CancerCompass message board discussion started by pbear on 4/18/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,23194,0.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Hi everyone.  First of all, I would like to thank everyone who responded to my posting about two weeks ago about how to know how much time one really has left when the doctors give a time estimate.  My Mom was diagnosed with Stage IV NSCLC  with mets to the lymph nodes on 02/08/08; the doctor estimated that she had about 12 months from that time.  I was concerned because my experience has taught me that often people go much more quickly than the doctors estimate - my sister in law who had inoperable brain cancer was told she could have up to 2 years and died within 4 months.My latest concern is that Mom has been getting increasingly short of breath.  She has had three treatments of chemo therapy (Taxol, Carboplatin and Avastin) every three weeks. First treatment was on 02/26/08.  She is scheduled for another CT scan on Monday and we will get the results on 04/29 - her next chemo appointment.She has really struggled with the chemo side effects.  She is attributing the shortness of breath to the chemo and I am not challenging her on that, but from what I have read, that is only a potential side effect of the Taxol and Carboplatin right when they are administering it.  It does appear to be a potential side effect of the Avastin, however.  I am trying to figure out if there is any correlation between increased shortness of breath and the progression of the disease.  Does this mean she is getting worse/the tumor is growing?  I know we will soon have a CT scan and results but this is scaring me terribly.  I feel like I want to be prepared for bad news if this in fact means that things are getting worse. I know shortness of breath is a lung cancer symptom in an of itself but I am trying to figure out what, if anything, it means that this seems to be getting so much worse.  Any input would be so truly appreciated.     pbear Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Did the Dr.'s give her anything for breathing like albuterol or atrovent. You might want to ask if they didn't already have her on them. acm455 Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Shortness of breath can also be a symptom of anemia.  My mother experienced that while she was on Tarceva.  She had a blood transfusion, which helped immensely.   Roz Rosalind Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Well my dad has lung cancer and he started to be short of breath and we found out that his animic status was low so get that checked out daugter Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Shortness of breath goes with the lung cancer.  My doc put me on an inhaler called Proventil HFA and I carry it with me.  He also gave me  Spiriva that I use at night.  It helps make breathing much easier at night when I lie down.  It does not necessarily mean progression of the disease.  I have it with stage 4 and my tumors are shrinking.   Hope this helps.  Take care and God Bless.  Chessie Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi,My husband has been on the same 3 drugs your mom is on and he was on oxygen 24/7 until the tumor shrunk.  Now he is off the oxygen so check her oxygen levels.  Maybe she needs a little boost of it.  He has been on these drugs for 9 months now and I will not sugar coat anything.  It has been very hard on him and he has lost right at 100lbs.  Hopefully he will have a scan soon and I pray that he will choose to stop the chemo and live life for what ever time he may have.  My prayer will be that your mom will not have to experience have of what he has.  Take care.  Margaret Baptist Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Thank you for your response; we will look into it. pbear Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Roz, thank you for your response, we will look into it. pbear Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Chessie, thank you for your response and words of encouragement. pbear Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT My mom passed from lung cancer in July 2007. She took the same three chemos that your mother is on. Mom had to use oxygen. I don't remember what her levels were but the doctor sent a home oxygen kit and sent several travel tanks. After she started using it she felt so much better. Dothedewmom Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi there,Sorry to read about your mom.  My mom as well is fighting lung cancer and has been for 12 months now.  When she is short of breath, in her case it is typically from the build up of the fluid around the lung, which she has to have drained when it gets bad.  I know many lung cancer patients get this fuid, not sure if your mom has it, but that may be the case.  When the fluid is removed, it is painful for a bit as the lung starts to expand again, but then the breathing is better.   Hang in there, I know it is tough.  Lisamom Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi, I read your message to another about shortness of breath and saw that you have stage IV lung cancer.  My mom also has stage 4 lung cancer and as well.  Do you mind sharing what type of chem treatment you are receiving?  My mom is presently on Avastin, but does suffer from shortness of breath.  Thank you for your help. lsufran Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi, actually it is my mother, not me, who is suffering from the cancer.  She is receiving six treatments of chemotherapy - Taxol, Carboplatin, and Avastin - one every three weeks.  Her first treatment was 02/26; she just had her 4th on 04/29.  She also has metastasis (cancer has spread) to her lymph nodes. However, a recent CT scan showed that the primary lung tumor has shrunk 39% since she started chemo, so we are encouraged.   pbear Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT