ColleenRae

This was just lovely, Tom.  I loved seeing her enlarged photo as well!  Teri was very helpful in sharing her experience with VATS Lobectomy prior to my own in October 2018.  She was amazing in all that she contributed here on this forum.  I am not on the forum often (I'd like to be more), so I was not on top of her condition and learned later that she had been dx'd again.  It really hurts to lose someone like her.  Amazing gifts she gave during her lifetime. I know I will never be able to respond as fast, rattle info off so quickly or deal with cancer as gracefully as she did, but she is really a beacon to follow.  Thank you for posting this, Tom.❤️

This was just lovely, Tom.  I loved seeing her enlarged photo as well!  Teri was very helpful in sharing her experience with VATS Lobectomy prior to my own in October 2018.  She was amazing in all that she contributed here on this forum.  I am not on the forum often (I'd like to be more), so I was not on top of her condition and learned later that she had been dx'd again.  It really hurts to lose someone like her.  Amazing gifts she gave during her lifetime. I know I will never be able to respond as fast, rattle info off so quickly or deal with cancer as gracefully as she did, but she is really a beacon to follow.  Thank you for posting this, Tom.❤️

This was just lovely, Tom.  I loved seeing her enlarged photo as well!  Teri was very helpful in sharing her experience with VATS Lobectomy prior to my own in October 2018.  She was amazing in all that she contributed here on this forum.  I am not on the forum often (I'd like to be more), so I was not on top of her condition and learned later that she had been dx'd again.  It really hurts to lose someone like her.  Amazing gifts she gave during her lifetime. I know I will never be able to respond as fast, rattle info off so quickly or deal with cancer as gracefully as she did, but she is really a beacon to follow.  Thank you for posting this, Tom.❤️

Thank you for sharing your story, Lisa...

Tom,
Not sure how I missed this one, but thank you for this and ALL of your posts. I honestly don't know what we'd do without you here!  I'm having a particularly tough morning and read this - it helps. Big cyber hug for you. Thank you.
 

Loved seeing this Susan... Sorry for being late in congratulating you. I admire you and want you to know that it does inspire others, like me...

Loved seeing this Susan... Sorry for being late in congratulating you. I admire you and want you to know that it does inspire others, like me...

I agree. If there is a miracle cure there would not be any people with cancer and it would be all over the news. I do however, believe there are things that are truly helpful. For me it was the following: Faith that it was possible to survive, second or third opinions, humor because not only is it healthy and releases dopamine into our system and because the whole reality of cancer is so surreal of course the people in our lives support.  I had a lobectomy 14.5 years ago, then stage IV metastasis 13 years ago and finally a a metastasis to my brain 11.5 years ago. The doctor that saved me was not the doctor who told me they couldn’t offer me much but the second doctor who said we can do this!  He also added to my chemo a drug called Avastin and I have called that my miracle drug. It prevents cancer cells from collecting blood vessels. Now I am only dealing with the late effects of surviving and that’s fine with me. 

On 12/20/2017, when the pulmonologist came into the room and said "It's bad. It's cancer" then proceeded to give me the diagnosis of Stage 3, I naiively asked her about the survival rate.  She said "15% survival rate in 5 years" and I believed it.  What she told me sounded like "you will die at any moment!" - I went home and wasn't sure if I should write the will first or start cleaning out my house.  Shortly afterwards, I found this forum and started reading the threads and your comments on these "statistics" resonated with me the most along with "if I can survive it, so can you" comment.
Thank you, Tom, for being my and all others' wind beneath our wings (pardon the cheesy-ness).
MB

Tom,
I am sorry for the loss of your friend.  It sounds like she lived a life we all should strive for.  That being said, thank you for this.  Living a full life DESPITE lung cancer isn't something I would have ever accepted 1 year ago for my mom.  Accepting that we will likely only ever hear "Your cancer is stable" and never hear "There is no evidence of disease" has also been hard for me to except.  But hearing stories like this and meeting wonderful folks at the HOPE Summit has helped me to begin to come to acceptance.  My mom and I's daily phone conversations have turned from lengthy discussions about lung cancer to what creation did she work on or what kind of shenanigan did my dad cause.  It's a much needed break for the both of us.  I appreciate hearing how 2 tenured lung cancer survivors talked about all things "life" instead of all things "lung cancer".  So once again, thank you.  Your post put a smile on my face and solidified that it is okay to go on with life.
Take Care,
Steff

Tom,
Thank you for this link (you provided in a reply to my post yesterday).  Very well-written and beneficial - encompassing so much more than what clinic or med school the practitioner has attended. Thank you for reminding me to keep that perspective as well in this journey.  Your surgeon sounds wonderful. I can't imagine the mutual bond you both must have as a result of your experiences and history, and the help he provided for your daughter as well.  That was uplifting to read. Really enjoying your posts, information and willingness to help others on this path.  Thank you.

You are blessed to have this surgeon in your life. He sounds amazing! I feel blessed to have the man who did my VATS surgery at M D Anderson. On a day when appointments were doubled up due to an ice storm abating in Houston, he answered all my questions and at my request drew me a picture of what he was describing. He was focused, friendly, amazing!