Tom2541

Hi, Heather. Welcome to the room, although I believe you joined a few days before me. I'm here less than a week, and I'm enjoying reading the posts and getting to know some wonderful people. I was diagnosed in '02 with non-small cell lung cancer primary, Stage 4. I had a brain mets. I'm in remission today. And I'm only 44. It's OK to "die inside" when you think of your mom. She's your greatest gift. Just be strong for her. Let her know that you're hurting, but try not to say things that might make her feel guilty for getting the illness. I found myself spending a lot more time with my nephews and niece. They always made me smile. That might be good medicine for your mom, having her grandchildren to keep her thoughts occupied with positive things. Keep coming back to this site. You're going to find amazing inspiration here. I've already found it. I wish you and your family all the best. Tom

David, and all the others, again let me thank you for all your welcomes. I'd be more than happy to talk with your friend, David. I've come to the site a few times since Sunday, but really trying to go through some topics and see what people are talking about. My adrenal gland surgery was a laparoscopic adrenalectomy. I used to ask people to say that five times fast to see if they got tongue-tied. Instead of the full stomach surgery and a big scar along the abdomen, I have what are basically four slits along the left side of the abdomen. That was much better when it came to recuperating. The surgeon, whose name was Atlas (can you beat that?), was fantastic. Heading home from work now. It's about 10:44 p.m. eastern time and I've been here since 9:30 this morning. (Except for lunch and supper) Just put all the papers to bed for the week. Hope to talk more with you.

Hi. I don't know why it happened, but this states that my user name is Tom2514. Under Introduction, my user name is Tom2541. I believe 2541 is correct. Just so you know, I'm the same person.

I want to thank those who have welcomed me to this forum. I can't believe the number of responses in such a short period of time. I hope I can navigate this site as easily as all of you seem to do. And I'll definitely check in often.

My name is Tom and I'm from New Jersey. I didn't see this forum topic until after I posted my story in the other forum topic called My Story. I'm a lung cancer primary patient diagnosed in April 2002 and went into remission seven weeks ago after dealing with lung, brain, adrenal gland cancers, a second brain tumor, 60 radiation treatments, 20 chemotherapy treatments, and numerous, numerous side effects from drugs and other medications. My story is in book form, which I have detailed under the My Story topic. Very inspirational story.