LouT

Unchanged is always great.  Was this a PET? When was your last PET?  Wondering if it could be scar tissue.

Wonderful news and your stay is. The best medicine ever. Enjoy andrlax with the great news you received.

So very 😁 for you. Enjoy your great news.

moment with this disease. As usual my wonderful support system is available to help when ever I need them. In the meantime I continue creating goals to live for and experience with my family. Non are exotic or from any made up bucket list. However every goal I reach becomes a memory for me and my family to hold on to forever. They provide me the will to go forward and face the days I can survive knowing what this disease is known to do to many of us with this diagnosis

Good to know you've hooked up with our best friend NED! Yay for you guys!

How lovely! Enjoy!

Congrats! May you remain that way forever.

@Pstar  This sounds perfect. I know you will enjoy!
 

@RJN How did I miss this amazing news! I'm so happy for you. It's funny how feelings before scans can vary, from "ho-hum" to "I'm terrified about progression...." I'm just thrilled for you. 

Cara,
Since you are the “reader type” here is some information on treatment options.  It is broad, but you’ll see good information about surgery there.  The “Surgery” section under “Treatment Options” can be found here.  One line from the criteria for a surgical approach found on the page is the following;
"When surgery is an option in a patient with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), it is the main treatment because it provides the best chance for a cure."
Whatever the outcome I pray for you both to get a curative result.
Lou

Thank you Karen..I will be on Oahu in Waianae…my husband rents a beachfront house for 3 months…haven’t been able to join him the last 2 years but am so grateful also that I can this year. Will be there for the month of March and then we will both come home.
Pam

None at all and no headaches. Feeling punk getting over a cold but not even a lot of coughing.  

Thanks, @LouT - I'm a "read and ask questions" type and, unfortunately, my husband is not.  He sometimes relies on me doing that for him, and sometimes wants me to just respect the choices he makes, no questions asked - so I'm trying to walk that very fine line.  I've told him that surgery is the best option; I don't seem to be swaying him and I know better than to push.  He will start radiation in about a week to 10 days (having his "planning" CT today).  His radiation oncologist is very reassuring; I'm trying to figure out how or whether to urge him to be cautious in his optimism.
I will still read and ask questions - just in case he turns to me for information and advice - but I don't expect that he will.

Taletrectinib currently in phase 2 clinical trials seems to be having positive results for Ros1 positive lungs cancers. Here's a story out of ESMO 2023 from onclive. Then a Link to the trial 
https://www.onclive.com/view/taletrectinib-continues-to-demonstrate-high-clinical-activity-in-advanced-ros1-nsclc
 
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04919811
 

Hopefully you never need it.

Edivebuddy, radiologist set it for 90 days instead of 60. I’ll get update end of Feb. No headaches, visual changes. Otherwise okay. TY for asking - you too? 

@edivebuddy, thank you for posting this. I'm saving it for future reference. 

@JuneK I'm unfortunately very familiar with cerebral radiation necrosis.  Unfortunately the standard of care is lacking.  Not only lacking but lacking in any medical sense. Standard of care is to rescan in 3 months absent any symptoms. Problem is if you become symptomatic it means you've probably suffered damage.  I had Gamma knife to my tumor resection bed in November 2020.  End of September 2021 scan showed progression or cerebral  radiation necrosis.  SOC  was scan again in 3 months.  We scanned at 8 weeks because my original tumors were not all that well behaved. The day I go to discuss the MRI with the radiation oncologist I drive by myself to the cancer center.  When the RO came in I noticed I had lost my vision to the left.  In the few minutes since parking the car I went from 100% normal and asymptomatic to having left homonymous hemianopsia. ( I can't see left of center)
 
There are no approved treatments for radiation necrosis but there are ways to treat it.  And as any doctor knows cerebral damage is almost always permanent.   Mine is definitely permanent. To this day I'm on Avastin ,(Bevacizumab), vitamin e and boswellia.
 
