ken f.

hi, i should think you have seen a scan report or similar. reports by radiologists, pathologists, and others usually have words of special meaning to medical professionals. sometimes it is possible for us laymen to tease out a correct interpretation or meaning and sometimes not. your grandfather likely needs to ask his doctor to intrepret for him. he might write down whatever questions he has before meeting with the doctor so he can remember to ask all that concerns him. if he has reports he should have the doctor intrepret these too. it is sometimes a good idea to have someone accompany a patient to a meeting with the doctor as sometimes it is difficult to retain what is said by the doctor specifically and many times less personally involved ears can hear better or at least be able to confirm what a patient thinks he hears. it is a good idea to get copies of all reports and to maintain a file. i hope your grandfather does well with whatever situation he faces and that you can find a way to be helpful, supportive and calming. yours, ken

hi, the person to ask about why operate or not is a doctor. there are reasons to try surgery and reasons not to try. it can be helpful to try to rehearse your conversation with a dr. by making a list of questions in areas you are concerned about. it's necessary to follow up sometimes which means you have to pay attention to what is said by the dr. because the information is sometimes so striking, it is good to arrange to have someone with you to listen, if not help in understanding. don't be shy about what you don't know. you can't turn your care over to others completely. it works best if you are active as you are by inquiring here. best of luck. i hope you find a treatment or course that works well for you. yours, ken

hi heather, you can only ask that you be allowed to help. you can only be there ready and willing. and this is when you child learns from you how to live and how to try to help others. i hope you can keep putting out without regret. it may be your turn in the barrel so try to make the most of the ride. yours, ken

hi, i had thorocotomy 11/24 with removal of part of upper right and part of lower right lobe with clean nodes. hopefully, all was excised. while everyone has a different experience, i would offer the following: 1. i slept in a recliner for weeks and finally got into bed without pillow support for the first time 3 days ago. one of those airplane around your neck kind of pillows was helpful. 2. i'm still taking vicodin every 3-4 hours with ibuprophen. i have tried to not take it and it is not worth it. i'm taking a sleeping pill too. 3. i started back at self employed work for an hour or two per day after 4 weeks but find that if i am out and about a lot i need naps. 4. walk as much as possible as it is good for everything. 5. i started doing "gentle" yoga at 4 weeks at a class through the cancer center. it is good for the body and mind. i found that by carefully moving i could pretty much move pretty well and i got over fear of movement and holding. there is a lot of soreness beneath the skin though and i think it is going to take several months to fully heal so i am going to take it easy. 6. my lady and i started a little counseling. the american cancer center book on couples notes that relationships can fall apart over cancer issues and it is probably a good idea to do a little relationship work when ready. 7. being a support person requires a whole set of attitudes and you might consider taking with professionals or support groups about yourself and your own feelings. best of luck! i hope you and your fella have a speedy recovery. perhaps this can be a life enriching experience if you approach it from the right point of viewl. love, ken

hi cheryl, i haven't been looking here for a few days and was dismayed by your post. i'm sending you light and softness. when i first posted here i heard from you and was heartened. everytime i see your photo on the side, i am sure to read that post. this is because you have struck me as a winner. i would that you weren't presented with issues at present. if it's any use to you, when i first came to accept my situation, i resolved that a principal purpose of my life moving forwardi would show my children, grand children and loved ones how to live and how to die. benefiting them in the way i can will be the most important thing i can do. love, ken

hi, after following the forums here for a couple of weeks, i should think there are two pathways i need to be thinking about. one would be to do things to try to decrease the number of abnormal cells in the body. i suppose radiation and chemo would be in this catagory. the other would seem to try to do things be to increase or enhance the body's immune activity. i don't recall seeing too much about this. i'd appreciate reference to information that has a supporting scientific basis concerning stimulation of my (and our) existing immune systems by introducing potentially stimulating substances, exercise, or otherwise. that is, if there is such? yours, ken

