Gamblerpl

Wonderful news!!!!! Gives us all hope!!! Hugs and prayers,

Hey Beth, Thank you for your insight!! It's always refreshing to read your posts!!! About the Dr. Joe thing... I'm not sure what happened, I haven't read the post that has been talked about, but I do know he is an asset to this site. He's been so dedicated and compassionate to so many on this board that I don't feel he will abandon everyone. I'm hoping he will continue to read our posts and when he sees an area he can help or offer advice he may PM the person. I started my chemo today and now I'm just going to sit back and see what side effects, if any, come my way, then deal with them!!! I really hope the lower dose of Tarceva works for you!! You've sure had your share of drug side effects!!! Hugs and Prayers,

Dr. Joe, Please don't leave us... you are needed and very much appreciated. I can understand someone being upset and just striking out trying to find fault and blame in their anguish, but please don't allow that to destroy your relationship with everyone on this board.

Hey Cheryl, I'm so sorry you have to deal with yet another hurdle!! You've have a positive attitude in the past and will find it again. Right now the fears are so new and fresh that your head is spinning. Let it spin, then realize that you're still the same strong Cheryl and will beat this beast. We're all here to pray, scream, cry, and beat the beast with you. What ever you need us to do, we'll be there!!! Hugs and prayers to you and your family!!

Hey Rich, I've had you in my prayers and am glad the bleeding has stopped. It is really scary... don't ever be sorry to share your fears with us.. we've all got our fair share of fears, too, and are here for eachother. Please mention it to your Dr.,tho. It's best to have it checked out and find out it's nothing to worry about, than to let it go and continue to worry. Hugs and prayer to you and your family!!!

Lisa and Tariq My heart goes out to you and your family . Please accept my sincere condolensces on your terrible loss. Many hugs and prayers go out to you.

Hi Peggy!! Relax, take a deep breath, and try to enjoy the rest of the week until Friday. I tried to read my scans and had both lungs full of cancer... I can really read those things. Dr said... a 2cm spot in the right upper lobe, that's a long way from both lungs being full of cancer!! Ill never try to read those crazy things again! Had my stomach all in knotts! You've got a lot people here praying for you and your husband. Just know we are all here for you, and remember the eyeballs!!! That's a real hoot!!! Hugs and Prayers, Paula

I would really be interested in this trial. In fact I went to both URLs and sent emails to the contact person and on both sites the emails "failed". So I guess I'll give them call on Monday!! I'm really dreading the Chemo, but need every edge I can get!!! Thanks for the info!!

Great News!! I'm dreading the scans, too, but looking forward to NED!!

Hi Shirl, I would strongly urge you to talk to your Dr. I had my lobectomy 1 Nov and on 16 Nov I had this pressure in my chest between the ole boobs, that felt like someone just put a boot in my chest. It radiated down under my left brest, out over the top of the left side of my chest. It turned out to be a near heat attack with 80% blockage in one of my artiers and I had to have an emergency proceedure to open the artery and put in a stent. I'm not saying that's your problem, but please take chest pains very serious.... I wasn't going to the hospital, I felt really silly going to the ER for "heartburn", but my son insisted, guess I really scared him!! I'm glad he insisted!! I found out today that I can start my adjuvant therapy in January... My onco said we could wait five months if we wanted and still have the same effect... so hang in there! It can be done. Hugs and Prayers....

What a blessing that the tumors that were previously seen are gone!! Now to tackle the new issue and you and Lucie have beaten this very same tumor before and will do it again!! There's enough love and prayers out there to carry you two as far as you need to go!! Were're all in this with you, thinking of you and praying for you daily. Keep the faith and laughter on going in your hearts and we'll all survive this beast toghter! Hugs and Prayers,

Hi Melissa!! Welcome to our group of people that really don't want to be here, but can give you wonderful insight, strength, encouragement, and a will to fight, fight, fight, and keep on fighting this desease!!!! I'm no help to you as far as the Chemo goes (I haven't started mine yet), but am here to cheer you on and let you know that I will, along with many others on this board, pray for your mother daily that she can handle the chemo and it will be a cure for her!! You and your family members will also be in our prayers as it is so difficult to see someone you love dearly going through the treatments and surgerys. I hope you are able to enjoy the holidays with your mother and rest of your family!! Hugs and Prayers,

Happy Thanksgiving Lisa!!! I hope things have settled down for you a bit so you and your family can enjoy the day. Hope your Aunt is doing fine and isn't in a lot of pain!!! Even tho we are all going through an experience none of us cares to join in, we do have an awful lot to be thankful for. I am thankful for this board and the many caring people that are here that have been a great help to me, and many others, in the mist of their own dispair and uncertainty!! God Bless everyone!!! Hugs and Prayers,

