Tom Galli

I just read this in the online edition of Stars and Stripes, the US Armed Forces Newspaper, about a COVID vaccination booster (works with all currently used vaccines) just started human testing at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Stay the course. Tom

Deb, Wonderful news. How is that new Med Onc working out? Stay the course. Tom

Deb, Looking forward to a good report. Stay the course. Tom

Steff, Insurance denials are a pain! I didn't know your mom's AML. I can't help but wonder why the prescribing doctor cannot conform your mom's necessary dosage into something Medicare will pay for. The only thing that sucks worse than uncooperative medical insurance is lung cancer! Stay the course. Tom

huj123, I have one thought about your mom's situation. There are 4 medical disciplines who should be involved in treating diagnosed lung cancer--medial oncologist, radiation oncologist, pulmonologist and thoracic surgeon. When diagnosed at a stage less than IV, one should have a consultation from each of these disciplines before implementing a treatment plan. On reflection, I'd change "should" to must. Stay the course. Tom

Ale, In my first line treatment, I had 30 fractional radiation treatments. My primary symptom was general weakness that increased as I went deeper into treatments. So much so that I could hardly walk from the car to the clinic the last week of my treatments. I also experienced the swallowing difficulty coupled with a persistent dry cough and sunburn-like pain on my neck and chest. I tried magic mouthwash and it only provided minutes of relief. It never affected the weakness, dry cough or sunburn. I was able to get minor relief during the day by using Halls citrus flavored cough drop

Kris & other members, The internet is not your friend. Data shared is information that can be used for nefarious purposes. At LUNGevity, we don't ask that anyone share medical or treatment data. We allow folks to share without using a name, or exposing an email or phone number. Be careful out there. Stay the course. Tom

Carol, Welcome here. I've survived 17 years of this nastiness and after reviewing your posted information, I would suggest your life priorities now be: your health first and everything else a distant second. You are in the diagnostic phase of our disease and this progresses step-by-step, sometimes inch-by-inch. Postpone insurance concern or work decisions until you have a treatment plan. Once you have a treatment plan, then work alternatives can be sorted. We'll help you with the sorting. Stay the course. Tom

Saturn-Bound, Addressing your lingering questions, can chemo work quickly on tumors? Yes, chemo can work quickly; it can also workday slowly, and sometimes it doesn't work. What are the chances your mom developed targeted mutations in the future? Understand first that only about 15% of NSCLC adenocarcinoma disease displays driver mutations. There have been drugs developed to treat some of these mutations and research is on going to target more drivers. But while treated lung cancer can transform from say adenocarcinoma to squamous cell or small cell, I do not know that one's lung cancer c

Kris, Here are some tips and tricks for your infusion. Recovery from the mediastinoscopy is normally quick. You might experience a sore throat for a couple of days. Stay the course. Tom

Lovemydad, Lots of complexity in answering your questions. First I'm not a doctor, and the Canadian medical system is different from the US. I don't know if the doctor's personal belief is affecting further treatment and urgency, or the Canadian medical system's restrictions on practice. I've had steroids many times during my extensive cancer treatments. Why? They tamp down the body's inflammation reaction. When I had stents placed in my trachea to bolster a surgical fistula repair, the lining of my trachea became inflamed causing near constant coughing. Steroids quickly moderated

Lovemydad, EGFR is good news if it points to a targeted treatment that might inhibit future metastatic spread and growth of existing tumors. But, your dad already has widely spread extensive disease, and that is of significant concern. The symptoms he demonstrates ending the course of steroid are additionally concerning. I understand your dad's doctor's reluctance to offer a prognosis. If I had your dad's presentation, I'd be pushing for pain and symptom relief so I could enjoy my remaining time with friends and family. Stay the course. Tom

Lisa, Well said! Stay the course. Tom

PCW, Welcome here! I was diagnosed in February 2004 and am one of those "old school survivors" among the forum participants. I was 53, in the prime of my life with a dream job, two uber-fast Mercedes in the garage, and a beautiful woman who for some strange reason loved me. Then came the mayhem of lung cancer, but I've lived through every form of treatment except immunotherapy and my bottom line is if I can live, so can you. Lexie's SSN application advice is sound. Sandy's suggestion for avoiding Dr. Google and survival statistics is wise. If you feel the need to do some research, th

