placidbear10, don't you dare let yourself slip into loneliness or spend your energy mourning friends who clearly weren't actually there for you. You have to push forward and find activities that bring genuine happiness back into your life. While caring for your father is an incredibly vital responsibility, you absolutely cannot afford to completely lose sight of your own well-being in the process. Most of us here are navigating the exact same struggle; we are all walking this same unpredictable path together. Hang in there! Everything is under control on our end for the moment, though we'll see how things unfold down the road. Our patient went through a similar phase where he refused to eat properly and even reached a point where he wanted to give up entirely, but now he’s fighting back with everything he's got and isn't deviating from his healthy diet at all. Best,
My dear friends, I haven’t posted in quite a while, and catching up now, I am met with so much heartbreaking news. Hannah James76, my heart truly goes out to you regarding your father and to everyone here who is mourning his loss. I see that some newcomers have also weighed in on this topic, and frankly, I feel sorry that their journey led them to this specific corner of the internet, but I am sending you all my warmest thoughts and praying for the strength you need to navigate this difficult path.
As for us, nothing has changed; we are simply fighting our way from one cycle to the next, constantly monitoring leukocyte counts and everything else that comes with it. This lifestyle has consumed us to the point where even during dinner, we find ourselves debating what is healthy and what isn't, overthinking every single bite to ensure we aren't eating anything subpar. It has become an instinctual part of who we are now. Our patient is nothing short of a miracle, and we are profoundly proud of his sheer resilience and willpower. When I recall how much he wanted to give up after that first round of therapy, I barely recognize the man he was. Now, he pushes himself to eat things he doesn't even like, insists on walking, and stays active just to avoid being confined to a bed. Sometimes, we actually forget that there is a Sarcoma the size of a handball sitting on his lung. We are all fighting this battle together—him alongside us—and slowly, that Sarcoma is melting away. 🙂)) Right now, we are a bit concerned about his hemoglobin and platelet levels, but we are holding onto the hope that by tomorrow, the numbers will look good enough to proceed with the next cycle. Warm regards to everyone; stay strong for the ones you love.
Things are holding steady on our end for the moment. Even though the recent blood work looks pretty rough, that’s always been the pattern following therapy, and we usually manage to get those numbers back up in time. The oncologist simply prescribed some medications to ward off potential infections and instructed us to reach out immediately if a fever develops, but so far, everything remains stable. He feels absolutely fantastic and isn't experiencing any symptoms whatsoever. Best regards.
My heart truly goes out to everyone dealing with the situations mentioned above. It is incredibly heavy to read through all these accounts, let alone actually endure them firsthand. As for us, things are holding steady; after the fourth cycle, Sekar is feeling absolutely wonderful. His white blood cell count hasn't dropped significantly, and everything else remains perfectly within the normal range. I am sincerely hoping that you see some positive progress very soon as well.
vividsailor7 said:The actual symptoms are almost more critical than the lab results themselves.
Right now, he’s acting and feeling like a completely healthy man. During those first three cycles of therapy, he lost weight and dealt with significant pain in his lung where the tumor is located, but currently, the pain has vanished and he has nearly regained all the weight he lost. I didn't include the beginning of the medical report because we already understood that part, and I wanted to keep this explanation concise. For what it's worth, the tumor itself has shrunk quite a bit following those initial three treatment cycles. Thank you so much for responding so quickly to offer your help.
Thanks for the heads-up, everyone; I honestly had no idea that typing in all caps was against the rules here. I also decided to leave out the beginning of the medical report since the context is pretty obvious, and I just wanted to get straight to the point.
Emily Edwards19, regarding you and your friend, I am truly sorry, especially since I’ve been following your story on this forum from the very start.😢 Please accept my deepest condolences.
I would appreciate it if those of you who actually understand medical terminology could break down these sentences for me.
