St Michael

Hi Katum and welcome. Not sure what part of H-Town you are in - I'm originally from Friendswood. Your mom's story is so similar to many others. One of my high school classmates called me in January with a similar story. She had hip pain that wouldn't stop; docs finally found a tumor and discovered it was lung cancer. She had radiation for the hip and is on an oral chemo for the primary. 
Steff nailed it - lung cancer is just not the death sentence it once was. We've seen so many new treatments and it gives me hope. I'd like to see us get to the point of being able to treat this as a chronic disease. I strongly suggest ignoring the statistics - they just don't reflect where we are today. Stay informed and stay positive - that's the best way to move forward. We're all here for you and your mom. 

Hi Katherine. 
I am so sorry to hear of your mothers diagnosis. My mother was diagnosed last October with stage 3a lung cancer. She received induction chemo which made surgery possible for her. The tumor was too large to remove at first. Chemo can reduce tumors and make surgery possible. She had a left lower lobectomy and then radiation after. She is currently NED, albeit it hasn't been a year, but me and my family are very grateful she is with us and currently in remission. 
Like tom and others have said, you are not alone and talking about the situation with your mom can be therapeutic. I would suggest, if it has not been done already, to have your moms tumor tested for mutations. My mom is EGFR positive, which I understand to mean there is a precision medecine available to attack her cancer should a recurrence occur.
Feel free to message me anytime with any questions. God bless
 

Hi Katherine. 
I am so sorry to hear of your mothers diagnosis. My mother was diagnosed last October with stage 3a lung cancer. She received induction chemo which made surgery possible for her. The tumor was too large to remove at first. Chemo can reduce tumors and make surgery possible. She had a left lower lobectomy and then radiation after. She is currently NED, albeit it hasn't been a year, but me and my family are very grateful she is with us and currently in remission. 
Like tom and others have said, you are not alone and talking about the situation with your mom can be therapeutic. I would suggest, if it has not been done already, to have your moms tumor tested for mutations. My mom is EGFR positive, which I understand to mean there is a precision medecine available to attack her cancer should a recurrence occur.
Feel free to message me anytime with any questions. God bless
 

Hi Katherine. 
I am so sorry to hear of your mothers diagnosis. My mother was diagnosed last October with stage 3a lung cancer. She received induction chemo which made surgery possible for her. The tumor was too large to remove at first. Chemo can reduce tumors and make surgery possible. She had a left lower lobectomy and then radiation after. She is currently NED, albeit it hasn't been a year, but me and my family are very grateful she is with us and currently in remission. 
Like tom and others have said, you are not alone and talking about the situation with your mom can be therapeutic. I would suggest, if it has not been done already, to have your moms tumor tested for mutations. My mom is EGFR positive, which I understand to mean there is a precision medecine available to attack her cancer should a recurrence occur.
Feel free to message me anytime with any questions. God bless
 

Hope you're recovering well Jeff and thank you for your service.
god bless

Congratulations! Great news! 

Welcome ktamdgirl.
 
I am sorry to hear of your mothers diagnosis. My mother was diagnosed with stage 3a adeno-squamous lung cancer about 6 months ago. She was first told she had stage 2 but when they found that one lymph node in her mediastinum was positive, they restaged her to stage 3a. Three total lymph nodes involved were positive. She is a non smoker.
 
She received two months of cispaltin and pemetrxed chemo, which shrunk her 2cmx 2.5cm tumor enough to be removed via lobectomy. She had the three positive nodes and seven others removed during the lobectomy. She has the EGFR mutation. She received radiation after surgery for 30 treatments. She is sore from the treatments, but recovering and alive.
 
My hopes are that she is and will remain cancer free and god forbid there's a recurrence, enough time will have passed for better treatments. My prayers are with you and your mother. Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
god bless  

Thank you both for your support and insight.
I just spoke with my mother after she received her first chemo treatment in Boston. Its obviously very early, but so far she is only reporting some dry-mouth for side effects. For us, Dana Farber seems to be the most highly recognized and dedicated cancer facility in the Northeast area where we live, so we are placing our trust in them. I am impressed with their reputation and their multi-team approach to her situation. My mother seems very confident with them. I do get nervous because I know even at some of the most cutting edge facilities, modern medicine can only go so far for some.
SKMCORNETT - Congratulations! I hope my mother can follow in your path after her induction chemo. It was quite alarming to learn during my research that lung cancer is one of the most serious/deadly cancers, however funding tends to go to other cancer research. Perhaps its the misperception that only smokers get lung cancer and are responsible for their situations?
TOM - Her Oncologist was very positive and confident that her chemo doublet will reduce her tumor and allow resection in the next month. This was important to hear because I heard surgery is best for long term survival probability. If he is correct about this, he will have earned multiple points from me. The oncologist did discuss the 50% possibility of recurrence. He suggested that chemo and surgery should be a first line treatment followed by second line treatments of radiation and targeted therapies ect. Hopefully, if a recurrence does occur, it will be a few years down the line where some of these targeted therapies/immunotherapies are perfected.
She is having her tumor genetically profiled for mutations in preparation for future treatments. I hope she won't need them.
I wish you both a safe weekend.
God bless.
 