hi, so sorry to hear of you father's situation. i did have a comment of caution based on your reply to john. as i understand your posts your father is 82 and he was unable to physically complete a heart stress test. you also indicated that you were pushing for surgery. i urge you to be certain that your father is completely on the same page as you about undergoing chest cavity surgery. i'm 58, in robust health, and had a 4 hour lung surgery a couple weeks ago. this has been a very trying process even in my situation where the substantial risks all along the way that something might not turn out 100% were completely avoided. after watching my experience, i know my 84 year old mother wouldn't even consider undertaking such a surgery no matter what the foreseeable outcome and even if she could be assured that surgery could be 100% curative. i would suggest that you get a view from your onco doc and surgeon that there is some reasonable chance to expect a curative outcome before your father is subjected to something that will in all events take a while from which to heal. best of luck to your dad and to your whole family. love, ken

hi, it is difficult to deal with the emotions of others but you sound like you know how to keep in mind that you are dealing with someone sick. my lady has called me a number of things including agitated depression when i go to far. the people here will provide some help if she is computere oriented and will follow here. most cancer centers have some sort of wellness program for patients and for caregivers and you might follow such with her doctor or nurse. there are resources but they don't generally come calling on you. best of luck and relish each moment and development. they are all we really have. love, ken

hi, there is luck here. lucky for him that you are in his life. and lucky for you that you can love and care so. i remember the day i had to buy morphine for my then terminally ill wife. it seemed difficult at moments. but i found a peace in loving, caring for, and helping another that i've not matched before of since. it was okay for me each moment if could break out the moments from the stream of appearances. may much peace and many blessing rain upon you and your loved one. ken

hello experienced ones! i meet next week with my oncodoc about future course of treatment. he has set up a meeting for me in advancel with radiation oncologist and says he, radiation oncologist, and surgeon will review my situation jointly to get a plan. as you appreciate, i don't much like the thought of "melting" any of the remaining tissue in my lung unless it is really indicated and probably necessary and wonder whether you might be able to provide me an assessment or lines of inquiry to follow in my upcoming consults. i haven't got a formal staging statement. i believe it would be either two independent stage 1b tumors of different sizes (seems unlikely to me) or stage 4. i'm not certain what difference the staging would make at this point after surgery but think it is probablya factor in determining treatment course. my situation, generally, is that after finding evidence of two tumors on CT scan suggested by GP on no symptoms, i had PET scan, biopsy and, finally, surgery 11/24. path report from surgery notes: 1. wedge biopsy right lower lobe: adenocarcinoma, 1.1 cm. grade II/III, no angiolymphatic invasion identified. specimen received in somewhat disrupted state. evaluation of pleura and surgical margin or resection impossible. (operative report notes-wedge-shape incision on lateral aspect of lower lobe using the cautery. incision continued downward until the nodule could be grasped. continued to do dissection with cautery. artery and vein branches controlled bewteen medium hemoclips. no major bronchial structure divided. nodule excused with an adjacent margin of normal lung and submitted for frozen section examination. gross appearance of the mass was that of a metastasis with pushing margins rather than infiltrating margins. K7 strongly positive, K20 negative, TTF1 strongly positive 2. wedge biospy right upper lobe: adneocarcinoma 3.2 cm, grand II-III/III. extensive turmor cell necrosis leaving very little viable neoplasm. necrotic tumor generally surrounded by a fibrous capsule and neoplasm itself comes within .6 CM of the inked plural surfgace of the wedge biopsy specimen. no angioymphatic invasion identified and neoplasm is excised by the wedge biopsy specimen. K7 rare weak positivity, K20 negative, TTF1 negative. 3. 9 lymph nodes right level 4 and 6 lympth notes right level 7 show sinus hsitiocytosis and anthracosis but no evidence of maligancy. imunohistochemistry conclusions were that stains for lower lobe nodule positively support primary pulmonary neoplasm. but right upper less definitive as only rare keratin 7 positive cells noted and TTF1 completely negative. whether secondary to extensive necrosis within the tumor unknown. but neiplasm is histologically nearly identical to that in the lowerlobe + metastatic colon carcinoma should be strongly CK20 positive and both tumors are completly CK20 negative against possibility of metastatic carcinoma of colonic primary site for either nodule. subsequent immunohistochemical stains of samples of my colonic carcinoma of 1997 (resection of 1/2+ of upper colon with staging of 1b) were performed with overall findings favoring lung tumors as representing primary pulmonary neoplasms rather than metastases for colonic carcinoma with CK20 positive in proportion of tumor cells. so...i suspect that all, save surgeon perhaps, will be concerned with margins and may want to "fry" the surrounding tissue with radiation. i also suspect some chemo course will be suggested. i have read that as i have a smoking history, iredessa (sp?) would not be indicated. i would appreciate your thoughts and any suggested lines of inquiry or further fact gathering. thanks so much. love, ken