LOCALLY INFILTRATES THE COSTAL AND APICAL PLEURA, WITHOUT VISIBLE RIB EROSION IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, WHILE PERIPHERALLY VISIBLE AMORPHOUS CALCIFICATIONS ARE PRESENT IN THE CRANIAL ASPECTS, IT ALSO COMPLETELY STENOSES THE BRONCHUS FOR THE APICAL AND POSTERIOR SEGMENTS OF THE UPPER LOBE. IN THE ANTERIOR SEGMENT OF THE UPPER LOBE AND THE MIDDLE LOBE ON THE RIGHT, TWO DISCRETE PLATE-LIKE ATELECTASIS ARE VISIBLE. IN THE BASAL SEGMENTS OF THE LOWER LOBES BILATERALLY, WITH MORE PRONOUNCED CHANGES ON THE RIGHT, BAND-LIKE AND IRREGULAR FIBROTIC CHANGES ARE OBSERVED. NO FOCAL PATHOLOGICAL LESIONS ARE SEEN IN THE LEFT LUNG. THERE IS NO PRESENCE OF PLEURAL EFFUSION. IN THE RETROCAVAL MEDIASTINAL FATTY TISSUE, IN THE AORTOPULMONARY WINDOW, LEFT OF THE AORTIC ARCH, AND SUBCARINAL, LYMPH NODES MEASURE UP TO 17 mm. ON THE RIGHT HILOPULMONARY SIDE, SEVERAL LYMPH NODES MEASURE 11 mm, AND ON THE LEFT HILOPULMONARY SIDE, LYMPH NODES MEASURE 9 mm. NO PATHOLOGICALLY ENLARGED LYMPH NODES ARE SEEN IN THE AXILLAE. NO FOCAL OSTEOLYTIC LESIONS ARE VISIBLE ON THE BONY STRUCTURES, BUT SIGNIFICANT DEGENERATIVE CHANGES ARE PRESENT IN THE THORACIC SPINE.
We all recognize that while we’ve secured this particular victory, the war isn't over just yet, but honestly, this is the first bit of genuinely good news we've had in six months, so I am feeling incredibly relieved and optimistic! 😉
I was so sorry to hear about what happened with your friend, Emily Edwards19. Just stay strong; that is truly all I can say right now.
Hello everyone! I have some fresh updates from our end. Following the third cycle, we went in for blood work, urinalysis, and a CT scan. The blood and urine results were nothing short of spectacular—the doctors actually remarked that you rarely see someone so healthy even in a standard screening. The only outlier was an elevated sedimentation rate. They brushed it off as perfectly normal, though I’m honestly not convinced, so if anyone here could shed some light on why that might be, I’d truly appreciate it. As for the CT scan, we are absolutely thrilled; the tumor has shrunk from 133x123x127mm down to 97x97x110mm. The medical team is very pleased with this progress, and naturally, we are even more ecstatic. During the consultation, they simply confirmed that the shrinkage is significant and emphasized that we must push forward with the treatment plan. For now, they are recommending three more rounds, specifically using KT Ifosfamide. And so it goes... a new cycle begins tomorrow. What are your thoughts on all this? I'm particularly interested in hearing from those of you who have more experience with these protocols. Best regards
Honestly, things are looking incredible here—maybe even suspiciously good given our diagnosis. His bloodwork is stellar... he’s eating like a beast, laughing, staying active, and just brimming with energy as if nothing were wrong. Even after that intense weight loss, he actually managed to put on about 3 pounds at home. Of course, we are thrilled, and we’re doing everything in our power to maintain this momentum. We’ve stripped his diet down to the absolute healthiest essentials, though we allow ourselves one little exception a week if he’s craving something specific. He doesn't push back on it either, and on top of that, he's drinking beet juice, Noni, various teas... basically a constant stream of fruit and vegetables. I wanted to share this with all of you to remind you not to give up; keep fighting, because I truly believe there is hope for everyone. Best,
I’m back after a short break. Things are holding steady on our end. It’s a given that his white blood cell count takes a massive hit after every round of treatment, so he actually had to be put on Neupogen this time around. In previous cycles, we’ve seen those numbers plummet from 9.8 all the way down to 1.4, though we always manage to get them back up to impressive levels before the next session starts. He’s eating quite well, even if my mother-in-law has started nitpicking his diet and making things unnecessarily complicated; honestly, there’s no point in arguing with her. We’re just hoping for the best. He’s been drinking plenty of beet, carrot, apple, and lemon juices, along with Noni and various other supplements—I won't list them all here. Right now, we are stuck waiting on the paperwork to clear so the oncologist can approve the diagnostic tests needed to evaluate how effective the therapy has been so far.
vividsailor7 and Angela Wright, I truly appreciate your responses and the fact that you’re standing right here with us through this. My father-in-law has been getting his treatment on schedule for three days now, and after two more days, they’ll be running all the tests and scans again to see exactly how he’s responded to the chemotherapy so far. I am desperately hoping it has managed to wipe out as much of that godforsaken cancer as possible. We’ll just have to wait and see what the next steps are. Sending my best to everyone here—I'll be back in touch soon.
