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Hi there! I'm Heather and I was diagnosed with Stage IV ALK+ lung cancer at 34 (4 whole years ago!) and after disease progression in 2019, I came away from that experience with a fire to advocate for lung cancer research, to change the face of what it looks like to be a lung cancer patient and to generate discussion about a healthy way to bridging the gap between Western medicine and body, mind + soul wellness. Since then, I started a blog Living Lives with Lung Cancer to foster a space for these conversations with my fellow patients. It's been totally life changing for me to take th

Jack, How about immunocrazed? It is a crazy process that leaves one dazed. So it could be immunodazed! Maybe that is better. Immunodazed: the combination of feelings, maladies, and emotions experienced while enduring recurring immunotherapy treatments along with all the nasty accompaniment (blood tests, mouth sores, steroid intervention and so on). Stay the course. Tom

We can certainly come up with one! Generally we simply say WAITING SUCKS. So along that line... WUCKS?? Open to suggestions..... I hear you loud and clear. I’m due for labs tomorrow at 1pm... results with doc on Wednesday, never know when something screwy is going to pop up.

I'm sure you will live for a long time GaryG 😃. You seem like you have a strong will to live and that in itself is part of the piece of the puzzle to helping fight cancer.

I am familiar, quite familiar in fact, with the term "Scanziety". I have experienced it a few times now, while waiting for the results of CAT, MRI, or PET scans to come back. I am also finding the waiting for my blood labs to clear before getting the go ahead, for my tri-weekly Keytruda infusion to be equally worrisome. Does anyone have a term for that yet?

My monthly blood test is tomorrow too! Good luck to us all.

This forum for US Veterans is rarely used so I wanted to hear from other veterans about their cancer. Veterans that are just perusing the forum may stop at this sub group first and might be encouraged by finding others on the forum. The idea came to me when Adam Shake recently joined and mentioned he was a 15 year veteran; a combat veteran to boot. I was fortunate not to have to serve in combat. I have a huge respect for those veterans that had to experience combat. I served a 3 year hitch in the Marine Corps from Feb 1976 to Feb 1979 and was a reservist for a couple of years after.

Gary, I have seen an improvement in most labs and most are in the normal range now- HCT is at 35 now and HG is still low at 10.6, but that's an improvement for me. Platelets are normal now. RBC is going up as well. I'm not sure what ANC means. MCHC (haven't looked that up yet) is still low - not normal yet and MCVB (haven't looked that up yet) is up (higher than it should be.

Jack! I am quite familiar with Motley fool. Their reporting mirrors the stock market one day up and one day down. Personally I will never quote a Wall Street or market related entity . We better stick with honest scientists and researchers.

I remain hopefully optimistic though, Catlady.

Why scepticism? Israel is one of the countries with the best medical and technological advances. Obviously the theories need to be further developed and tested, but it looks hopeful.

Yah, they don't do a CBC and a Comp metabolic panel for kicks... Kidney, thyroid, and liver function, blood glucose.... any one could get us out of treatment for awhile or permanently. But, I think one will more than likely have some sign / symptom. like loss of appetite, thirst, malaise, weakness, tender belly, yellow skin etc that would tell us that we might need a break. No point in worrying, we are the warriors who face whatever comes at us with courage and diligence.

After spending a week in the hospital with pneumonia in June, I was diagnosed in August with stage 3 lung cancer. I'm pushing 70 and I hear chemo and radition are quite brutal, with both short-term and long-term side effects. Aside from an occasional pang and pressure in the upperleft lung, I feel healthy, and that is one reason why I'm having trouble deciding whether to go ahead with treatment. The radiadion doctor says I have about a one in three chance, the chemo doctor says around 50% if I go through treatment now, and probably a zero chance in three months. Anyone who cares to share their