First of all Congratulations Steve and Lucie!!!! I'm so thrilled that you have gotten good reports!! Things here have been like a roller coaster and I have not posted for a while but have been trying to keep up on everyone. As you all know I had the upper right lobe of the my lung removed on 1 Nov. and every thing went fine. I was suppose to go back for a follow up visit last Thurs. 18 Nov. Welllllllllllllll, Tuesday 16 Nov I started having chest pains like a boot was just stomped in my chest and just sitting there, I felt it was heart burn. My son decides to take me to the hospital, but stops at the ENT station and they decide to take me by ambulance to the ER. The ole boot left my chest after one giant burp during the ride to the ER!!! There's a lot involved about how they read the wrong CT scan and told my Prim Doc I had a blood clot in the lung and a few other things... so my Prim Doc came to the ER, looked at the CT scans himself, pitched a fit because they were someone elses CT scans the ER Dr was reading!!! Anyway Prim Doc admitted me, he felt it was heart related, not lung, and I felt really stupid thinking I was causing all this fuss over heart burn!!! Had a heart cath the next morning and they found 80% blockage in the left anterior descending coronary artery, 30% at the origin of the bifurcation of the first diagonal (don't know what that is, but it's on the paper work ), and 10% in the left main coronary artery!!!! I had a stent with cutting balloon angioplasty on the 80% blockage whick left me with 0% blockage there, and they said the other wasn't serious enough to do anything with right now. Just diet change and exercise. They released me in time on Thurs to make it to my follow up appt for my lung surgery. My Surgeon said everything looks really good and it was a cure, but they reccomend a round of chemo as a precaution. He was really upset about my heart problems. He acted like he had made a mistake and said we were blessed during the surgery because I could have gone into cardiac arrest on the table!!! He did every test he could except for a cardiac cath, so it wasn't his fault it wasn't caught prior to surgery. If any of the tests had shown this heart problem, he wouldn't of been able to do the surgery, so I'm glad it didn't show up!!!! He's not sure now if the onco will do the chemo because of the heart, but referred me to them for assesment. Because of the holidays I can't get in until 7 Dec, which may put me out of the four to six week time period from surgery that they like to do the chemo. But you know what: I am blessed!!!!!! This whole ordeal stated with a head cold!!!!!!! God has a plan for me, I'm not sure what it is, but I have sure been blessed through this whole ordeal!!!! Lungs and heart both at the same time and both caught in early stages before any permanent damage is done......... WOW!!! I want to thank you all for all your prayers and well wishes!!! They are still needed and requested!! I'm hangin in there with everyone and pray for everyone daily. I may not be able to post as often as I would like, but know that I'm here with you!!! I'm really tired and must lay down for a bit!! Hugs and prayers!!!

Symptoms? I had no symptoms... just a head cold and a Dr. that insisted on a chest x-ray. I tried to talk him out of the x-ray.. had to get back to work... but he wouldn't listen to me, he must have had another voice talking to him. Anyway, I agree with everyone here, that it's her decission to make about seeing a Dr. I hope she will visit this web site and see that there is hope and a lot of support out here. If you could get her to look at it another way... her quality of life stinks with the coughing all the time. It could be something as simple as uncontrolled asthma... I say simple but that's only in comparrisoin to the alternitive.... but it can be controlled. She needs to at least find out what she's dealing with. Asthma can kill if it's left untreated, and would be such a shame if she has asthma and gave up for "fear" of something else. Just be supportive of her, and encouraging at the same time. It's hard when someone has the fears she has to get them to understand what we are thinking or wanting for them/us..... My thoughts and prayers are with you and your wife....

I survived surgery!!! It was a whole lot easier on me than I thought it would be. I'm really sore tho,without the meds. I think I've tried to "recover" to fast and it hasn't even been a week!! All the test came back NED, but since the tumor had grown from 2 cm to 3 cms in a months time, my Dr wants to do a "round of Chemo" as a precaution. He'll go into more detail when I see him in two weeks..... Any body got any ideas as to what "a round of Chemo" consist of and is this a choice of yes I'll have it now, or I'll have it later, or is it DO IT NOW!!??? I really want to thank everyone for all the good advice and caring words before surgery. It really is such a relief to know there are people out there that understand our fears and questions. That didn't sound to good... it's a shame any of us have to be here.... but since we are, it great we can help eachother. Think that sounds a little better.... And they Super Glued me back together!!!! I think not haveing stiches or staples made this an easier surgery, too. The one big problem I had was the epidural didn't work after surgery and I was in A LOT of pain for a little bit, but it didn't take them long to get it under control. I'm rambling and sore sitting here, I look forward to hearing from you and anyone who knows what "a round of Chemo" is????... Hugs and prayers to all, Paula

Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences with me. I'm really scared and nervous, but hearing your experiences and advice lets me know I'll make through this!!! I've got my Teddy Bear, soft and fluffy and one of the new Care Bear Cousins, Brave Heart going with me. We'll be leaving for Birmingham in about an hour, it's four hours from here, staying the night in a motel, and going to the hospital at 5:45 in the morning. My daughter will post to the New Members Board when she gets back home and let you all know how I'm doing. It's going to be a GREAT report!! I'll be glad to get this thing out of there!! Thank you again for your help and please keep us in your prayers. Hugs and Prayers to all

