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flacrakr

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Posts posted by flacrakr

  1. Welcome mch. Hope all goes okay with your consultation and diagnosis. As for insurance, I was kinda in the same situation. I had left my employer for another company that provided no insurance. So I took my insurance with me via COBRA. 6 months later I was in the ER being told I had lung cancer. So you can be insured, if you leave. Hope this helps.

  2. Beth:

    Hopes and prayers that today is much better! As Connie said, " this too will pass. " May all go well with your chemo and onc. visit today.

  3. Beth:

    I got my portacath installed while I was in the hospital; right after my dx. I seldom even think about it. The only thing they told me was to get it 'flushed' every 30 days. My 1st onc said that wasn't necessary, but I think he was a moron. I've had 2 CT scans since dx. The 1st one the tech used the port. The 2nd scan the tech said they're not supposed to use the port for the IV. I'm sure glad it's there as my veins are sometimes very hard to find for those needle sticking, blood sucking vampires.

  4. Hi Frank:

    Well, that explains it. For the last couple of days I've seen a bunch of fat ladies ... singing by the way ... heading south on I-95. By my reckoning, they are all hanging out on South Beach by now.

    I like the playing golf while shooting at turkeys; or is that shooting birdies?

    Thank you for posting. I always enjoy reading your posts and admire your attitude. Thank you for putting 'quality' into life.

  5. Welcome Michael:

    You'll find lots of supportive, kind, and knowledgable people here. While none of us just happened to trip in here by mistake, I know for myself, that it was a blessed day when I did find this site.

    My best wishes and prayers are with you and yours.

  6. I'm all for blueberries. They taste a whole lot better than wheatgrass (yech) ; but a friend of a friend swears that drinking an oz. of wheatgrass juice cured her ovarian cancer. I drink 2 scoops of this green powder every day in my OJ. It has everything in it including the kitchen sink. I just looked ... no blueberries :(

  7. Happy Birthday Joanie!!!

    Hope you're having a wonderful day! The Stones in '65??? What's a 12 yr old doing at the Apollo Theatre? :) I had to wait until 14 to go to my 1st concert. But it was the Beatles. Sigh..... time sure goes by, doesn't it? Incidently, 52 was a great year for me. As it will be for you.

    Oliver

  8. Cindi:

    I can definitely relate to the huffin' and puffin' up stairs. I just have to go pretty slow if I want to have enough breath to talk to anyone once I've reached the top. I don't know if a couple of hits of O2 would be that bad or not. I do see football players on the sidelines puffin' on the O2 when they're winded. Maybe its a mix of air with more O2 in it.

    Here's hoping all goes well.

    Oliver

  9. I've been lurking around here for a couple of months; gathering the strength, courage, hope, faith, perseverance, and unselfish concern of all who contribute to this board. I thank you all and I thank God that this site exists.

    My name is Oliver and I'm a 54 yr old male. I ended up in the Emergency Room on 8/26/04 with excruciating pain in my right side. I was admitted and a bronchoscopy was done. The pictures were excellent. They showed the violent red of infection interspersed with white 'specks'. The pulmologist informed me that I had pneumonia and pleural efflusion. When I asked what the white specks were, he informed me that I also had lung cancer. Needless to say, I was stunned. My first thought was, " not yet, I'm waaay too young. This is supposed to happen in about 10 more years."

    I'm a carpenter by trade, and have been in construction for over 30 years. In that time I'v inhaled plenty of toxic and harmful items. Compounded by the fact that I've smoked all my life, I knew my lungs were taking a beating.

    The hospital I was in was affiliated with MD Anderson. The first option was to remove the right lung. A biopsy was done on my lympth nodes before surgery and it came back indicating cancer there too. Stage IIIB. They installed a port instead. Before I was released 2 weeks later, I'd had my first chemo session. Taxol/Carboplatin. I ended up getting 6 chemo sessions; the last two requiring neuprogin as my WBC were way low. I received radiation at the same time, 37 times.

    My 1st CT scan, 12/07, showed "significant improvement in aeration". My latest CT scan, 04/12, showed improvement in the lympth nodes but either fluid or mass in the right upper lobe and left upper lobe. I've learned to hate the phrase "interval change".

    I'm in the process of switching oncologists; I found out about the interval change by getting a copy of the radiologist's report myself. I see the new onc. 5/13. It seemed to me that my first doc didn't even read my CT scan report before he came in and pointed to the word 'improvement' and then left.

    I live alone, although my 26 yr old son and I are close, so it gets kind of scary when I start trying to visualize what the future holds. That's where this site is a Godsend. I read the signatures, looking for the people that have approximately the same stage as I, and I gather the hope that comes with seeing you all having active, complete lives. I'm still working full-time (I'm in a supervisory position, so it's not hard work). I definitely don't have much endurance for strenuous activity. I run out of breath very quickly.

    I've tried to find out everything about my disease that I can; but mostly I wanted to find other people who were living with LC. I finally googled 'LC survivor' and that's how I came to find this site. I can't describe to you the relief I felt that 'I'm not alone'. So that's me. I'm on my way to take my son and his mother out for brunch and golf. Again, I thank all of you for being here. God Bless you all. And a wonderful Mother's Day to all you mothers.

  10. Welcome Marilyn:

    While I can't answer your question regarding cancer with no apparent tumor; I did want to welcome you. I too was treated with taxol/carboplatin. It's good that you're handling it well.

    Houston is home to the M D Anderson Cancer Institute; if anybody knows the answers to your questions, I would think someone there would. I ended up at MD Anderson's here in Orlando.

    Again welcome and Godspeed on your recovery

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