friskycatmom's Journey with Adenocarcinoma, Lung Cancer

It was hard to believe when I heard the news.

My sister-in-law has just yesterday completed her sixth round of Chemo, with cisplatin and docetaxel. During her fifth and sixth round, she took Dexamethason for three days... before, during and the day after. Four tablets a day. This helped lighten the side effects from chemo, however it did induce greater noticable swelling of the face and body. She had an MRI of the head in December which showed two small cancer growths. She took Dexamethason and received one round of radiation using a cyberknife type treatment. Since last writing here on WhatNext, she has had a second opinion meeting with Dr. Joel Neal at Stanford University Cancer Center. He concurred with her treatment plan. However she is now scheduled for a PET scan on Feb. 21st, which will be three weeks after her last chemo infusion. All doctors have agreed that radiation is not an option since there are lesions in both lungs and the head. They recommend and she will start Tarceva on Feb. 27 and will see her doctor one week later. Can any of you reading this please advise or comment of the effectiveness and side effects from Tarceva. How long can this drug be taken? God Bless you and best wishes to all.