LouT

Love this news.  Your experience has now become someone's future guide through their situation.  Do that happy dance with your family and enjoy every day you've been given.
Lou

Blossomsmom,

Congratulations on coming through so well.  You're not far off regarding walking...prior to surgery I did 5-6 miles/day my first day home I could barely get around my home without panting.  It took weeks for me to get back to my pre-surgery condition.  Just keep your progress steady and don't overdo it and you'll see how your body will respond.  Remember your lung has been through a traumatic event and needs to relax and heal before it will function at its best.  Also remember that the spirometer can be your best friend.  I used to get up, walk around and then go back to bed for a nap (and I never usually nap).  Be patient with yourself, stay active in a smart way, eat well, stay hydrated so you'll begin to feel better faster than you may expect.
Lou

Love this news.  Your experience has now become someone's future guide through their situation.  Do that happy dance with your family and enjoy every day you've been given.
Lou

Congratulations.  Important results for you. Clean margins clean nodes will be back quick.  The biomarker testing may take some time.  Glad it all went well.  Do your rehab as they tell you. Don't skip it and keep moving. Before you know it you'll be back to normal. 

Soooo goood hearing from you, Blossom!!  I'm so glad things went well, you are home and starting your recovery.  Here's to clean nodes and margins as edive said.  Lou's experience hopefully will reiterate how important it is to rest while being up and about a little here and there.  Hoping you begin feeling a little better every few days or so.

Doctor just called. Report on the tumor that she removed was NSCLC. ALL the lymph nodes she removed are clean and clear. No further treatment will be needed. We will discuss future surveillance when I see her in 2 weeks. My family is doing a happy dance. I look forward to doing one as soon as I’m healed and can breathe normally again!

Stay the course Aimee!

Sending support, Aimee.  I agree with you the report, while suspicious, is a good one compared to..... June will be here before you know it.  Be kind to yourself during this stressful waiting...

Blossomsmom,

Congratulations on coming through so well.  You're not far off regarding walking...prior to surgery I did 5-6 miles/day my first day home I could barely get around my home without panting.  It took weeks for me to get back to my pre-surgery condition.  Just keep your progress steady and don't overdo it and you'll see how your body will respond.  Remember your lung has been through a traumatic event and needs to relax and heal before it will function at its best.  Also remember that the spirometer can be your best friend.  I used to get up, walk around and then go back to bed for a nap (and I never usually nap).  Be patient with yourself, stay active in a smart way, eat well, stay hydrated so you'll begin to feel better faster than you may expect.
Lou

Blossomsmom,

Congratulations on coming through so well.  You're not far off regarding walking...prior to surgery I did 5-6 miles/day my first day home I could barely get around my home without panting.  It took weeks for me to get back to my pre-surgery condition.  Just keep your progress steady and don't overdo it and you'll see how your body will respond.  Remember your lung has been through a traumatic event and needs to relax and heal before it will function at its best.  Also remember that the spirometer can be your best friend.  I used to get up, walk around and then go back to bed for a nap (and I never usually nap).  Be patient with yourself, stay active in a smart way, eat well, stay hydrated so you'll begin to feel better faster than you may expect.
Lou

Good morning all. Surgery is done (Monday afternoon) and I am home (late afternoon yesterday). Ended up with an upper right lobectomy and removal of 12 lymph nodes. Surgeon said it’s normal to feel like I’d been hit by a Mac Truck and that I did very well. She aced taking out the chest tube, speaking very fast to distract me and it was done 😊. We should get some of the details from pathology tomorrow, some results will take longer. Surgeon did say the lymph nodes looked and felt like they will come back fine but can’t be 💯 sure until pathology does their thing. Even though I read and reread Lou’s tips and tricks for surgery, I find I’m still surprised at how just a little walking around the house tires me out. Guess 20% less lung capacity will do that. I’ve been taking the pain meds and am comfortable for the most part. I have a whole new appreciation for our bed that has one of those frames that goes up and down at the head and feet. Especially after not sleeping much in the hospital. 
Thanks to you all for your encouragement and knowledge. It has been invaluable. I’m sure I’ll have lots more questions going forward down this road.

That’s great news!

This is wonderful news!

I'm looking forward to your update. Hope all is going well.

Kelly,
So sorry to hear about your mom.  You covered a lot in your post and much of it is around the "malignant pleural effusions".  These are serious indications of difficult prognosis.  You need to sit with the leader of your mom's medical team and have a frank discussion about being properly informed of your mother's disease, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.  If they won't do this then you need to request different doctors that will properly communicate with you and your family.  

Once you can get that issue resolved you can then better understand what is happening, and what is necessary to do.  Please update us on your progress in this situation.
Lou

Nutshell background-1.6cm right lower nodule found incidentally 2/23. Monitored with no changes until last week. CT says it is now 1.9cm. Doc says it's go time to get it out. Segmentectomy scheduled for 6/5.
I had a PET scan yesterday morning and got the results in the afternoon. I never thought I would think a report that says "concerning for malignancy" would be good news, but I think it is overall. The nodule had an uptake of SUV 1.1/1.2. The rest of the lungs are clear with no other suspicious things.
The report says..."Given interval increase in size and mild metabolic activity this finding is concerning for malignancy." 
BUT. also says.. "The remainder of the study demonstrates no abnormal hypermetobolic glucose activity to suggest malignancy/metastatic disease elsewhere."
The PET marks the nodule as 1.6cm not 1.9cm so who knows on that. 
Side note- scanxiety is for real. It was a nerve wracking day. I was a wreck thinking about what could be lurking. There is still a lot to worry about but I am breathing somewhat easier.
Aimee
 

Wonderful news!!  Thanks for updating - keeps hope rolling : )

You've received great information Aimee! I'm glad you found this site.  There are many knowledgeable people on here.  Sending support.  When you have more specifics about your situation you can learn more from some of the past posts.  Likely not to get ahead of yourself now though.  First things first...

Thank you all. 
I am taking in all the information little by little. I appreciate the info and the support.
Aimee

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

Kelly,
So sorry to hear about your mom.  You covered a lot in your post and much of it is around the "malignant pleural effusions".  These are serious indications of difficult prognosis.  You need to sit with the leader of your mom's medical team and have a frank discussion about being properly informed of your mother's disease, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.  If they won't do this then you need to request different doctors that will properly communicate with you and your family.  

Once you can get that issue resolved you can then better understand what is happening, and what is necessary to do.  Please update us on your progress in this situation.
Lou

Aimee,
Tom has given you great information and counsel.  For my part I'll share a blog titled "Thoracic Surgery: Tips and Tricks"....and it can be found here.  It has information for pre surgery preparedness, handling the hospital stay, and post-surgery recovery.  You can also post any questions you have here and we're happy to help you by sharing our personal experience.  
Lou

Awesome news Chuck…so happy for you 

That is great news, so happy for you!! And I like that your support person is NED for 7 years, so encouraging!
 
Anne

Hey everyone it's been awhile since I posted last. My Oncologist has me doing scans every six months don't know if thats good or bad. Had my scans a couple weeks ago and I'm still ned. Iv been on targeted therapy for 2.5 years and ned for 2 years and very grateful. Lungevity set me up with peer to peer support 2 years ago. He has been on the same targeted therapy I am on for 7 years with clear scans. I am hoping for the same results Hope everyone is doing well and I'll check in later
Chuck