Donna G

Thanks for Elaine's up date, wish it had better news. Her last post she talked about making a decision for her drug coverage for 2007, now you are posting all the new meds she needs. I am glad they have a plan to help with her symptoms. Please keep us posted. Donna G

Welcome, I started with chemo and radiation before I had surgery , This month it has been 9 years since they removed my right upper lung. I Hope your Dad does as well. Keep us posted. Donna G

Hi wondermom. If you look through the events pictures you can see we have done most everything else here in Minnesota. Connie B started getting us organized years ago. We had 2 events at the state capital for Lung Cancer awareness. I have had 2 here in Burnsville with the Mayor, one at city hall , the other at the Burnville Mall. I had one at my Hospital and this year I put up educational posters all over the Curves that I exercise at. Our support group in St. Paul ( many who are Connie B followers) would be sure to join in. Tell us more about your idea. I hope this is a ways off, One reason to get organized , the other is we have had too many days below zero to think about walking outside much right now! Donna G

We will really miss Frank, as recently as 2/4/07 he was here posting as he had been for over 3 yrs. He nearly made over 5,000 posts reaching out to help! We will miss our good friend. I offer my prayers for your peace during this most difficult time. Sincerely Donna G

Yes, Very Cool! Donna G

I eat my Fugi apple every day! Growing up in Boston, Macintosh was the best but they don't keep good in shipping so there not the best here in Minnesota. I like them sweet and crispy. Donna G

Hi Linda. So glad you found us and your Dad is so lucky to have you to be there with him. Hope we can be of help. Donna G

I read if you have to get up during the night, never put or leave a light on! If you must, use a red light. Boy that sounds like we'll be in the "red light district" Maybe they knew something we don't, to preserve their job security. Donna G

After 8 months of problems before you got your diagnosis, I am sooooooo pleased to hear your margins are clear. Chemo is work but believe me you can live through it! I did and now going on 10 years of survival , I proved it! Wishing you well. Donna G

Well according to that perhaps growing up in Boston could have contributed to my lung cancer. Does anyone know where in Boston is free from trafic? Donna G

There is a science called this! They have international meetings! It is the study of how you can not divorce the effects of how you think on how your body is working. As- If you think stressed, it lowers your body immune system function and you catch the first thing that comes along. Stess affects the bodies ability to resist disease. The news paper today says a good source to learn more about stress and the immune system is "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" Just thought I would mention it, what more stress could you have than being told you have cancer? It should really help us to know this and work to decrease our stress. Donna G

Welcome, so glad you found us and that you are researching. We who have been told that we have lung cancer are in such shock we need all the help we can get. Your Dad is blessed to have you. You did not mention what type of lung cancer your Dad has. There are many types. I am going to assume that it is one of the Non-Small Cell ones because you said "Stage 3b" ( small cell lung canceris not decribed that way) In response to your question if it shrinks after chemo and radiation could he have surgery - that could be a possibility. Some people , like myself, get great results , go on to surgery , and are "cured". I have met recently a man who had Stage 4 lung cancer , diagnosed 8 years ago, had chemo, radiation, surgery, more chemo, 2nd surgery, and today has been cancer free for several years. There is hope, even if the survival numbers aren't 100 percent, the people who survive , survive 100 percent! Keep us posted. Donna G

Is there any possibility that they could shrink that tumor with radiation? Seems that would make less shortness of breath and help with the chemo. Donna G

Wow! If you go to "My Story" and look for mine you will find I called it through the valley to the mountain. Donna G

I met a Stage IV cancer survivor that was diagnosed in 1998. He is cancer free today. Donna G

I read that yesterday in the St. Paul (MN) paper yesterday. Boy are they trying not to loose business! Donna G

I put up a lungevity jar at my Curves and did not get a dollar! Good job Kasey! Donna G

This news was all over the local paper and the local news on TV. This sentence is still sad. Here they said the incidence of lung cancer is still increasing in women. The incidence of lung cancer among men is declining and has stabilized among women after increasing for several decades. Also the incidence of all cancers in general may be declining but, it is still way more than it used to be. In other words it really peaked and now it has turned down slightly. Donna G

Prayers going up for Katie's Mom and the whole family. Donna G

http://www.tropicalglen.com/ click on above and pick a year you want to listen to! Donna G