Initially I was on Pentoxifylline, Dexamethasone, and vitamin e. Why it's not standard of care to prescribe this at the first sign is beyond me.  It's extremely well tolerated,except the Dex, and super cheap.  Without insurance it's about$80 for 3 months worth.  Boswellia I take because you can't stay on steroids forever and it controls the edema.
I believe with every fiber in my body every one of us that have had radiation should have Pentoxifylline And Vitamin e at the first sign of necrosis. Many breast cancer patients get it prophylactically.
It would have cost a few hundred and may have saved my vision. Now it's cost over half a million in treatment.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can also work. It's not widely available. We have it here but it 2 hours twice a day for 6 weeks.
Surgery and Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) can also treat it.
 
Make sure your next  MRI is a perfusion MRI.  While not 100% accurate, it's definitely preferable to an invasive biopsy. A perfusion MRI measures blood volume.  Dead tissue has no blood flow so in theory necrosis should have none while tumors require lots of blood flow. The lack of blood volume would point more towards radiation necrosis.
A PET/CT (A PET MRI if you're lucky enough) can also be used.  While normally absolutely useless for brain studies, the PET can also help to distinguish between a tumor and necrosis.  While a tumor is going to be just as GDG avid as the rest of your brain, necrosis will show Hypometabolism. I get them both.  
First sentence in Findings:
Hypometabolism at the site of the treated lesion in the right occipital lobe.
 
 

I’m an adenocarcinoma stage iv  survivor in my 5th bonus year thanks to Keytruda and highly compatible body chemistry. Lucky to have few side effects so far on this journey … I’m 74 and looking forward to another 10 years. 
This bonus time blessed me with 6 great grand children: 4 boys and 2 girls; few more trips to Europe plus annual visits with friends and family from Seattle to the Keys, Maine to San Diego with stops in between. Gotta go when we can go right? 
Deeply appreciate your support, empathy, hints, and camaraderie. Hope my own prayers, strength and guardian angels might help others along the way. 

I too was frustrated at first then a contact passed me the link. An App would be great. 

Hi and welcome.  Sorry you had trouble finding us but glad you did.  Your short history shows remission since 3/21 and that is good news.  Would you like to share a bit more about yourself and let us know how we can help you?

Lou

Cara,
The counsel your getting here is sound.  I was diagnosed with Stage 1 early on in 2019, had a lower-right lobectomy, no adjuvant treatment and since that time all scans have been negative for malignancy.  So, I’m in the boat of “get the surgery”, but I also believe that each patient can and should decide on the treatment that based on their own wants/needs.  Unless there are other mitigating conditions or reasons surgery (particularly lobectomy) would be the “gold standard” treatment.
Again, having said all the above the patient’s wishes rule, just make sure that his doctor is giving him all the information on outcomes to make that decision.  I pray for good results regardless of approach.
Lou

Unfortunately I don't think he'll be able to receive immunotherapy at stage 1 unless his tumor was larger than 4cm.
 
Someone should run a clinical trial of chemoradiation plus immunotherapy for early stage lung cancer.  I wonder if it would be ethical.
 

I would tend to side with @edivebuddy here, based on my own experience. I had SBRT to my adrenal gland, which initially appeared to work, but resulted in an aggressive recurrence a year later. Granted, my surgery for the same adrenal gland was much tougher than SBRT and I am only 7 months out, but I would have taken the surgery first had I been given the offer. As a counterweight - the lesions in my lungs and lymph nodes eradicated with a combo of conventional radiation and immunotherapy. 

I've had many surgeries over the years and none were as bad as I thought they would be.  
I statistically had about a 1% chance of making it past 6 months.  I'm here 42 months later because while not believing in odds per se. I do believe they're useful in choosing treatment options.  I always choose the one with the best odds for success. Ask the radiation oncologist what the 5 year survival rate is for SBRT.  Then ask the same thing from the thoracic surgeon. 
Finding lung cancer early is so rare. 
Continued good luck to the booth of you.  It's very possible to beat this no matter what direction you choose.