I was quite hesitant in starting the Tarceva today as my father still has problems with his stomach and digestive system. I just didn’t want to exacerbate the issue. However, this morning as soon as dad got up he said he wanted to start the Tarceva. We had to start it someday and today was a good a time as any, and besides it would really make him feel better mentally.
Tarceva should be administered one hour before food or at least two hours after food. As it was 8am in morning and dad had not had breakfast yet I decided to give it to him.
I closely monitored him all day today. Besides the stomach pain he is not reacting adversely to the Tarceva. It’s the first day, and when we spoke to the Oncologist, he did say we would know within 48 hours whether it is working.
abdulazizuk London Oncology Clinic, Stomach, Tarceva
Over the last two days my father has been constipated and has a constant pain in his stomach. Sometimes this has been quite unbearable sometimes just hanging in the background. When it get’s too bad, dad goes to the toilet and then comes back unsuccessfully.
Yesterday we called in the new GP who looked quite worried about the stomach pain. When I informed her of my fathers previous trips to the hospital for an endoscopy, which incidentally did not reveal anything out of the ordinary she was a little more comfortable. In the end she prescribed a stool softener and some senna tablets. We tried these but I also gave dad some warm/hot water to drink to try and push things along.
Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
I’m hoping to start the Tarceva tomorrow, originally I wanted to start it as soon as dad came home from the hospital but the whole stomach problem has me worried. Could it be a bad reaction to the Clexane injections? 
I’ve read that some blood thinning drugs have a reaction to Tarceva but the only one I can reference is Coumadin. More information with regards to administering Tarceva and possible reactions can be found here Tarceva (Erlotinib).
abdulazizuk Clexane, Stomach
I brought my father home from the hospital today and thank god he is feeling a lot better. The problem with hospitalization is that for some reason the patient feels worse as time goes on. I just hope he starts to eat regularly at home. I’ll wait a day and slowly begin the nutritional program. As he’s now going to live here with me, I can monitor exactly what he has to eat and make sure that the supplements are administered appropriately.
Depending on my fathers health, I am hoping to start Tarceva on Saturday. Between now and then, we have a district nurse visiting every day to administer the 40mg Clexane injections, a member of the Acute response team also visiting to go through some physiotherapy with dad. On Saturday morning the district nurse will remove my fathers staples (knee).
I just hope my father starts to eat more at home.
abdulazizuk Knee, Living, Tarceva
I manage to pick up the Tarceva tablets this evening. Probably the most amount ever I have spent on….something so small. 
It’s just a white box with some pills in. I knew they were expensive but hey, for £2000 you would expect something a little more attractive no?
I guess not.
I’ve decided to wait until he comes home before we begin these. I’ll have to email the Oncologist to let him know that we are ready to go ahead. I’ll scan and publish the scary side affect list tomorrow.
abdulazizuk Uncategorized
After yesterdays positive day, dad looked absolutely shattered and weak today. 
Apparently the nurses had kept him up since 9am and did not allow him to sleep. He had to sit and walk. This was of course to stop any DVT occurring.
The head nurse told me that he needs a lot of encouragement to exercise. She also said that he just about ready to leave the hospital. All they need to do is arrange local support from the social workers.
abdulazizuk GP, Knee, Surgeon
We saw my father today and he didn’t look too good. The effect of the anesthetic quickly wore off and he has been in pain ever since. The nurses and doctors insist that he flexes the knee all the time and are adamant that he must walk to the toilet instead of taking the easy way out.
Of course it’s all very well and good saying you must flex your knee, but dad’s finding it very hard. To top it off, he’s decided hospital food is not for him eagerly awaits his evening meal which we cook and bring in. I’ve told him more than once that he must eat all the time. We’ll hopefully restart his supplements soon.
abdulazizuk Living
My fathers surgery was successfully completed today at 3pm. He subsequently received 2 units of blood as his HG levels were 10.1 before the operation.
We managed to see him at 7pm and he was in good spirits. In fact he was in really good spirits. In his happy state he kept singing and saying that he was the king as they had given him his own private room. My wife and I just looked at each other wondering whether he’d finally gone mad. We then realised that the anesthetic may have something to do with it.
The doctors said that is was a success with no complication.
This is such a big relief but we are not out of the danger zone yet. We still have the risk of DVT so the next few weeks are very important.
P.S They gave him his own private room because he was at high risk and needed to be monitored closely.
abdulazizuk Blood Transfusion, Knee, Surgeon
So get this, on Monday evening my mum receives a phone call from some doctor with regards to dads knee surgery. The person tells my mum that dad can not go ahead with the operation as there is an infection detected in the blood test results taken the week before…..
I’m not going to rant on about how we were messed around for 24 hours, after which we were definitively told that the surgery was postponed only to be told that its going ahead again. Oh I just have…
I managed to check my father into the hospital ward at 5pm. Surgery is due tomorrow at 12pm.
Let’s pray it goes ok.
abdulazizuk Knee, Surgeon
The consultation at the London Oncology Clinic was very positive. The consultant we met with was very friendly, understanding and honest. At no point during the meeting did he try and sell the clinics services or deter us from using the NHS. My brother in law (No. 2) and I found this so reassuring and a complete contrast to the Dove clinic’s antics.
He was surprised that my father had not already started 1st line Chemotherapy and did not agree with the NHS odds of 1 in 20 of it being effective. He discouraged the use of Tarceva as my father did not match the profile of a person who would most likely benefit from it (non-smoker, female). In addition to this, Tarceva was nearly always used as a follow treatment where chemotherapy and radiotherapy had failed, not as a first line treatment. In addition to this, the consultant explained that the first line NSCLC chemotherapy agents to tackle sqaumous cell cancer offered by the NHS was the same as what he would offer privately. It would be better to push for this via the NHS rather than pay for the same treatment.
I then explained that my father was due to go through a knee replacement operation next week. This actually changed things. The consultant explained that my father could not go through Chemotherapy whilst recovering from the surgery. Instead, he suggested we start Tarceva during recovery and move onto Chemotherapy once my father is string enough after approximately 3 -4 weeks. At the end of the day, there is a small chance that Tarceva may work and it is better to try something that nothing.
So finally, we have a plan of attack and my father can go ahead with the knee surgery and we get to try out Tarceva.
abdulazizuk Chemotherapy, NSCLC, Surgeon, Tarceva
I managed to obtain all four of dad’s x-ray and ct scans today from the NHS hospital. All on CD for a grand total of £50. I’m a little disappointed at the amount being charged, I mean £5 would have been more appropriate. But hey, we are between a wall and a hard place at the moment so there’s no use arguing.
Next, we zoomed to the Bupa assigned NHS hospital for dad’s pre-assessment. The knee surgery is scheduled for the 10th October only if the anaesthetist gives the go ahead. Alas, as fait dictates, the anaesthetist was not available in person but hopefully we will get a call from him by Friday giving the go ahead.
I have been trying to explain to dad that the real go ahead for the knee operation will come out of the appointment with the oncologist tomorrow. If the oncologist can put up a genuine argument against going ahead with the surgery, we will have to take a u-turn and cancel. Like always my father turns on his selective hearing…
Pray that we are given some hope tomorrow.
abdulazizuk Knee
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