StrangeTimes

StrangeTimes's Recent CancerCompass Activity

• StrangeTimes has replied to a post on the message board

  Avastin was not the saving grace for my father, but it has been for many. In my dads case, the avastin made his legs swell up (dramatically within hours of each treatment) which caused him great pain and difficulty walking. My dad's MRI on January 10th, about 7 weeks after commencing avastin, showed "significant improvement." My mom, sister and I were surprised because my dad seemed to be doing worse than he had bef...

  April 03 at 5:30 PM view post

• StrangeTimes has replied to a post on the message board

  Some of what you describe are reminiscent of a brain tumor - slurred speech or trouble finding words, headaches, personality change, visual problems. All of those symptoms can also be explained by a host of other conditions, much of it (sans the vision changes and edema) by anxiety. "Fearing" you have a brain tumor will undoubtably result in the manifestation of various symptoms. It's not very common for a person to...

  February 05 at 10:05 PM view post

• StrangeTimes has replied to a post on the message board

  I am a college student and I just dealt with the death of my father from GBM IV on January 22nd. He only lived for 5 months after his diagnosis despite surgery/chemo/radiation/Avastin. I took care of him the last two months, and I know how hard it is, but you'll be amazed how strong you can be in such a tough situation. Many people, including myself, felt a great deal of peace when it was finally over. I'm normally n...

  February 05 at 10:00 PM view post

• StrangeTimes has replied to a post on the message board

  My father passed away this morning around 2:30am. We were sure he was going to die yesterday morning when red foam began coming out of his mouth. The atropine we gave him was so incredibly important because it stopped all the foaming, and it never returned. We were with him all yesterday, talking to him because we think he may have still been able to hear us. His breathing had improved and we all started thinking it...

  January 22 at 5:09 PM view post

• StrangeTimes has replied to a post on the message board

  In the case of my father, the irinary incontinence occurred for months, but was dramatically reduced by putting a "pee jar" next to his bed and NOT giving him sleeping pills - which were prescribed to counteract the dexamethasone. In the end he slept better and had fewer accidents without the sleeping pills - Valium, lorazepam, Restoril and Ambien are the ones we tried. The bowel incontinence, which I feared greatly...

  January 22 at 1:29 AM view post

• StrangeTimes has created a new message board discussion

  I am sitting next to my father right now, and have been for the better part of 24 hours. He is at the very end of his battle with brain cancer (GBM IV), which began in early August of 2012. He became mostly paralyzed by late-November, but then stabilized for 6 weeks while we took care of him 24/7. His speech was very slurred and he was often confused and irritable, but overall he could listen and hold a conversation...

  January 22 at 1:20 AM view discussion

• StrangeTimes has replied to a post on the message board

  Beginning in mid-July of 2012, my father began to slur words here and there, which was unusual because he's not that old and I had never heard him skip a beat in my whole life. He exercised everyday, ate healthy and had always been among the healthiest people his doctors had ever encountered. Thinking of the few months before, he had seemed unusually short-tempered and anxious, but his businesses were a genuine sou...

  December 30 at 3:50 AM view post

• StrangeTimes has replied to a post on the message board

  Yes, he is on the standard cocktail. Dexamethasone (which makes him angry), cycles of Temodar, Kumiden, Luvinox injections because he had a blood clot, Lorazepam or Diazepam to sleep at night and a few more (I may be misspelling all these medications but I don't feel up to googling them). He is already on Hospice. They have given us many of the medications, but some have costed us thousands of dollars. Fortunately,...

  December 24 at 5:28 PM view post

• StrangeTimes has created a new message board discussion

  I have browsed through this forum and, to my relief, seen that many other people are going through the same thing as me and my family. These questions have all been asked before, but it would give me such relief to hear from other people - because this experience has been hell. I am in college, early-20's, and my father was diagnosed with GBM on August 13th, 2012. His speech became slurred about three weeks before ...

  December 19 at 6:30 PM view discussion