Posts by Donna Reyes11

Susan Watson3 said:Just checking in with you all, it's been a while... ❤
My son is currently on his third cycle of chemo. As for the tumor itself, we won't know the actual status until next week.
Regarding the chemo... I wanted to share what our experience has been like. He’s actually handling it quite well, though it’s definitely not easy (we're using doxorubicin, etoposide, vincristine, dacarbazine... there's more to it).
To fight off nausea, he gets Ondansetron—and we make sure he gets it before things even start; he receives injections at the hospital.
At home, I follow the instructions on the packaging precisely.
I squeeze fresh juices for him every single day using whatever is on hand—apples, carrots, oranges, mandarins, pomegranate, blueberries, pears, lemon... basically anything that tastes decent. Plus, I add about 12 drops of Vitamin D3 to the juice.
He takes one probiotic capsule daily.
He also has bacon and a boiled egg every day.
I make beef or bone broth that simmers for at least five or six hours (I make a huge pot that lasts us a few days), and I load it up with plenty of root vegetables.
Oral hygiene is MANDATORY!!!!! We brush teeth with a soft toothbrush multiple times a day.
We use Rojazol gel for any fungus and rinse his mouth with sage tea. If the fungal issues get really out of hand, he takes Diflucan for a short period.
And when canker sores show up... we use Anaftin, propolis, sage, and flaxseed slime + occasionally I give him some Coke... we discovered the thing with the Coke by accident, but since it seems to soothe the pain right now, I give it to him.
Every day, I focus heavily on high-quality nutrition... lots of fruit, veggies, and soups, less meat but still some... teas with honey, and sweets only once in a while.

Between chemo sessions, I also give him Native propolis; Heather has conducted some research on it, so I trust her. As for how much the propolis helps on its own, I honestly don't know...
That said, I believe in science, and I’m extremely skeptical when it comes to alternative treatments.
It especially drives me crazy when I read those vague posts online claiming some specific herb can cure cancer in 15 days or something along those lines...
Every day, we try to get out for a walk in nature; whenever he's feeling up to it, we'll stroll through the woods or a field for half an hour to an hour.

Reading this brought me back to not so long ago—the nausea, the canker sores, the fungus... my mom went through all of that because of chemo. It takes about seven days for the oral cavity to regenerate. My mom found relief in tonic, tangerine, and even Coke... she never drank it in her life, but suddenly she was going through a bottle of sparkling soda every day. It helped settle her nausea, so I used to buy it for her. Anything just to ease the struggle.
Sending you all strength to get through this and wishing for a successful recovery.

I took Mom to the hospital on Wednesday, and after getting some IV fluids and medication, she perked up just a little bit... though it was very brief. She had breakfast at the hospital on Thursday, and then she just fell asleep... forever. Her heart finally stopped beating on Saturday morning.
I’m surprisingly calm about it all. Honestly, I'm almost grateful for COVID-19 because it gave us those two months where we were basically together constantly. In a normal world, you could never afford to spend that much time with someone—just grabbing coffee every day, having breakfast, watching Marriage Story together over lunch, dinner... most of our time was spent just being home. Even my kid wasn't going to school; he stayed home with Grandma doing homework and playing chess.
I did my crying a week ago. I said my goodbyes, told her everything I needed to say, heard everything I needed to hear, and ultimately, I gave her permission to let go and leave us.
In the end, there wasn't even any pain; her body simply couldn't hold on anymore.
Safe travels, Mom. Reach out from wherever you are so I know you're looking out for us!

I can barely find the words right now. I’m sitting here at my mom's place, just listening to her breathe. I'm typing this through a haze of stress because I honestly don't know what to do with myself; I feel like I want to crawl out of my own skin. I can't help but think that maybe this is one of our last—or second to last—days together, and she’s just going to sleep right through it. When I try to take her hand, she pulls away... even a simple touch seems to bother her. She just wants to be alone, and I guess that's okay too.

Carol Reed19 said:I'm so sorry 😢 The doctor is right; this looks like the end. You should ask your mom's doctor for a contact for a palliative care team or a local hospice association; they can help with medications to manage her pain and offer guidance.

