BridgetO

Hi Minh,   Im sorry you've had so many  challenges! You're really hanging in there. Good for you!
I have a suggestion for the swallowing issue. Have you seen a speech pathologist? Many people don't know that speech paths deal with swallowing issues as well as speech. It makes sense since the muscles involved in speech and swallowing and coordinating those with breathing are the same.  I've worked with a  number of people with disabilities that caused swallowing problem with choking risks and helped them get set up with a speech pathologist for help with this. 
You could ask your doctor for a referral.
keep hanging in there.

Hi Minh,   Im sorry you've had so many  challenges! You're really hanging in there. Good for you!
I have a suggestion for the swallowing issue. Have you seen a speech pathologist? Many people don't know that speech paths deal with swallowing issues as well as speech. It makes sense since the muscles involved in speech and swallowing and coordinating those with breathing are the same.  I've worked with a  number of people with disabilities that caused swallowing problem with choking risks and helped them get set up with a speech pathologist for help with this. 
You could ask your doctor for a referral.
keep hanging in there.

Hi Minh,   Im sorry you've had so many  challenges! You're really hanging in there. Good for you!
I have a suggestion for the swallowing issue. Have you seen a speech pathologist? Many people don't know that speech paths deal with swallowing issues as well as speech. It makes sense since the muscles involved in speech and swallowing and coordinating those with breathing are the same.  I've worked with a  number of people with disabilities that caused swallowing problem with choking risks and helped them get set up with a speech pathologist for help with this. 
You could ask your doctor for a referral.
keep hanging in there.

June, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with your treatment. And "hard" is really an understatement for what you've gone through and continue to go through You might want to consider asking for a palliative care doc on your team. Some think that palliative care in terms of hospice, but that is only part of what they do. They can help people with chronic illnesses and/or difficult side effects from treatment find solutions for pain and other symptoms and help improve quality of life, while continuing to treat the illness.
I wish you comfort and healing.

I wish you many more happy birthdays!

Ahhh, for some reason I was a nervous wreck before my scan results yesterday. Kept thinking it felt like being in a participant in Squid Game, where each new hurdle is potentially lethal. I don’t normally suffer from scanciety, but it is my first result of immunotherapy and 7 months since my adrenalectomy, so felt like relatively big risk. But my smiling oncologist reassured me before we even reached the room that I was good, and right now classified as having a complete metabolic response. I asked if it was fair to assume that this meant the surgeon had got everything (he wasn’t sure at the time and there were positive margins), and he agreed that if there was still something left it would have grown by now. So another 3 months of normal life!

Lauren,
Hi.  I’m glad you found us but sorry you need to be here.  Your dad is beginning a journey that can have a lot of twists and turns depending on many details.  I can’t give you particular detail regarding his condition, but I can tell you that I was diagnosed with lung cancer 4 years ago and am still here surviving and living my life.  So a LC diagnosis is no longer the definite death sentence that it once was and there is more hope than ever before.  This is a time for you (and your dad) to begin to learn about this disease.  This way you’ll be able to navigate these waters more successfully.
This is an article titled “10 Steps to Surviving Lung Cancer; From a Survivor” and it can be found here.  Both you and your dad need to read this.  It was written by a member who was first diagnosed at Stage 3 and then later Stage 4 and 18 years later was considered cured.  It’s not everybody’s story but there are many here (like me) who have survived for years, and there is great knowledge for any LC patient, and family. Time to begin learning about this disease; causes, diagnosis, treatments, etc.  Take a look at “Lung Cancer 101“. Last (for now) is a forum you may find interesting it is our “Caregivers Resource Center“. I can understand that at this point you are less interested in reading than in “getting something done” to help your father, but knowledge is power in battling this complex disease.  You can also look through some of the forums to read what other survivors have written to get a better idea of what your dad might go through now and in the future.
I hope this helps you.
Lou

June, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with your treatment. And "hard" is really an understatement for what you've gone through and continue to go through You might want to consider asking for a palliative care doc on your team. Some think that palliative care in terms of hospice, but that is only part of what they do. They can help people with chronic illnesses and/or difficult side effects from treatment find solutions for pain and other symptoms and help improve quality of life, while continuing to treat the illness.
I wish you comfort and healing.

