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• Living with cancer

• July 24, 2011 1:21 a.m.

  A very good friend of mine was recently diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcenoid cancer. After 3 ct scans over a period of 3 months, the physicians have determined the tumors are too advanced to perform surgery. He also has a blood clot on his lung. He is currently administering 2 shots of blood thinner in his abdomen region daily. this is a guy who lived a clean life and spent most of his life outdoors. He and his family and friends are in shock over this and are having a very hard time dealing with it. His doctors say his time left depends on growth rate, but can't really say how long he has to live. Apparently, the tumors are slow growing, but he has had them for up to 5 years and had no symptoms until recently. Has anyone out there reading this had this type of cancer and survived to talk about it? Any comments or support would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

  - Den

• July 22, 2011 5:48 p.m.

  I have been a nurse aide for years and seldom have I taken care of cancer patients until recently when I was given three. One starting radiation and two finishing chemo. I understand that cancer will not always be cured, but what upsets me is this. the two with chemo are suspected of having cancer return, we are waiting to see. the third one is dying today. He was treated with radiation for prostrate cancer and told the cancer was small and killed by radiation. Two weeks ago he passed a physical with the doctor praising how well hes doing and hes energy level was high good,good. Recently we started finding discharge in his pants, took to doctor and told he is full of cancer from his waist up. His stomach and lungs are full of it and treatment is pointless. Hes was sent home for hospice care and not expected to live more than a couple days. He had not been complaining of pain or coufing, besides the discharge and a small decrease in his food intake there were no signs of trouble. We have been told that often during treatment, the cancer will rapidly move to another part of the body.Does anyone have insight into this, what symptoms should have noticed?

  - karen

• July 22, 2011 12:06 p.m.

  After having a colonoscopy procedure was asked if i would have a ct scan of my pancrease because I had coffee grounds in my bowels. Was told I had cancer in my pancrease. Had whipple surgery and was given 6 months to live. Decided not to have chemo because of my age. Was 77 years old and wanted to have a life for the 6 months. Well I am now 82 and it has been 4 years, So others should have faith and think positive.

  - Dorothy

• July 22, 2011 12:03 p.m.

  After having a colonoscopy procedure was asked if i would have a ct scan of my pancrease because I had coffee grounds in my bowels. Was told I had cancer in my pancrease. Had whipple surgery and was given 6 months to live. Decided not to have chemo because of my age. Was 77 years old and wanted to have a life for the 6 months. Well I am now 82 and it has been 4 years, So others should have faith and think positive.

  - Dorothy

• May 27, 2011 3:42 p.m.

  The hardest single hurdle in my 4 years of battling leukemia(CLL), including 29 days of chemo, is the failure of my new power port. It was required by too many destroyed veins. Is is totally unusable,totally defective, leaks, and is dangerous. There are many horrific stories out there about defective ports. PLEASE start a blog topic for defective equipment. Thanks, Jim

  - Jim

• May 26, 2011 4:33 p.m.

  Ilike to read Mayoclinic it help me very mush because ofther 4 Cancers .I stil left whit 2 whish they can not cure one his in the Intesti and the other is in the Poumon In the poumon is the 3r one I have .But god help me avery day . Tank you for your Log

  - Roch

• April 15, 2011 11:57 p.m.

  I am recently in remission from Hodgkin's lymphoma. A CT scan found a large tumor in my abdomen. This only happened after i switched doctors. The original dr told me to take a laxative for my chronic GI tract issues. When i continued to complain about lower back and lower abdominal pain she told me "i would just have to deal with it." sometimes i think they will let anyone practice medicine. After this frightening experience i found a new doctor. He arranged for a CT scan the day after i met him and i was finally diagnosed. A major surgery was necessary to obtain a biopsy because the tumor was not easily accessible. 1 month later i began 6 cycles of ABVD over 6 months. It was a rough time and the nausea was pretty bad. I deeloped a major blood clot after the 2nd treatment but it was (almost completely) resolved. After about the 3rd treatment the pain improved and i began to gradually feel better. It was about 3 months into chemo that i felt well enough to go back to work. I was shakey and tired for the first several weeks but gradually improved. My last chemo was 3 weeks ago. I feel well and almost like myself again. After talking with other chemo patients i feel (relatively speaking) that i got off easy. Good luck to all of you.

  - Lisa

• April 12, 2011 7:15 a.m.

  Hi,I need help for supporting my friend pschologically, she is 33 ys a mother of two, the youngest is 1 year old, with breast cancer. 2 months ago she had her operatoin and now taking her chemo. The doctors told her that she had a very bad prognosis concerning the survival rate. Imagine her hearing this and thinking of her children. How can I help her to pass through this? We live in Cairo, Egypt.

  - Donia

• February 21, 2011 6:23 p.m.

