife, Judy, reacted very badly to it... It made her feet and hands feel like that were burned and she couldn't stand to walk and couldn't use her hands for much of anything...
I had to rub bag balm on them every couple hours to give her any comfort...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 01:05 PM

Keeping the feelings and behaviors and memories of a state of good health at the front of our minds is very important in the mind body connection. It does everything the old positive visualizations did but avoids the silly concept of owning cancer or being guilty of doing something wrong to get it in the first place.

Some cancers are a normal expression of the genetic code in some cells but can be discouraged or eliminated entirely with treatment.
In this light there is no abnormal quandry to mess with.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: LilyFestre
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 02:51 PM

Bobert,

   I had trouble with my hands too, lost lots of feeling in my fingertips especially. The feeling has come back though!!! I remember going to the grocery store and having to ask the clerk to pull the debit card out of my wallet because I couldn't feel it enough to grip it. Also, Pete had had to open many, many, MANY things because I lost strength as well.

   As for my legs, they felt like someone took an aluminium baseball bat and tried to beat their way out of the middle of my bones. I could chart it and count on the days it would hit the worst and plan accordingly...also planning to do as much as possible before the next treatment when it would hit again.

Donuel,

   Yes, keeping healthy positive thoughts in the forefront of your mind is important. It's been just about a year since my last treatment and I'd by lying if I told you it's not on my mind every day. It's not all that's on my mind but it is now part of me, part of my life and something that I DO need to be aware of (signals of recurrence, etc).

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 05:43 PM

Michelle
   Honey did they give you a shot in the gut two days after chemo to build up your immune system that the chemo destroys? Something called nulesta or something like that. Boy that causes some bone pain for sure but seems to work. Each shot, 7000 bucks .. I dropped my teeth for sure. Thank you God for letting me keep the expensive insurance policy .. I would be done had I changed the coverage for sure.

Love Dan

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 05:44 PM

Two thousand dollars a copay for each shot. Even my copay is covered quite a bit so I am ok so far ... My God how expensive cancer is

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 05:54 PM

by the way, we are completely fine money wise, I only put that out to say how terrible our health care is for those that don't have my insurance. We are fine that end ... Now I just gotta get my missus all fixed up

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 09:15 PM

Yo, Olster...

Judy's treatment was right at $500,000... She worked for Xerox and had a great health insurance and all of it was paid for... No co-pays...

Today??? I donno??? So far the treatment for the P-Vine has been around $100,000 and will top out at about $125,000 when she is finished... She does, however, have Medicare or we'd be sunk...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: LilyFestre
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 12:08 AM

I didn't have neulasta shots although I know people who did and they said the bone pain in their legs was bad. Thankfully, my white blood cell count stayed up until the very last treatment and then seemed to bounce back on it's own.

Love to you and your beautiful wife!

XOXOXOOX

Michelle

PS. How many more treatments to go?

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 09:40 AM

Five more treatments hon ... Yup Bobster with the high powered docs that are taking care of my missus it will top out about 750K I think. Yup, I have great insurance. My second policy takes care of the copay except for a couple hundred bucks so all is good in that area. My heart goes out to those who lost their job then get nailed or worse yet working min wage then get hit ..

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 10:34 AM

Here's hoping those last five treatments go well.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 12:23 PM

Thank you my dear friend ..
love you

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: maeve
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 12:31 PM

Still here, walking along.

Best to you both,

Maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 08:54 PM

Yesterday, she swam, she biked ... today after taxol .. sick
awful ... Chemo is a SOB ... @#$%$#@$!!

3 more to go .. then on to radiation, hopefully that is easier .. God
I don't know if I will make it though this stuff

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Janie
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 08:59 PM

You will, Dan - because you are determined to be there for her in any way that she needs you.

We are here in any way that you need us.

Love,

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 09:28 PM

Taxol is tough stuff. The only good thing about it is that it kills cancer cells. Does your wife have any Zofran? How about about Percocet or oxycodone for pain?

Chemo sucks in that you get your treatment, feel like crap and then start to feel more yourself just in time to go get kicked again.

I'm so sorry that she's having to go through all this Dan but am thankful that she's here to get treatment. Hang on and stay strong.