hi, time. that's what we have. an uncertain amount of time. whatever your situation may be will reveal itself, at least in part, soon enough. now is the time not to make decisions or reach conclusions about things which are yet to be revealed. love, ken

hi, sorry you have to be concerned with all this but, as they say, here you are! and my friends always say whereever it is that you are, be there! as to how to know, my experience is that knowing can be difficult and with illness of any kind there is a certain amount of "not knowing precisely" that we have to find a way get along with. there is much to find out and information tends to point in a direction. you need information at this point and then you can make decisions based on what you find. if i might suggest, i try to take someone with me to medical appointments where there is likely to be discussion of findings or possible courses. sometimes i get so caught up in thinking about this or that that i can't focus entirely on the information being provided. a competent and intelligent sidekick, especially one who can jot down a note or two, can really help to get my questions posed and give perspective to what i hear as an answer. lastly, we all get dealt cards. sometimes we get a chance to draw additional cards. but invariably, we play with the cards we end up with. best of luck. ken

hi, i finally got pathology report after 11/24/2004 surgery. it notes, inter alia: wedge biopsy specimens, right lower lobe and right upper lobe tumor type: adenocarcinoma Histologic grade: Grade II/III-right lower lobe; Grade II-III/III-right upper lobe tumor size: right upper 3.2 cm and right lower 1.1 cm. pleura invasion: right lower specimen evaluation impossible due to disrepted state of specimen (CT and pet scans showed tumor away from pleural walls). pleura surrounding right upper lobe free of neoplasm bronchial margin of resection: negative in both invasion of other structures: not identified peritumoral lung: both specimens show congestion; lymph nodes: 15 lymph notes negative 0/9 right lvel 4; 06 right level 7) non-neoplastic lung: unremarkable. my reaction is to think that this is not the best, but certainly not the worst, path report i might have been able to see. i am uncertain what the "Grade" level conotes. how is grade used in staging? i thot i'd ask all of you prior to meeting with onco doc next week. yours, ken

hi, i was referred for an ultrasound to determine whether i had some clotting or blockage issue in veins. when that turnedout negative, lasix was prescribed for me. hope you have your hubby's situation resolved now or shortly. ken

hi, i was referred for an ultrasound to determine whether i had some clotting or blockage issue in veins. when that turnedout negative, lasix was prescribed for me. hope you have your hubby's situation resolved now or shortly. ken

hi, i'm looking for an answer about this myself. after surgery 11/24, two days ago my feet began to swell. i talked to my surgeon today and he set me for a doppler scan tomorrow. i guess this would check for thrombosis or embolisms. the alternative, and i suppose less drastic, cause is edema but i don't know what cause there might be of this. when i find out, i'll post back. yours, ken

hi, i'm looking for an answer about this myself. after surgery 11/24, two days ago my feet began to swell. i talked to my surgeon today and he set me for a doppler scan tomorrow. i guess this would check for thrombosis or embolisms. the alternative, and i suppose less drastic, cause is edema but i don't know what cause there might be of this. when i find out, i'll post back. yours, ken

hi, i'm looking for an answer about this myself. after surgery 11/24, two days ago my feet began to swell. i talked to my surgeon today and he set me for a doppler scan tomorrow. i guess this would check for thrombosis or embolisms. the alternative, and i suppose less drastic, cause is edema but i don't know what cause there might be of this. when i find out, i'll post back. yours, ken

as mr. twain said: there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. this is not to say it is imprudent to consider our situations. but really, our lives are ours to live. welcome here. ken

hi cheryl, that's one way to end a study! thanks for noting the Epimmune trial. i will ask about that. here's hoping and praying that vast benefit falls to you from it. love, ken