  In our cancer journey - husband's surgery in 2006 for esthesioneuroblastoma - we initially had cold, sarcastic ,elusive MD - she said "let's face it everyone has can-cer".......so we googled CANCER CENTERS OF EXCELLANCE and boy were we blessed to find a kind, gifted specialist. It felt like a very precious gift. So, in a sense we - took charge.....MSKCC in NYC. I hear you are so scared and sad and want to scream which make sense Nancy....thank you for sharing your feelings with us as it reminded us our first month.

  - Nan

• February 19, 2011 1:44 p.m.

  Hello there! I am 54 and in the diagnosis stage for possible lung cancer. I had a biopsy last week and saw a Pulmonologist on Friday. Every idea I asked him about he would respond "Well you can do that but it won't cure anything!" I finally said that I was too young for this and his response was that it seemed to him this was difficult for me and he was there to help me. I don't think he has the capacity to "be there" for me. My 84 year old mom with Alzheimers lives with me and I am scared and angry and sad and want to scream to the world that I likely have lung cancer and I never smoked! I know that I need to be positive in this journey however today that is really difficult to do. Maybe tomorrow my view will be better. Thank you for the lending ear.

  - Nancy

• January 9, 2011 11:23 p.m.

  out to... God bless you all. Fight the fight and you will know through your TIME, it is worth it all. May to Lord be with you to give you comfort and strength and in my eyes - you are winning !!!!! xoxoxoxox

  - Denise C

• January 9, 2011 11:17 p.m.

  Hello, I am a wife of a cancer pt. Jack was diagnosed 3 years ago with adenocarcinoma of esoph. We are still fighting this battle, not bad eh.. When this blog first started, I made a couple comments. From time to time I revisit to read, to get educated by all your comments & get inspired by all your courage. It makes no matter what cancer you are battling. Everyone has a story that is different, but yet its all the SAME. My husband was 165 lbs most of our 28 year marriage..& now is 126. On good days he is very good & on bad days he appears like he is not going to get through. All in all, the Lord has allowed him time. And time is so precious in our cancer life. It hasnt been easy, I use to nag him about making sure he ate (I am Italian heritage & always cooked). Now he eats about 5 small meals a day & has actually aquires a taste for Boost. Thank God for Boost... I dont nag anymore about that. Also,when he is tired, he sleeps (the medicine to control pain makes him tired). Not much of a life for me, but - I HAVE HIM and know he is in the other room, that is good enough for me. AFter this last 6 treatments of chemo, he has had a CT scan last week. We will get results 1-11 as to whether this round was successful on not spreading, that is our hope, that is our prayer. But whatever the Lord allows, we will accept, for we have TIME right now & we are so very thankful & blessed for our Faith, our Hope,Patience & our Family & Friends who we reach

  - Denise C

• December 30, 2010 7:47 a.m.

  Sharon - Regarding the radiation from a PET scan. Please see this page for more info on Mayoclinic.com http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pet-scan/MY00238 A PET scan uses low levels of radiation that would not put you at risk for causing another cancer. The scan is important as a tool to detect cancer cells in the body as a follow-up after cancer treatment.

  - Sheryl

• December 27, 2010 12:11 p.m.

  Is there anyone that has some knowledge or been through diffuse large b cell lymphfhoma- non- hodgkin's? I was diagonosed in June 2010 with it in stage 1V. It was a tumor with an ulcer on top of it on my duodenum in the small intestine. There were a few flecks of it in my bone marrow. I was given 5 R-Chop chemo treatments, finishing up in October. My last pet scan in October showed no abnormalities. I was elated!Now i am due for another pet scan, blood work & dr appt on Jan 6. I am rather nervous about it all. Recently on TV I have heard these scans, because of high radiation can give cancer. Does anyone have any information on that?? SHARON

  - sharon

• December 24, 2010 9:59 a.m.

  I am new to this: have not "blogged". Background is Multiple Myeloma; 2yrs, am 69 yrs old, just had 3 mos off of Revlimid + Dex, asked for time off for all the holidays and art shows [ am an artist ]. I have tried to be "looking on the bright side"...and have painted a whole series of bright landscape type works. I want to start another option..."Green Houses For Hope"....where cancer patients can grow fresh and organic foods all yr long and share with others that cannot travel. I have had alot of good feed back on this. Many people think it would be good to start and eventually team up with the Amer. Cancer Society ! We will start our first one this spring on donated land. Also want to start "Oncology on Canvas" at our local Gilda's Club...Wish me luck...on getting these things going; I will restart my chemo in 3 weeks so I have "hope"...it's the food that feeds the soul and the power of taking the next breath ! God bless us all !

  - Judy

• December 23, 2010 5:48 p.m.