I'm so sorry for your loss. This is an awful disease!

i had lost 60 pounds before my diagnosis - after a year i have gained it all back
we sound alike - we are grease and salt people.  i could pass on the sweet stuff 
the chemo changed that - i still recall how good a hamburger tasted - the reality of eating one is a disappointment - tasted more like my yeti cup
then i discovered peanut butter and chocolate - still tasted like peanut butter and chocolate
those that love you will crawl over broken glass to get you something you enjoy, so my sisters buried me under reese's peanut butter cups and peanut butter m&ms - i keep them beside my bed and eat them on sleepless nights
i also drink an ensure (original) twice a day - calorie dense and i like the thicker consistency - hoping the vitamins might help too
i look for foods that might not taste exactly as they once tasted - but are not offensive - and eat them even though its not the same as i remember them

June, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with your treatment. And "hard" is really an understatement for what you've gone through and continue to go through You might want to consider asking for a palliative care doc on your team. Some think that palliative care in terms of hospice, but that is only part of what they do. They can help people with chronic illnesses and/or difficult side effects from treatment find solutions for pain and other symptoms and help improve quality of life, while continuing to treat the illness.
I wish you comfort and healing.

If you can tolerate a lot of dairy, I suggest premium ice creams (high in fat!). And add butter and cream to anything you can. Potatoes mashed with butter and cream!  If my doctor told me to gain weight, I'd eat a lot of See's chocolates. Also caramel sauce and fudge sauce straight from the jar. Of course I understand that a lot of this stuff might not sound good to you right now. And it may not be "healthy" but it has a lot of calories.
You might also ask for a referral to a dietician/nutritionist for recommendations on food for weight gain. 
Hang in there, Minh, you've been through a lot!

If you can tolerate a lot of dairy, I suggest premium ice creams (high in fat!). And add butter and cream to anything you can. Potatoes mashed with butter and cream!  If my doctor told me to gain weight, I'd eat a lot of See's chocolates. Also caramel sauce and fudge sauce straight from the jar. Of course I understand that a lot of this stuff might not sound good to you right now. And it may not be "healthy" but it has a lot of calories.
You might also ask for a referral to a dietician/nutritionist for recommendations on food for weight gain. 
Hang in there, Minh, you've been through a lot!

Minh,
During my treatment when I struggled with no appetite, my wife fed me homemade ice cream 3 times per day. She boosted the normal, over-the-top, ice cream calories by adding a whole package of crushed Oreo cookies to the churn. This put on the pounds pronto.
Stay the course.
Tom

I feel extremely lucky not to have lost power as well. This "thaw" sure is taking it's time. I remember many a silver thaw in the past, but not one that took this long!
Stay warm everybody!

You've been through a lot!  I've never had an issue with passing out, but once I was woozy from a gastrointestinal virus and probable dehydratiion and fell getting out of bed and clonked my head on the nightstand, not injured but it was very upsetting. I can't imagine how scary it must have been finding you had passed out while driving.
If you want an additional source of support, Lungevity has a couple of programs that might interest you. One is a Lung Cancer Help Line, where you can talk to an oncology social worker.  The phone number for that is 844-360-5864. The other is peer-to-peer support. You can find out about both of these  on the main Lungevity website, Lungevity.com.  I know how important it is to have someone to talk to, and sometimes it needs to be someone other than family. I've used the Cancer Counseling Center at the hospital where I've received my treatment and found them really helpful. 
Hang in there, and I hope you can find the support you need. We're always here for you, too.

Yep, I' in the Northwest, too, and this weather is BAD!  And this past Sunday, on one of the coldest days of the year, out furnace went out! Fortunately, we have a wood stove and a furnace repair guy who is next to being a saint in my book. He came out right away and got our dinosaur of an oil furnace running in a couple of hours. We actually feel fortunate. So many people in the area have been without power for days. I hope you and everybody else can stay warm!

June, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with your treatment. And "hard" is really an understatement for what you've gone through and continue to go through You might want to consider asking for a palliative care doc on your team. Some think that palliative care in terms of hospice, but that is only part of what they do. They can help people with chronic illnesses and/or difficult side effects from treatment find solutions for pain and other symptoms and help improve quality of life, while continuing to treat the illness.
I wish you comfort and healing.