Love you and to your wife too.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: gnu
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 09:42 PM

Hang tough bud. It'll be okay.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Bobert
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 10:10 PM

Yeah, Taxol will kick yer butt... But it's the Mohammed Ali of Chemo and while it's kickin' yer butt it's kickin' cancer's butt even worse...

Tingly (burning) hands and feet are common... If she get's that use bag balm (used for milking cows)...

Hope she doesn't get it...

Hang in there...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 10:11 PM

Poor dears--your wife and you. I can't begin to imagine.

I know nothing about chemo except what I read about people's experiences. So here's a question. Might the treatments have a milder effect on her system if she was less active for a day or two before them?

Anyway I'm sure you will both be glad for her to get through those last three chemo treatments. I hope radiation treatments go well.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 11:09 PM

Yes, tingly hands, numb fingers....that happened to me as well. When my treatments were done, I asked the doctor if that would ever stop. His answer was yes, it would...but slowly....it would go away at about the same time my hair came back in. He was right. I know it's hard to hang on and wait....but I swear to you, it does get better.

I found that when my hands were really buzzing away that holding them under really cold water for a minute or so seemed to help.

XOXOXO

Michelle

PS. Hi Bobert!!

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Neil D
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 11:17 PM

For me the neulasta didn't cause much pain but about 12 hours after the shot I would get these rushes that would start in my tailbone and run up my back to the top of my head. The first time it happened I had not been forewarned and it really freaked me out to the point that I went back to the hospital, thinking something bad was happening to me. Later on I knew to expect it and it was just more of a curious little side effect that didn't hurt but made me shudder all over.
   Radiation isn't as unpleasant as chemo but it will lower the blood count causing fatigue and some mild shortness of breath. At one point they gave me a blood transfusion to get my hemo count up. Even though the side effects at the time weren't as bad as the chemo, I've actually had more lasting effects from the radiation. Even after 2 years plus, my blood counts weren't all the way back to normal. Also, my femur was made permanently brittle and I have to be careful to avoid fractures, no running or other high impact exercises.
   I had fairly decent insurance but between copays, deductibles and coinsurances I'll be paying it off for years. I hate to think what would have happened had I been uninsured. It's sad that so many in this country are so much at the mercy of fate when it comes to health care, a situation that could be remedied if we had the collective will to prioritize it.
   Dan, keep encouraging her and pass along all of our good thoughts. Having my wife at my side through it all was a true blessing so don't underestimate the role you play and keep yourself strong as well. It WILL be over soon and once it is, you'll be surprised how quickly things will improve. Love from Neil and Christina.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 11:17 PM

Hi back, Michelle...

Love you...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 12:52 AM

read up on ginger..perhaps candied..to help with nausea. Also read up on taking a mixture of yogurt or cottage cheese and flax seed oil. It can really help. Dr. Johanna Budwig of Germany developed a treatment. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 03:24 AM

thanks fro the report, Dan

sending more good wishes to your lovely wife & her family

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 04:35 AM

My wife takes permanent low dose chemo medication to control blood platelet count.

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 10:31 AM

My friend you are so right, but trying to slow her up I would have to handcuff her or put an aikido move on her or something. I am married to a toddler. Today it was screw it, I am going bike riding. Last night her legs hurt like crazy this morning .. going off on my bike

shoot me

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 12:03 PM

Both of you hang on in there, Dan....and know you're both surrounded by Love.

Heaps of it coming over to you both.
Lizzie xx :0)

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 02:18 PM

right back at ya Lizzie
xxo

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: olddude
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 04:17 PM

So during the chemo the nurse said, "holy cow you two been married forever and you are both still young .. what is your secret"

without missing a beat I said "internet porn" .. she fell over laughing, the missus smacked me one in the arm LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: Bobert
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 08:46 PM

Ginger: for nausea slice ginger root real thin, put under tongue and just leave it there...

And stay away from them porn sites, ol-ster, 'er the Misses might go for a bike ride and not come back... lol...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Chemo
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 05:20 PM

Dan, you both remain in our private prayers as well as weekly with the congregation via the parish prayer list.

~Susan