  I underwent 4 cycles of Rituxan. Ever since then (1 year later), I'm having all kinds of medical issues. Drastic weight gain, urination issues, etc. Now, I'm on synthroid for my thyroid. Are these common side effects? My diagnosis is B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

  - Mindy

• December 23, 2010 2:20 p.m.

  I was diagnosed with stage 4 large B cell lymphoma June 2010. My symptoms at first were alittle bit of nausea. Then what began was trouble with feeling full after hardly eating much food at all. Also I would wake up in the middle of the night with stomach making growling sounds. It really sounded like a waterfall in there. This had all began the later part of Nov & the first wk in Dec I had an upper GI & they found gastritis & an ulcer. My blood was checked for an infection & there was none. I was put on prilesec for a month. As soon as I ran out of prilesec the symptoms were back. I was told to get back on the prilisec but after two wks on that it didn't help anymore. I then had my liver checked & they said the enzeme count was high so I had a pet scan & the dr didn't like what he saw in a duct. I was sent to a gastroligist & he did an upper GI & took a biopsy & I was found to have a tumor with the ulcer sitting on top of it on my duodenum in the upper small intestine. It turned out to be cancer.And then & I had a few flecks of cancer in my bone marrow. I had 5 chemo treatments. After the last pet scan was read they told me there were no abnormalities. My last chemo was OCT 17. I had Chop4 chemo. Now it has been two months & I am to have another pet scan & dr appt. I am concerned about this being my 4th scan since June. It has been on the news that too many scans can cause cancer from the very high radiation. It makes me very n

  - sharon

• December 21, 2010 2:51 p.m.

  Breast cancer stinks, and the treatments I think are just a shot in the dark. 3 1/2 months after having a good mamogram, I was found to have stage 3 breast cancer. I'm done with the chemo and radiation, but disatisfied with my doctor. The clinic gave me minimial 'heads up' to what to expect. I have a port, and have found out through friends, that the port should be flushed every 6 weeks, my doctor said nothing about that, just to see her in 3 months. What might happen if I don't get it flushed? I could go on for a long time, but I'll stop here.

  - Carol

• December 9, 2010 6:56 p.m.

  It will be 8 years since i was dignosed with coln rectal cancer i took chemo for 6 months with atube inserted into my chest and carrying a punp on my sde . would like to here of any body who had a pump for taking chemo and what effects it had on there body

  - Cyril

• December 3, 2010 8:56 a.m.

  I am a Her2 positive breast cancer patient, with Estrogen and progesterone receptors negative. From beginning of the year till now I have received 7 chemo cycles and radiation therapy, during which I also had a breast conserving surgery. Now I am also treated with Herceptin. I am wondering how effective Herceptin is to Her2 positive patients. How much is the chance of recurrence for a Her 2 positive patient who has already been treated with Herceptin? What will be done if Herceptin also fails?

  - Nancy

• December 1, 2010 1:56 p.m.

  I have chemo every 2 weeks indefinately, I have colon cancer that has metastatised to my liver. I'm frustrated with dealing with chemo brain and the numbness from my chemo treatments.

  - EJ

• November 30, 2010 4:12 p.m.

  This post is for Donna. During cancer treatment, your taste and appetite can really change. I always recommend trying the nutritional milkshakes that have extra calories and other soothing foods that taste good to you. For additional ideas see this Mayo topic on eating and cancer http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cancer/HQ01135

  - Sheryl

• November 26, 2010 9:57 a.m.

  My husband had cancer surgery at the end of July. Then found out he is a diabetic(from the tube feeds), they got that under some control. Went thru radiation/chemo treatments with flying colors. However, now he has been hospitalized because he was vomiting and coughing. Had 2 units of blood and antibiotic medication. After he got home and the medications were done, he now got bells palsey. How do I help him with his depression and help him to get physically feeling better??

  - sherry

• November 11, 2010 3:43 p.m.

  How can I help my family and friends help me... I know they want to, but just don't know how. I could use help with my housekeeping - I'm just too tired after my regular work schedule to keep the house up to speed. Everyone seems to have abandoned me.

  - MaryB

• November 11, 2010 1:41 p.m.

  I have metastatic breast cancer and am finishing my 6th treatment cycle next week. My gut seems to take such a hit- nausea,lack of an appetite, never knowing what might sound good that day- does anyone have any suggestions? It seems to take my stomach all day to calm itself and then I start all over the next day. Any other coping techniques would be welcomed as well. As we all know the fatigue gets to you after a bit ,to say nothing of the neuropathy. We have only lived in the are since Aug., I have a 13 year old daughter who I am trying to settle into a new school system and my marriage is falling apart. I am contemplating moving closer to family at the end of this school year- both for me and my daughter. Life is pretty stressful at this point! Donna

  - Donna