Dad has Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).
His sub-type of NSCLC is Adenocarcinoma: This type accounts for about 40% of lung cancers. It is usually found in the outer part of the lung.
The stage is 3b. 3B cancer means one of 4 things:
1. There is cancer spread to nodes on the other side of the chest or to nodes above either collarbone
2. There is more than one tumour in the affected lobe of your lung
3. The tumour has grown into another major structure in your chest, which could be the heart, the windpipe, the gullet (oesophagus) or a main blood vessel
4. There is a fluid collection around your lung that contains cancer cells (a malignant pleural effusion) (This is what dad has).
The cancer is NOT in any other part of his body, however, he has a bond scan scheduled next week to be sure that is isn't in the bone.
Dad's Chemo treatment on Wednesday 2/20/02 went pretty well, considering...
He first had to take 11 anti-nausea pills in intervals 12 hours before treatment began.
Once at the hospital, he received a dose of an antihistamine, MORE anti-nausea meds then Chemo began. He was given 3 Chemo drugs: Taxol, Carboplatin & Avastin (I think they are spelled right?!) The first was the Taxol which, from what we've been told, is the worst.... He did have a bit of an allergic reaction, but more antihistamine fixed the itching. The Taxol was on a drip for 3 hours!! The other 2 drugs lasted a couple of hours combined. Needless to say, Dad spend 7 1/2 hours in the Chemo Room receiving treatment.
Today he woke with a mild headache... nothing 2 Tylenol wouldn't fix.
He's feeling pretty good..... We think tomorrow (Friday) or this weekend will be the most trying.
Pray that he makes it through the next few days with as little discomfort as possible.
1 down, 5 more to go....
~Praying more than you will ever know!
