Question About Tarceva For My Dad

Hello,

Our dad was just diagnosed with lung cancer, stage 4 and given 3-6 months to live. We have asked to meet with his oncologist next week to discuss the possibility of Tarceva as an alternative treatment. His doctor has already told us he would not recommend chemotherapy because he has other conditions which could, combined with the chemo, make his final days unbearable if he experienced side-effects. Can anyone tell about Tarceva? Does insurance cover it? Is it more tolerable than chemo? We are wondering why the doctor never mentioned it to us during our initial meeting.Thanks so much!

Lorri

Sorry to hear about your dad.  My 80 year old mom just passed away 2 weeks ago from bac -- a type of nonsmoker's lung cancer.  She was diagnosed 1/07 at stage 4 also and was given 4-6 months to live.  Like your dad, her doctor felt she was too weak for chemo, but prescribed Tarceva because it had been found to be effective in her demographic and she would probably be able to tolerate it better than chemo. .She took maximum dosage daily (150 mg) and tolerated the side effects really well after the first couple months (diarrhea and rash).  Her insurance covered part of it, but thankfully, the drug company -- Genentech -- fed-exed her the meds every month at no charge.  Our oncologist's office assisted us with this information.  My mom had a great initial response to Tarceva, which gave us more precious time with her.  When the cancer stopped responding to Tarceva, we added Avastin last month, but it was too late.  Have you been to onctalk.com? This site was extremely informative for our family.  Take care.

 

On 3/25/2008 Lorric wrote:

Hello,

Our dad was just diagnosed with lung cancer, stage 4 and given 3-6 months to live. We have asked to meet with his oncologist next week to discuss the possibility of Tarceva as an alternative treatment. His doctor has already told us he would not recommend chemotherapy because he has other conditions which could, combined with the chemo, make his final days unbearable if he experienced side-effects. Can anyone tell about Tarceva? Does insurance cover it? Is it more tolerable than chemo? We are wondering why the doctor never mentioned it to us during our initial meeting.Thanks so much!

Lorri

Hi Lorri,  I'm sorry to hear about your Dad.  I would not go by the 3-6 months prediction.  Only God knows for  sure.  I was given 6-12 months 17 months ago and I'm still going strong.  All because of a lot of prayers from a lot of people and a tiny pill called Tarceva.  Although it does have some side effects, they are nothing like standard chemo side effects.  To me it is a miracle drug.  I am age 60 with stage IV lung cancer, both lungs.  You might want to do a search on Tarceva on this site.  There are numerous threads and loads of info.  Good luck to you and your Dad and may he have the same good fortune as I have had with this drug.  When you meet with your doctor, ask to see the blood work that provides the EGFR blood results.  If the number is greater than 60, he has an excellent chance that it will work for him.  Quality of life with Tarceva is much, much better than standard chemo/radiaiton.  God Bless.  Nancy

 

 

On 3/25/2008 Lorric wrote:

Hello,

Our dad was just diagnosed with lung cancer, stage 4 and given 3-6 months to live. We have asked to meet with his oncologist next week to discuss the possibility of Tarceva as an alternative treatment. His doctor has already told us he would not recommend chemotherapy because he has other conditions which could, combined with the chemo, make his final days unbearable if he experienced side-effects. Can anyone tell about Tarceva? Does insurance cover it? Is it more tolerable than chemo? We are wondering why the doctor never mentioned it to us during our initial meeting.Thanks so much!

Lorri

You probably already have answers to your questions.  Just wanted you to know that my mother was diagnosed wtih lung cancer. She took radiation and chemotherapy. Both have helped, but I think it was the raditation that caused more damage to her lungs. Both helped to reduce the size of the tumor. Sometimes the tumor got smaller, other times it was a little larger and so on.  She went into remission after taking Tarceva.  That was about 2 years ago and she has been in remission ever since.  She does have a small growth on her adrenal gland area, but that has shrunk considerably.  For that, she is doing a treatment that is not chemo, but similar to it.  She doesn't have any regrets about Tarceva, even with the side effects.  Her insurance pays most of the cost.  Her deductible for the medicine is outside of her ability to pay. For that, there is a non-profit organization that pays for her deductible monthly and would assist her with the cost of the medication further if needed.  Their name is The Healthwell Foundation.  I pray your dad has a quick recovery. Felicia

 

On 4/23/2008 Felicia125 wrote:

 

On 3/25/2008 Lorric wrote:

Hello,

Our
dad was just diagnosed with lung cancer, stage 4 and given 3-6 months
to live. We have asked to meet with his oncologist next week to discuss
the possibility of Tarceva as an alternative treatment. His doctor has
already told us he would not recommend chemotherapy because he has
other conditions which could, combined with the chemo, make his final
days unbearable if he experienced side-effects. Can anyone tell about
Tarceva? Does insurance cover it? Is it more tolerable than
chemo? We are wondering why the doctor never mentioned it to
us during our initial meeting.Thanks so much!