My doctor sent over a palliative team who actually called yesterday for a phone consultation 😢. After that, they called me last night saying they'd talked to the doctor and increased Mom's patches. They didn't even show up, let alone offer to come by. My doctor had already arranged home nursing once a week, and yesterday she also requested a visiting nurse to assess things. The visiting nurse recommends five visits a week, but she’s advising me to just put Mom in the hospital. They're telling me I don't have the setup at home to make her comfortable. The doctor actually came by herself—twice on Friday, and then today... honestly, I'm speechless. After dealing with countless terrible HMOs, I finally decided on one that was "just close enough, doesn't matter how good it is." I asked if they would take Mom in since she isn't originally from Chicago; she moved in with us at the start of March when she could no longer be alone. The doctor took her in without any issues, even though she's never actually seen me in person except on paperwork. Both the doctor and the nurse truly have their hearts in the right place—they do everything they can to ease the burden, coming by themselves to administer IVs, take swabs, showing up during their breaks or after work, picking up prescriptions from pharmacies, even hauling the meds themselves... seriously, they go above and beyond.
However, when I called emergency services today because Mom's abdomen is swollen like she's pregnant from fluid retention, they just brushed me off—told me to give her two anti-inflammatories and that was it. They just don't have the will to actually come out.
The other day we were in the ER at Rebro Hospital for seven hours; Mom barely made it through, and everyone there was just shouting, "We don't have any beds"... basically warning us not to even think about staying there. At the time, it didn't seem like such a big deal; we just kept pushing through at home as long as we could. But now, it feels like we need something else entirely. This city is chronically lacking a real hospice. A place where you get medical care, but your family can actually sit with you and hold your hand all day and all night.

We didn't go for the PET scan because, honestly, there was just no point. Mom hasn't been able to get out of bed since Friday; she’s just drifting in and out of sleep, stuck in this constant state of confusion. She isn't eating or drinking anything. Yesterday, she didn't even recognize me, and today she knows who I am, but she's entirely lost in her own world. She's in pain. She mumbles things every now and then—I can't make sense of what she's saying—and she'll bring empty hands to her mouth, yelling that she's thirsty, but when I give her water, she just spits it out. She can barely keep her eyes open. My doctor told me this is the beginning of the end. It breaks my heart. I have to take her to a hospital or a palliative care unit so they can provide what I simply can't—IV fluids, intravenous medication, a proper hospital bed... and ultimately, so I don't force a seven-year-old child to watch his grandmother die right in his bedroom. And with how things are these days, with no visitors allowed, if I take her to the hospital, I might never see her again. I'm falling apart; I've been crying all day. My aunt keeps screaming at me that I have to do this, that I have to accept it. She says it's what my mom would have wanted, too. The worst part is feeling so helpless. There are days when Mom actually begs me to just let her go.

Angela Wright said:Honestly, nobody can say for sure. Maybe a doctor can give an estimate, but even then, there’s no guarantee. It all comes down to immunity, general condition, mental state... those are all variables that play a role. Generally speaking, once the liver starts failing and the body begins retaining fluid, we're talking about a matter of weeks.

Hi everyone
I've been lurking on this forum for a long time, but I'm finally posting because that comment above really hit home.
Back in July 2019, my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer, a 9x6 cm tumor with three spots on her liver—the largest being 2.5 cm.
After four rounds of cisplatin plus pemetrexed, the tumor shrank to 6x4, and the liver spots looked more like lesions. However, she could only handle one more dose of cisplatin because her kidneys were struggling. Around New Year's, she was actually doing okay—she was walking 1.9 miles a day, eating well, and had lost some weight, which actually seemed good for her. She was doing alright.
At the start of the year, she got two more chemo sessions, just pemetrexed, but the decline started fast. By February, she couldn't lift her legs; she couldn't walk. In March, a PET scan showed the tumor had grown to 12 cm, and the spots on her liver were multiple, with the largest reaching 10 cm.

Mom came to stay with us then, and she hasn't left since. In the meantime, she received one immunotherapy session, but she missed the next one scheduled three weeks ago because her liver enzymes are absolutely terrible. They're off the charts.
Mom just lies there now. Every third day, she spends the entire day vomiting, so she'll have one day where she recovers a bit and manages to eat a little. Barely making it to the bathroom. Hospice came by yesterday to give her IV fluids, and the palliative care team is coming on Monday. Someone has already been coming once a week for a while just to help bathe her. At first, Mom struggled to walk, then she used a cane, then a walker... but everything seems to get worse after just three days. What worries me most is that her abdomen is getting larger every single day, even though she takes tablets for dehydration, her legs are swollen, and she became completely non-verbal three days ago. She mumbles things, but I have no idea what she's saying. Even she knows she's talking nonsense, which frustrates her because she can't express what she wants to say. She can't even find or read a text message anymore. This all started three days ago, and it feels like it's getting worse every day.
We're supposed to go for a PET scan this Monday, so I arranged medical transport. Today, Mom says she doesn't want to go. I know she has the right to refuse—honestly, why do we even care about the PET scan or the results? It's clear to us that there isn't much therapy left for her... Hospice told me they'd never force their own mother to do this, and I appreciate their honesty, but how do you just give up? When do you stop?
And then I stumble upon that post above, saying once the liver goes, it's just a matter of weeks.

What do you all think? Has anyone else been in this situation? Should we do the PET scan—yes or no? After the scan, Mom will be so exhausted she'll likely spend the whole next day vomiting.