Hi again Tom and everyone else here.
Just a small update, mom will be released from the hospital later today. It has been just under a week since her lobectomy. She had a slight heart palpitation that the doctor just recently got under control. They state that it can be a common issue after surgery.
The pathology report also can back today. The doctor/oncologist report that they were able to achieve clear margins for her. Although they sampled many lymph nodes, only the two we already knew about contained any known trace of disease. We are very grateful for this news. Thanks Tom and everyone else for their support.
God bless and Merry Christmas.
 

Hi again Tom and everyone else here.
Just a small update, mom will be released from the hospital later today. It has been just under a week since her lobectomy. She had a slight heart palpitation that the doctor just recently got under control. They state that it can be a common issue after surgery.
The pathology report also can back today. The doctor/oncologist report that they were able to achieve clear margins for her. Although they sampled many lymph nodes, only the two we already knew about contained any known trace of disease. We are very grateful for this news. Thanks Tom and everyone else for their support.
God bless and Merry Christmas.
 

Thanks Tom.
I hope you and everyone else here has a very merry Christmas as well.
Will keep you posted on the pathology report. Today was a big improvement for her as far as pain goes. Sounds pretty crazy considering its major surgery. They have her walking around and everything. Something to be very grateful for indeed.
God Bless.

Hi Just Chel and again congratulations with your year of NED.
Did you receive radiation before or after your surgery? My mother just had VATS surgery and a lobe removed along with two infected lymph nodes. They classified her as 3a adeno-squamous lung cancer. They mentioned giving her radiation and chemo after she heals. She did receive neoadjuvant chemo which made surgery possible. She also never smoked.
Curious as to your experiences.
God bless.
 

Hi shlomit and welcome. 
My mother, age 64, was recently diagnosed with stage 3a adeno-squamous nslc about three months ago. She has never smoked, but was exposed to second hand smoke on occasion. She had breast cancer in situ a few years back, but her oncologist and surgeon don't believe that is the cause or related to her lung cancer.
For now, two lymph nodes are involved. Her lung tumor is in the top upper left corner of her lung next to her heart. Surgery was not an option initially. 
She began a platinum doublet regimen of chemotherapy a little over a month ago. She started with cisplatin/pemetrexed and is now on caroblatin. The chemo treatment has reduced her Tumor by a third in size. It was originally 3.5 x 3.5 x 3cm. The doctors are continuing chemo for her for another month in hopes to shrink the tumor further. I have my fingers crossed. Surgery will now be scheduled in the near future thankfully. Side effects of fatigue and nausea occurred for her. She also has an EFGR mutation from the profiling of her tumor.
They are holding off on the decision for radiation at this time. Very nerve racking indeed. We live in the north east. 
From her doctors and from what I have read here in the forum, stage 3a lung cancer is potentially curable depending on a number of factors. My hope is that immunotherapy and precision medicine are perfected in the next few years in case of a recurrence. How old is your cousin? Do you have Any particular questions? I'd be happy to try and answer them from my perspective.
God bless.
 
 
 

Congratulations! That is fantastic news. Your optimistic attitude is quite admirable. God bless. 

Congratulations! That is indeed great news. Here's to many more years of NED.

Thank you both for your support and insight.
I just spoke with my mother after she received her first chemo treatment in Boston. Its obviously very early, but so far she is only reporting some dry-mouth for side effects. For us, Dana Farber seems to be the most highly recognized and dedicated cancer facility in the Northeast area where we live, so we are placing our trust in them. I am impressed with their reputation and their multi-team approach to her situation. My mother seems very confident with them. I do get nervous because I know even at some of the most cutting edge facilities, modern medicine can only go so far for some.
SKMCORNETT - Congratulations! I hope my mother can follow in your path after her induction chemo. It was quite alarming to learn during my research that lung cancer is one of the most serious/deadly cancers, however funding tends to go to other cancer research. Perhaps its the misperception that only smokers get lung cancer and are responsible for their situations?
TOM - Her Oncologist was very positive and confident that her chemo doublet will reduce her tumor and allow resection in the next month. This was important to hear because I heard surgery is best for long term survival probability. If he is correct about this, he will have earned multiple points from me. The oncologist did discuss the 50% possibility of recurrence. He suggested that chemo and surgery should be a first line treatment followed by second line treatments of radiation and targeted therapies ect. Hopefully, if a recurrence does occur, it will be a few years down the line where some of these targeted therapies/immunotherapies are perfected.
She is having her tumor genetically profiled for mutations in preparation for future treatments. I hope she won't need them.
I wish you both a safe weekend.
God bless.
 

Congratulations !