Lorri

You
probably already have answers to your questions.  Just
wanted you to know that my mother was diagnosed wtih lung cancer.
She took radiation and chemotherapy. Both have helped, but I think it
was the raditation that caused more damage to her
lungs. Both helped to reduce the size of the tumor. Sometimes the
tumor got smaller, other times it was a little larger and so
on.  She went into remission after taking Tarceva.  That
was about 2 years ago and she has been in remission ever since. 
She does have a small growth on her adrenal gland area, but that has
shrunk considerably.  For that, she is doing a treatment that
is not chemo, but similar to it.  She doesn't have any
regrets about Tarceva, even with the side effects.  Her insurance
pays most of the cost.  Her deductible for the medicine is
outside of her ability to pay. For that, there is a non-profit
organization that pays for her deductible monthly and would assist her
with the cost of the medication further if needed.  Their name
is The Healthwell Foundation.  I pray your dad has a
quick recovery. Felicia

Hi
Felicia..I am glad to see your note about your mother as I have used
Tarceva with great results in clearing my lung and lymph cancer.. going
into my 4th month. I have some fears about  going backwards, so it
helps to know your moms success and the possibility of actual remission.

The
cost of Tarceva and the deductible for insurance was  high, and I
had  to pay  a lot the first couple of months , but after
that I got assistance from chronic disease fund, upon the oncologists
application for these funds..

I wondered if your mom was taken off of Tarceva when she went into remission.Did she then have a period without using pills?

I'm
so glad that your mom has done so well and also that Lorri's dad does
well with his treatments.There is so much progress now in treatment
possibilities. Best, Jane

 

 

On 4/23/2008 Jane M wrote:

 

On 4/23/2008 Felicia125 wrote:

 

On 3/25/2008 Lorric wrote:

Hello,

Our
dad was just diagnosed with lung cancer, stage 4 and given 3-6 months
to live. We have asked to meet with his oncologist next week to discuss
the possibility of Tarceva as an alternative treatment. His doctor has
already told us he would not recommend chemotherapy because he has
other conditions which could, combined with the chemo, make his final
days unbearable if he experienced side-effects. Can anyone tell about
Tarceva? Does insurance cover it? Is it more tolerable than
chemo? We are wondering why the doctor never mentioned it to
us during our initial meeting.Thanks so much!

Lorri

You
probably already have answers to your questions.  Just
wanted you to know that my mother was diagnosed wtih lung cancer.
She took radiation and chemotherapy. Both have helped, but I think it
was the raditation that caused more damage to her
lungs. Both helped to reduce the size of the tumor. Sometimes the
tumor got smaller, other times it was a little larger and so
on.  She went into remission after taking Tarceva.  That
was about 2 years ago and she has been in remission ever since. 
She does have a small growth on her adrenal gland area, but that has
shrunk considerably.  For that, she is doing a treatment that
is not chemo, but similar to it.  She doesn't have any
regrets about Tarceva, even with the side effects.  Her insurance
pays most of the cost.  Her deductible for the medicine is
outside of her ability to pay. For that, there is a non-profit
organization that pays for her deductible monthly and would assist her
with the cost of the medication further if needed.  Their name
is The Healthwell Foundation.  I pray your dad has a
quick recovery. Felicia

Hi
Felicia..I am glad to see your note about your mother as I have used
Tarceva with great results in clearing my lung and lymph cancer.. going
into my 4th month. I have some fears about  going backwards, so it
helps to know your moms success and the possibility of actual remission.

The
cost of Tarceva and the deductible for insurance was  high, and I
had  to pay  a lot the first couple of months , but after
that I got assistance from chronic disease fund, upon the oncologists
application for these funds..

I wondered if your mom was taken off of Tarceva when she went into remission.Did she then have a period without using pills?

I'm
so glad that your mom has done so well and also that Lorri's dad does
well with his treatments.There is so much progress now in treatment
possibilities. Best, Jane

 

Hi Jane, I am glad you got some assistance with the cost of the medicine.  M

My mother is still on Tarceva and has been taking it now for about 2 years.  She has not been taken off of it at this point, but he did cut her back from taking it everyday to taking it Monday through Friday.  He cut her back when she went into remission.  He hasn't mentioned taking her off of it at this point.   Felicia.