hi! my mother-in-law was diagonised with stage IV stomach cancer November 2007. She went through 2 rounds of chemo - xeloda 2-x-daily with infusions and a drip - Eloxatin and Ellence before starting each round. before starting the third round she got an infection that put her in the hospital for a week. She took antibiotics and then went into the hospital for 5 days again with another infection. Most likely it was the TPN. She tried to go off the TPN for three days but just cannot eat. She tring to use it everyother day since she is now terrified of it but it is her only source of nutrician. She went back to the doctor to begin chemo treatment again this past tuesday Jan 29 and I went with her try and talk to the oncologist about the situation. He was very defensive when I asked where the tumor was, how big it was, we learned through my questioning that it has spread to the lymph but they said an ultrasound in the hospital said it has not grown. When I asked if she could get a more aggressive chemo therapy they siad that this was aggressive-though she has not had it in a month. I keep wondering why not on the EFC treatment-but maybe she is too weak? Over the last 3 weeks, started to experience pain. I am trying to get her to MD Anderson but feel that the oncologist is telling me not to bother. She feels one minute she can beat it and then is fatalistic the next. I don't want to ruin her quality of life but am in a panic to do something. thanks for any comments.
mary