mariefl's Cancer Blog
October 26, 2007
| Doing this for my Mother | Views: 892 |
Hi my Name is Jennifer. I am posting here for my Mother. She isnt great with the internet so I am posting for her. She was diagnosed with Limited stage small cell lung cancer a little over a month ago. She is 66 and has been smoking since the age of 9. 2 months ago when they found the initial spot on her x-ray she quit immediately. At that time she was having shortness of breath, coughing and back and chest pain. The shortness of breath was caused by the fact that the tumor was so large it partially collapsed her lung making it non functional. She went in for a routine check up she wasnt sick or anything when they found a 3 inch mass on her upper left lung.
She never thought she would ever get cancer and feels stupid today for ever thinking like that. She went through a months worth of tests and a 4 day hospital visit to determine the type of cancer. She started a harsh chemo/radation therapy immediately. 6 weeks of radaition and once a moth of chemo for 3 days. It has caused her white blood cell count to go down from 10 to 2 but she is receiving 5 shots of meds to help boost those levels.
I am happy to say that after only 1 chemo treatment (3 days) and 15 days of Radiation the tumor has shrunk already 50%. We also have my mother on a alternative medicine that WE KNOW is the reason for the outstanding results! The doctors cant even explain how it shrank so quickly.
The last 2 months have been hell for my mother and all of us kids (6 of us total) and this was amazing news my mom really needed. She was feeling sick from the chemo/radiation. Sick stomach but not every day, ribs and pain almost all over, mouth sores and throat irritation. Plus anxiety. We still have a long road ahead but I my mom feels like a fighter now, where before she felt as if the cancer owned her.
So far the one thing that is killing her now is the hair loss which just started. You cant really tell but when she combs her hair it comes out a lot. Not clumps but pretty close. She didnt think it would bother her but it does, very much so. We are all trying to be strong for her and so is she it’s just hard for her to accept that she has cancer. She associates it so much with death, but is starting to believe that she can survive.
The doctors have been good they did say they could cure my mom and that the type of cancer she has responds well to chemo. We just hope it does and that it doesnt spread. I wanted to share her story because she really wants to help other people. She is a anti-smoking advocated now which is ironic. I hope her story can help others and I read her other peoples to inspire her fight!
08.16.08 - 
Thanks for your support -
Hi it has been a long time . Just wanted to jump in and say Hi!