hi, i don't know whether a m.d. could tell you for sure but know i surely couldn't. my first thought would be to wonder whether you had symptoms prior to surgery. if not, i shouldn't think you would get such so soon afterward. what is the simplest explanation? and of whom should you inquire? i suspect these are the place to begin. if you get distressing answers there will be plenty of time to consider them. without competent answers, there wouldn't seem to be much point in frittering away present happiness without good reason, would there? yours, ken

hi, glad to see your encouraging post and i think you know from the replies that there are people pulling for you. whatever cocktail works, eh? may the current one be a fully appropriate and complete one for you! i appreciate the desire for steak. but as i've been "ruminating" over causes and conditions lately, i wonder over whether "animal fat" created problems for many of us using this forum. love, ken

hi, that an area of the bod goes off is worthy of note so it may be worth jotting down a note to review with someone who might use and assess the information. gut reactions are important to follow up on. but, for me, reaching even tentative conclusions about the cause of particular aches and pains is ill advised. for you see, i don't have much of a clue for many things. though i've been following cancer issues pretty closely since '97 for myself and others. i've always been able to get some kind of reaction to my concerns from the doctors. while it is clear that they sometimes don't have a clue either, they have been good enough to say so in the main i think when that is the case. when i want to follow further elsewhere i am, of course, free to do so but my m.d.s have been training in areas i am not really sufficiently familiar with and seem to know things from a big picture point of view that i often don't see. so i have found it well advised to bring issues to an m.d.'s attention before deciding in my own mind i'm terminal, or nearly so, from something. it spares the mind from tragedies that won't occur. best of luck and health to you. ken

hi, i would that neither you nor anyone here have any thought we are guilty or depressed. i've been running with cancer for many years and have noticed my mind assuming different guises. for example, there have arisen feelings that i have been lucky which is somehow unfair to others and, at times, i note a feeling of dread that i will always have and feel cancer's sword suspended tenuously above me. while i haven't taken the drugs you mention for any period of time (i did take wellbutron for a few days once and it made me quite agitated), i have been concerned to watch my mind and find ways to transform my mind when i start to go off--off to anger, to self-pity, to jealousy, there are lots of trips i can set out on. for me it is so important to be aware of where my mind is going when it first starts out. once down the highway a little, i find it quite difficult to rein it back in. so i try to notice when a feeling first arises, and i try to find the source of that feeling and then to explore and try to comprehend that source. it invariably turns out that... well, i think i would best leave that to you to discover as your own truth. i like the story of the little old lady from pennsylvania riding in the coach. she was wearing one of those veils with the dots on them that reach below the nose, if you know them. as she was riding along as a passenger within the stage, the driver was shot, and the horses took off running out of control toward a nearby cliff the reins dragging behind them. the lady looked out the window and smiled gently as she saw what was occurring. she did not panic, speak or scream. she did not try to climb to the driver's box for she was to old be able to do so successfully. she was simply aware and observed. it might be thought that the coach is our body, the driver our mind, the reins our will, and the horses our emotions. our mind has been shot and our emotions are running out of control! and we--we are awareness within the coach of our body observing events and characterizing them as we pass through them. i know that when i am able to begin to think like in this way my mind calms and a certain peace sometimes opens. on occasion even physical pain seems to lessen. obviously, we all have our own circumstance and, since i believe mark twain who noted we are all racing under sealed circumstances, there is doubtless no answer, or perhaps even any approach` to questions of this kind which is right for everyone. but that is why they have forums such as this to allow the discussion of what works for some and what might work for others. my best to you. ken

hi, i'm not exactly an old-timer but have had cancer in my life. i have learned a couple things, and especially things attributed to mark twain. he said: 1. there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. and i think he meant them in that order. we are not statistics. this is not to say statistics have no meaning but they do not apply with particularity to us. 2. of the 100 tragedies in my life 95 never happened. and i think he meant that most terrible things we imagine happening don't! i'd dispute him on the 5 he says did but i know he just said that for effect because at first people will not believe there are no tragedies. it takes wisdom to understand this and it is not apparent at first blush. you hang in there and remember one thing. i bet it is okay right now, isn't it? it always is. love, ken