You've been through a lot!  I've never had an issue with passing out, but once I was woozy from a gastrointestinal virus and probable dehydratiion and fell getting out of bed and clonked my head on the nightstand, not injured but it was very upsetting. I can't imagine how scary it must have been finding you had passed out while driving.
If you want an additional source of support, Lungevity has a couple of programs that might interest you. One is a Lung Cancer Help Line, where you can talk to an oncology social worker.  The phone number for that is 844-360-5864. The other is peer-to-peer support. You can find out about both of these  on the main Lungevity website, Lungevity.com.  I know how important it is to have someone to talk to, and sometimes it needs to be someone other than family. I've used the Cancer Counseling Center at the hospital where I've received my treatment and found them really helpful. 
Hang in there, and I hope you can find the support you need. We're always here for you, too.

You've been through a lot!  I've never had an issue with passing out, but once I was woozy from a gastrointestinal virus and probable dehydratiion and fell getting out of bed and clonked my head on the nightstand, not injured but it was very upsetting. I can't imagine how scary it must have been finding you had passed out while driving.
If you want an additional source of support, Lungevity has a couple of programs that might interest you. One is a Lung Cancer Help Line, where you can talk to an oncology social worker.  The phone number for that is 844-360-5864. The other is peer-to-peer support. You can find out about both of these  on the main Lungevity website, Lungevity.com.  I know how important it is to have someone to talk to, and sometimes it needs to be someone other than family. I've used the Cancer Counseling Center at the hospital where I've received my treatment and found them really helpful. 
Hang in there, and I hope you can find the support you need. We're always here for you, too.

Yep, I' in the Northwest, too, and this weather is BAD!  And this past Sunday, on one of the coldest days of the year, out furnace went out! Fortunately, we have a wood stove and a furnace repair guy who is next to being a saint in my book. He came out right away and got our dinosaur of an oil furnace running in a couple of hours. We actually feel fortunate. So many people in the area have been without power for days. I hope you and everybody else can stay warm!

I was first referred to a thoracic surgeon at the cancer center near me and her office set up all the testing, etc. Then the results were brought to the center's tumor board, which determined I was not a candidate for surgery (due to tumor location). Then they passed me to the oncologist I currently have. But they are all part of the same cancer center and have a seamless way of passing us to where we need to be. 
I would not be comfortable sitting with an unknown thing sitting in my lung. I would suggest getting to a lung cancer specialist for a consult ASAP. Lung cancer research is moving so fast that we must work with docs who keep up with the field-- no way a general oncologist can do this. 
Fingers crossed for you.
K

i am not wise but can offer my early experience on passing out.
my first visit with my oncologist, he sent me to a local lab for blood tests.  i went directly to the lab and had 2 vials drawn.  no big deal.
the drive home was short and took me past the oncology clinic.  while at a stop light i began to feel odd.  i decided to cross the intersection and then stop at the clinic.  i recall the light turned green but woke up after hitting a light pole.  ambulance came and took me to the er.  they had started an iv in the ambulance.  that seemed to be the problem.  dehydration.
broke my wrist in the accident and needed surgery.  the oncologist, ortho and general surgeon asked if i wanted to delay chemo after surgery.  i said no and they agreed.  general surgeon put in my port and ortho took over and did my wrist at the same time.  all were interested in the healing process, which was slowed but it did heal.
for decades i rarely drank water.  i swilled about 6 liters of tab (then diet coke when tab was discontinued) daily.  when i woke in the wrecked car, i poured out the diet coke in the cupholder and now only drink water.  i have not had a problem passing out since.
might not be the answer to your problem but hydration is important.
might keep a check on your blood pressure too.
i understand what you are saying about talking to others.  i get my chemo in a setting with others in the same room.  what you can say to someone in the same boat is different than what is possible with others.  and what they can say to you.  don't feel bad about posting here.  we probably have the same thoughts.
 

Sally,
I'm sorry to hear about what you are going through.  I have not had that much experience with any form of chemo/antibody or other treatments so I can't offer any real counsel on them.  One thing I can say is that you may want to add a palliative care person to your treatment team.  Their job is to monitor treatment and side-effects and work with the patient and doctor to reduce the impact of negative side-effects as a result of treatment.  Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers to get through this with as little discomfort as possible.
Lou

Woo hoo! So glad to hear this!