Julie in SoCal

Hi Judy, I have a port (from a former cancer life) and I love it. It's really easy and just about pain free. It's on my right side with no problems. I have both blood draws and infusions done through it. I've also had a PICC line. This I did not like. it's a pain as the tubes are stitched to your skin and any pull or tug or whatever and it pulls on the stitches. Also as I understand it, a PICC line really isn't made for long term use either. Oh and showering is a pain with a PICC line as you can't get it wet. This was my experience. But with all of this said, do what is comfortable for you! Shalom, Julie

JUdy, So Sorry to hear about the "upgrade". This is not what I think of when I think of upgrade... I think of looking down on my boarding pass and seeing a 1 digit seat number... but, I digress. I was on Keytruda for melanoma. I had an infusion every three weeks for almost 2 years. It was easy, for the most part. Afterwards I was tired and feeling "flu-like" for a few days, but after that I felt fine. The wash, rinse, repeat cycle of Keytruda got a bit monotonous, but I was able to schedule it to fit my schedule. Also comparatively in the world of cancer treatments, I found it pretty easy. And best yet, it worked. I could feel my melanoma tumors shrink and I am now no evidence of recurrent disease (NERD) for melanoma. This is awesome! Wishing you all the best! Shalom, Julie

Thanks Friends for these tips! I will definitely make friends with the spirometer and get a wedge pillow for my bed. Walks are also a must for me, as I have significant arthritis and if I don't move I'm frozen pretty quickly. So all good. After you all came home from the hospital, how quickly were you able to walk up a flight of stairs. My bedroom (all the bedrooms in the house) are upstairs and I'm wondering if I'm going to need to make alternative sleeping arrangements. How quickly after surgery were you able to even snail pace slowly go up a flight of stairs? Thanks again, Julie

Greetings Friends! Last Thurs I had a biopsy of the mystery meat in my left lung and the results have came back as adenocarcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, not melanoma. So the plan is to have surgery to remove the lung lobe with the tumor "Larry" in it and some lymph nodes If the cancer has not spread to my lymph nodes, then surgery should be all that I need. If it has spread, then I'll need more treatment, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Just trying to stay in today but this is all I know. The hospital is organizing all that is needed for surgery, but it's not an emergency. Any words of wisdom in getting through a VATS Lobectomy? Thanks! Shalom, Julie

HI all! Yesterday I had a needle biopsy of the hypermetabolic critter that is in my left lung. I will admit, I was a bit scared and worried. The thought of someone (even a really highly trained someone) sticking a really long needle into my lung gave me the willies. But it wasn't bad. Being on my stomach on the CT and having to raise my left arm above my head wasn't comfortable, but that was about it. Oh yea, there was one time (when the dr entered my lung?) that hurt, but that didn't last very long. Not bad at all. Now I'm just waiting for the results. UGH! Should know something early next week. Will let you know. Shalom! Julie

Hi All, Thanks for the welcome. I saw the lung surgeon on Monday and he would like a biopsy. Seems the operations are different if the my mystery lung critter is melanoma or lung cancer. If it's melanoma, then I'll have a wedge resection, but if it's primary lung cancer, then I'll have the lobe and lymph nodes removed. It makes sense to know we're doing before we go in and operate, but I'm not looking forward to the needle biopsy tomorrow morning. And then of course there's the waiting. Anyone know how long it normally takes to get biopsy results? I know I'm just whining, but I just want to be done with treatment. I've been fighting melanoma since 2008, and the thought of opening another front in this cancer war just makes me tired. Thanks for being here, Julie

Greetings New Friends, I'm so glad to have found this board. I'm a Melanoma survivor and am have found these forums indispensable for both support and understanding this crazy, weird cancer world. THANKS!!!! My story: I have Stage 4 Melanoma, and a year ago in the course of routine melanoma scans and whatnots, we discovered two lung nodules. At first, we, (myself and my Rock Star oncology team) decided to watch them and see what they would do. They were small (6mm), very slow growing and possibly harmless. Also we figured that they were probably melanoma mets, if they were mets, the mel treatment I was on should deal with them. Mel treatment did nothing for them and in the course of a year, one of them doubled in size (to a 15mm x17mm a spiculated mass) and lit up a PET scan (SUV 7.5). I also now have "ground glass opacity" around the lit up nodule. This got our attention. My Rock Star Doc team thinks this lung cancer, not melanoma. So tomorrow I will be talking with a thoracic surgeon about removing my mystery lung critter. This is not my first rodeo with cancer, but there's a lot to learn about LC. All wisdom and sage advice welcomed! Thanks friends, Shalom, Julie