Hey everyone! Here I am again, back with more updates and more headaches. We actually managed to get his white blood cell count up from 2.6 to 7.2 by this third cycle, which was a massive relief for us. But then today, they ran an EKG and told us his heart rate was racing, and they couldn't even pinpoint why. They handed him some pill to steady things out and pushed ahead with the treatment anyway... honestly, none of this makes any sense to me right now.
feralridge3 said:Listen, everyone, I’ll be the first to admit I was skeptical, but here we are. 😉 If you don't recall, back in May, my brain MRI suggested a recurrence was imminent, which led to me being prescribed chemotherapy. Well, this past Friday, I went in for a follow-up scan, and the results show that my metabolite levels have stabilized—it's written in black and white right there on the report: there is absolutely no sign of a recurrence. I honestly can't find the words to express the sheer, overwhelming relief I felt when they told me those malignant cells had retreated. 🙂🙂
That is absolutely incredible news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Emily Edwards19, I am truly sorry that you're stuck dealing with nothing but bad news day in and day out.😢 Everything is holding steady on our end for the moment, though the white blood cell counts aren't looking great. My husband and I actually handed over total control of his diet to his mother for about seven days, letting her decide what he ate, and she managed to knock them down to just two or three in that week. We've taken the reins back now, so we're hoping for an improvement. Every single time, we manage to coax those leukocyte levels back up, but then they plummet right after therapy, and it's just a constant cycle like that.
🤷Around here, the temperature drops down to about 98.2 degrees during the day. We're just sticking to acetaminophen and some apple cider vinegar in the evenings. As night approaches, the fever starts climbing again, so we bring it back down, and it’s just a constant cycle. He’s eating and drinking perfectly fine, which makes this whole thing incredibly confusing. After the first cycle, we ran into these exact same temperature issues, and now we're right back in the thick of it... hopefully, things stabilize soon. Most of the time, the fever seems to hover right around 99.3.
Everything seems to be holding steady on our end for the moment, but we just hit a fever of 102.2, which is identical to what you've been dealing with. I’m honestly at a loss as to whether this level of fever is truly dangerous or if there's anything more substantial we can do beyond administering Tylenol or trying those old-school vinegar compresses on the feet. Should we be heading straight to the ER?
fadedtrucker5 said:Bravo! Way to go! 🙏 I am honestly so relieved to hear that everyone is doing well and that your father-in-law is feeling this good—that is absolutely fantastic news. Have you guys introduced any new changes to his diet or medical regimen lately? Sending huge, warm hugs to all of you 🙂
We have added just about everything under the sun, and I can tell you, it’s working; during the last cycle, his white blood cell count plummeted from 6.4 down to a terrifying 0.6, yet we managed to pull them back up to 9.8 in about ten days. 🙂 He’s drinking Noni juice, a homemade blend of beet, carrot, lemon, apple, and grapefruit, along with flaxseed oil and hemp seed oil, native propolis, and even propolis mixed with honey and various herbs. He’s also taking beta-glucan, ImmunoPower, and royal jelly (which he takes even during his treatment cycles). We’ve been grinding up flax, hemp, and pumpkin seeds to stir into soups, and we make sure he has plenty of homemade bread and yogurt. Every single day, he eats tons of fruit, especially berries. We have leaned heavily into green vegetables because they are the gold standard for health—lots of spinach, peas, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and green beans. His absolute favorite thing is thick, blended vegetable soups; we just toss a bit of everything in there along with onion and carrot, simmer it, season it lightly, then blend it up with some ground seeds and a splash of heavy cream. Honestly, even we have started eating this soup ourselves because it is actually delicious, though you wouldn't think so by looking at it. 🙂