Angie, I hope your cousin decides to join this group. Us Alabamians need to stick together.... who knows who's related to who!!! Gosh, just had to say that! I see that several people in this group are from Alabama.... is there something we don't know??? hmmmmmmm Anyway, your cousin will feel better and gain a lot of knowledge if he just wants to lurk for a while. Hugs and Prayers,

I went to the surgeon Thurs for tests to see if my breathing was up to par for surgery and had the echo and stress test done. Everything was good!! My breathing has improved to the point where he's scheduled my surgery for this Monday, Nov 1 instead of Nov 8. Ths tumor has gotten a little bigger so he said we needed to get it out!! He said they would keep me in SCU the first night just as a percaution because of my breathing. I was taken by surprise and didn't even find out how they close the incesion on the back or the lung. Can anyone give me some insight on this? All the paperwork they gave me says I'll have to cough and breath deep, is there a chance that will open the incesion in the lung? I hope I don't sound really dense, but feel that way because I didn't ask more questions of the Dr. My daughter, Jeri, will post an update Monday evening or Tuesday morning. She will probably have a lot of questions after she sees me all hooked to tubes and oxygen. She will be one of my caretakers after surgery. I told how wonderful everyone here is. Thanks for any after surgery information anyone can give me! Hugs and prayers.

Hi Katie, I'm sorry to hear your Dad is having such a hard time finding care that you feel is appropriate for him. I'm new at this too, and it's a very scary time for us with the "beast" and our family members and loved ones. Please get a second opinion. My first Dr.s scared me to death... made it sound like I was on my death bed and that I couldn't survive surgery, that NSCLC was not treatable, and I needed to talk to my Maker and look at clinical trials. I referred myself to another Dr and he made all the difference.. I am a canidate for surgery, I just had to build up my lungs. So get another opinion, it can change the whole scope of things for him and you. I wish you the best and will keep you and your Dad in my prayers. Hugs and prayers, Paula

I know I'm one of the "lucky ones" to be a canidate for surgery and today was told by my surgeon that my breathing has improved and I can have the surgery to remove the right upper lobe. The bad news is, the CT scan shows the tumor has gone from two cms to three cms, so they are doing the surgery this coming Monday, Nov 1 instead of Nov 8. He said it needs to come out now! Please pray for my family as this is a very scarey road we are about travel down.. travel up (positive thoughts)!! Thank You, Paula

Hey Everyone... True to my user name.. gambler.. I'm taking the day off and going with a couple friends to the Grand casino in Biloxi MS!! I'm not much of a gambler, but love the slots! My friends think a couple of days get away to put everything out of my mind except a little fun is just what I need!! Aren't friends great? The hubby thinks it's a great idea, too! See ya late Sat night, and if by chance I do win big, we'll have a support group party somewhere!

Thank you all for your advice and kind words! It really helps to have opinions of others that know what we're going through. Thank you Doc Joe for taking your time to help. I went to my primary care Dr today because of the trouble I've been having with my breathing in our new office and he ran a PFT to see were I was and what was going on. The FEV1 was .88 pre drug and 1.08 post drug. Not good Huh??? He wouldn't say a whole lot, but did put me on Advair 250/50 and an Albuterol inhaler, and told me to take a copy of the test to UAB when I go on the 28th. This is what I know about the surgery at this point... The surgeon said he was going to remove the upper right lobe of lung, taking 3/19 of my lung and I would have 16/19 left?? I listened to the tape again to be sure I have the fractions right, and that's what he said.... Does that make any sense to you? He said he'd go into more detail when he sees me on the 28th.. I was a smoker, but have quit, that's really really hard.. but I have a guardian angel that rides on my shoulder that keeps me straight. Sometimes I want to knock her off and lock her in the closet!!! But... she's there to help me so I won't abuse her!!!

I'm new at this so I'm just jumping right in. I have a Breathing Function Test on 10/27/04. Does anyone have idea what I'm suppose to be registering on the spirometer... you know the little breathing thingie... I may have called it something it's not, so keep me straight!!! I'm really tring to keep a positive attitude about all this, but am so worried about my breathing and what's going to be expected. Guess ole Doc figured if he didn't tell me, I'd work harder! But I'm getting discouraged at my progress or lack there of! We have just moved into a brand new building with everything being new, including desk, book cases, chairs, the whole nine yards. Needless to say there are a lot of odors that get to the throat and lungs and cause the old broncs to close up (a little asthma here ) and it's hindering my breathing. I have to work and be in this building.... so does anyone have any ideas how I can bring up the breathing? Are inhalers allowed? I don't use one except when I have broncitus, usually the only time I have asthma problems!

I cut and pasted it and printed it on a real pretty piece of paper, framed it and now it's sitting on my desk at work. Thank you so much for these beautiful words of wisdom!