First , just want to say I grew up in Beantown! I had a Pancoast tumor. I had Cisplatin and Etoposide before and after surgery. I never had pain, I had fever once and at the end of the second round of Chemo I got neuropathy. My first symptom of that was falling down. Then just weird , altered sensation particularly in my feet. The doctor said it was caused by toxicity of Cisplatin. I wonder if her pain is from "altered sensation" She should talk it over with her Onocologist. Best wishes. Donna G

That is only fair! Other places have said that women are more likely to get the lung cancer in the first place. ( Being exposed to smoke etc) Donna G

Was reading the goodnews.com and found this great article. http://www.happynews.com/news/152007/ge ... tients.htm this may change our survival statistics for the better! By Associated Press MARILYNN MARCHIONE Updated: 1/5/2007 Scientists in Taiwan have developed a simple, five-gene test aimed at showing which lung cancer patients most need chemotherapy, as similar tests now do for people with breast cancer and lymphoma. The experimental test needs to be validated in larger groups of patients, so widespread use is perhaps a few years away. However, it's already winning praise for its possible use in everyday hospital settings instead of in limited situations by people with special genetics training. ''This has the potential to be extremely helpful,'' said Dr. David Johnson, a lung cancer expert at Vanderbilt University and former president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the world's largest group of cancer specialists. ''It's further proof that understanding genetic signatures may be helpful in how we treat patients. It may even allow us to avoid treating some patients,'' or to pinpoint those who may not respond to current drugs and would be better off trying an experimental therapy, he said. Johnson had no role in the research, which was reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The Taiwan test is much simpler than a different one involving dozens of genes described by Duke University researchers in the same medical journal last August. Lung cancer is the world's top cancer killer. About 175,000 new cases and 162,000 deaths from it occur in the United States each year. Most tumors are diagnosed after they have already spread beyond the lung. For the 20 percent or so of patients whose cancers are found in an early stage, chemotherapy after surgery to remove the tumor can improve survival. However, some of these early-stage patients have such a low risk of recurrence that chemo gives them only slightly better odds. Others turn out to have very aggressive tumors that prove fatal even though they are very small when detected. Right now, there's no good way to tell these groups of patients apart — size alone doesn't do it. ''The staging system pretty much needs to be trashed. It's imprecise, and it tells us nothing close to what the genomic, genetic material tells us'' in terms of risk of recurrence and death, said Dr. Anil Potti, a scientist working on Duke's gene signature test. The test devised by Hsuan-Yu Chen and colleagues at Taiwan University aims to give a better way to sort low- and high-risk patients. The scientists analyzed 125 patients' tumor samples from patients with all stages of lung cancer and found 16 genes that seemed to raise or lower the odds of recurrence or death. Further analysis narrowed this down to five genes that formed a signature of risk. They tested this signature on half of the samples and found a strong correlation to how well the patients actually fared. Median survival was 40 months for the lowest-risk group and 20 months for the highest-risk according to the strength of activity of the five genes. The median time until relapse also was significantly longer — 29 months versus 13 months — for the lowest-risk group. Results were validated in another set of 60 patients. Doctors also tested the genes' prediction powers with information on 86 tumors that University of Michigan researchers used to try to develop their own gene profiling test. The Michigan researchers posted their information on the Internet, allowing the Taiwan scientists to test results in a largely Caucasian population in addition to their Asian one. Researchers now must test more patients, assign chemotherapy based on the resulting risk scores, and track survival, Dr. Roy Herbst of the University of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center writes in an editorial accompanying the study in the medical journal. ''In breast cancer now, patients are being selected for chemotherapy based on studies like this,'' he noted. ''We have to move to the next step'' with lung cancer, he said. The study was paid for by the National Science Council of the Republic of China and Advpharma, a Taiwan company, and one of the study authors is an employee. ——— Donna G

Kasey that is the BEST NEWS ! Happy, Happy , Happy News. WE LOVE NED, (tell you hubby not to worry) Donna

There are stem cells in each and every umbilical cord! Yesterday they discussed on the news how they are thinking that the stems cells that are floating around in amniotic fluid might also be a great source for stems cells. Perhaps we should be having more babies for they are a precious gift and evidently bring us even more precious gifts as they develop! Donna G