Gail, Welcome! Totally scared is unfortunately a pretty typical state for newly diagnosed folks with lung cancer. I was undone! Stage 2B with a lobectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy is in line with treatment in the states. We however normally get to know an oncologist in our diagnostic cycle. Lexie's advice about survival statistics is well made. Besides the 5-year data record, there is no information captured on general medical condition, co-morbidities, and often no autopsy to attribute a cause of death. So the data record is outdated and the data analyzed is not complete.

Shella, A potential lung cancer diagnosis is frightening. But thankfully today, we have an extensive arsenal of treatments to arrest my disease. Your doctors are doing the right thing for sending your biopsy out for additional testing. This laboratory testing will uncover which of the modern treatment methods is best suited for your type of lung cancer. We've all been where you are now and rather than suggest a bunch of informational sources, I'll keep my initial comments brief. For hope, consider I was diagnosed 17 years ago and had a multitude of treatments and 5 recurrences but I

Anna, Welcome here. I agree with Lexie and Judy. Because of a multitude of complicating conditions, your dad is not a good surgical candidate. I also think it is prudent to engage a palliative care physician and perhaps to have a consultation with hospice. Stay the course. Tom

Cass, Welcome here and very sorry to learn of your mom's diagnosis. You've posed some pretty tough questions. Before attempting an answer, I'd like you to consider that studies citing progression free survival (PFS) are of small populations and while projections based on small populations may be sufficient to foster approval of a new therapy, they are generally not representative of the PFS your mother may actually experience. Why? Predictive statistics generate a mean or median value, but there are always outliers in the analysis and statistics as a scientific method focuses narrowl

Susana, As my scan date loomed on the calendar, the Grim Reaper would dance on my computer, and the Sword of Damocles hung by a cat hair over my head. I felt all kinds of pain everywhere. I had bad dreams awakened once by my wife for screaming "don't let them cut off my fingers and toes; the tumor is in my lung!" There is this feeling of doom and gloom that I call scanziety and it has all kinds of manifestations. I had 5 recurrences after NED pronouncements and was crushed by bad news, but I'm still here. If I can live, so can Adam. I'm looking forward to Adam's next NED pronounceme

Jesse, I'm the "old guy" (long time survivor) that Lexie identified. And I am also a vet. But while I've received medical care through the VA, I did not have my cancer treatment at a VA hospital. When diagnosed, I benefited from a very, very good employer-provided medical plan that had almost no deductible and covered almost everything. But, I've used VA medicine after retirement and was pleased once I navigated the bureaucratic process of eligibility for care. I'm sorry I'm late to respond. Texas has been plagued by electrical power outages! So surgery discovered more that anticipat

Ale, Lexie has given excellent advise. Sorry about my late response. We've have a general internet outage in our town for some unknown reason. The radiation treatment you mentioned ("They are going to start radiation treatments to potentially get rid of the spots on my back area and potentially remove the lower area one") is very, very effective. It is a form of precision radiation and there are many technical ways to administer this treatment. Here is some more information. Navigate to this link, and read information at How is radiation therapy administered. About halfway down the l

Registered! All set; can't wait!

Joyce, While not delving into the complexity of GCNs, a notable member of Lungevity's Science Advisory Board responded to your quoted text in your post. Here is the response: "Tagrisso would still be my drug of choice here, no question! Every patient is different, and there are many factors that may influence the duration of benefit on Tagrisso. Her fate is not written in this path report!!" Stay the course. Tom

Joyce, Welcome here. Your question involving Gene Copy Numbers (GCN) is way beyond my ability to address. I've sent it to members of our science advisory board for explanation. I hope I can promptly get an answer. Stay the course. Tom

Welcome Amber, As Lexie said, small cell can be a slug. Hopefully your first line treatment will knock it down and keep it down. Radiation can be very effective. Here is information about small cell that might prove helpful. Stay the course. Tom