The rash seemed to get a little better over time but it probably won't go away. My Dad used metronidazole gel and that helped. It's a topical antibiotic normally used to treat rosacea. The side effects vary somewhat by person, for example, the rash is super bad for some people and not bad at all for...

One thing to keep in mind, even if it doesn't seem like it right now, things will calm down. There's a period after diagnosis where everything feels crazy, foggy, chaotic. That's what happens when life gets turned upside down by an unexpected medical crisis. But we all march on to a new normal. It m...

My Dad has done Vectibix. What do you want to know? It seems like a pretty tolerable drug. It's easy to infuse. The only major side effect for my Dad was a bad rash on his face (and his eye lashes grew a lot).

I think it's about much more than physical recovery - I tend to get stubborn, refuse to admit I've had surgery and push myself harder than ever. I was running two weeks after my resection. I took a year off work purely because of the logistics of treatment and full time teaching and it's taken me 1...

I miss Gaelen! Even though she could be a bulldozer, you could always count on her for an unvarnished perspective. You don't have to agree with someone to get something out of the discussion. Even if we disagreed, I appreciated getting a look at the other side of things. As far as activity level goe...

My Dad's CEA was around 2 when diagnosed and has never been above 3, even when he has had raging cancer going on. CEA is a protein that is produced mostly by human fetuses. Adult's tend to not produce much CEA, so if it is elevated it can be a sign that something in the body is amiss. But elevated C...

CEA is known to produce wonky results at the start of chemo. In general, CEA is evaluated for trends, so the value from one test to the next doesn't tell you much. It takes a couple of successive elevations (outside the normal range) before the red flag goes up. CEA causes more needless worry than a...

It's strange the way different relationships play out under the stress of cancer. Reading this board we've seen a full spectrum: from DILs who wish their in-laws would have any involvement, to DILs who wish their in-laws would back off, to DILs who wish the support would be expressed differently. Of...

Exercise can be a huge benefit to caregivers too. It's pretty common for caregivers to feel like they don't have time to do anything for themselves and it's pretty common for caregivers to get massively burned out. I struggled to find a balance and embracing the routine of exercise really helped me....

You might ask about Metrogel (metronidazole). It's topical antibiotic, used to treat rosacea, but can be effective treating EGRF inhibitor rash as well.

You're a great MIL just for realizing that your presence might cause stress for your DIL. Seems like that is a pretty common problem, where in-laws don't realize how they're impacting each other. But, you need and deserve support too so while it's admirable of you to want to do what's best for your ...

The health care system is what it is. Rather than focusing on what it's not doing for you, you might be better served by working on the things you can do for yourself. You mentioned that some of your symptoms go away for long stretches. It does seem like working on your overall health might be a goo...

This might sound weird, but in some ways I think it's easier when your loved one is on treatment than when they're off because when they're on it gives you something to do. You, as a caregiver, get a small measure of control, you get to feel useful. It's a way of showing your love. When your loved o...

There's a difference between having a difference of opinion and not being supportive. I'm not quite sure what people think they're going to get when they post their opinion to a forum? Some people will agree and some people will disagree. That's the nature of discussion. If you only want to read com...

Relationships are difficult, especially when you throw cancer into the mix. Everyone has their own way of dealing with diagnosis, the future, etc. Some people want to be realistic, even if it means confronting the uncomfortable, sad, scary possibility of death. Some people want to be optimistic, so ...