Candy

Hi Spanky, Like everyone else, I sure am sorry you have to be here. I also "lurked" before I got the courage to actually post and I guess its not an unusual thing because a lot of people seem to have done the same thing. I find anything that makes it real scares me. I spent the first 2 months telling myself that I WOULD wake up. Being supportive for your Mom means more to her than she can ever begin to tell you - I am sure of this! The day my husband was scheduled to have his biopsy I felt like I simply couldn't put one foot in front of the other, I didn't have a clue how I was going to actually get into the car to go to the hospital. I hadn't asked anyone to come with us and I was determined that my kids should not have to shoulder one single bit of responsibility for any of this. In my defense I just wanted to protect them from the whole thing. While I was packing up things for the hospital my newly married 21 year old son walked in and announced he was coming with us and we better not say no. I still can't put into words how relieved I was to see him or the emotions I went through when I realized that he wanted and needed to be there for us. Your Mom must feel much the same way. I'm glad to hear she is responding well to the chemo. Keep on posting!

Hi Bess, Taking the plunge and posting was hard for me also. I just don't want to do anything that might make it real. My husband (and me too) also smoked for many years. I quit about 21 years ago and my husband quit about 30 years ago. Do not let anyone make you feel guilty. KatieB is right! The guilt belongs with the cigarette companies. We are victims and soon we will be survivors! I love that.

Hmmm, I posted a reply this morning and I have no idea where it went, so, if its somewhere that it doesn't belong I'm sorry! I can't say often enough how glad I am that I found this place. It is such a comfort. Thank you for such a warm welcome. For me cancer has given new meaning to the phrase "one day at a time". I know my husband can beat this with a lot of help from God and the doctors and a little bit of luck. It is possible. I am relieved to hear that it may be possible for him to continue with the treatment longer than 6 months if the cancer isn't gone. Sometimes the doctors just leave you hanging. After Hugh's first 3 treatments the doctor set us up for a CAT Scan and said we would talk on Monday and decide if it made sense to continue. I was crushed. We had the scan and waited all weekend and I kept wondering what he meant. Would he just tell us the treatment wasn't working and send us home? I am also guilty of not asking questions if I think my husband won't like the answer. He has a wonderful outlook and believes that he will get better. I don't want to ask questions that might ruin his attitude because I believe that your outlook is a big part of this. I get really angry sometimes when the doctor ends every sentence with "but this cancer almost always comes back" I KNOW the worst case scenario, how about telling us some of the best case ones? On the bright side, Hugh's scans were very good, but, the doctor reminded us that this cancer almost always returns after treatment is done and he even added "so the most important thing is for you to have fun". Great! I know that they feel they have to prepare you for the worst, I just want so badly to hear the best.

I am also new to these boards, finding them was a really good thing for me. Just "talking" (typing?) with other people who are going through much the same thing as I am is a comfort. I wonder if you realize how much hope your story has given me. Your father was in remission for such a long time that I know its not impossible for my husband. I know that it hurts just as much whether its been in remission for 20 days or 20 years and I am so sorry that you have to go through this. I had read someplace that if SCLC was in remission for longer than 6 months that the odds of getting it into remission again were very good. I wish the best for your Dad.

Well, I've "lurked" around this website for a couple of weeks. I ran across it while searching the web for information on SCLC. Everytime I got online I would promise myself never to do it again. Too many horror stories. But, I just couldn't help it. These boards have been a Godsend for me the last couple of weeks. I found it when, in desperation, I searched for lung cancer survival stories and then bookmarked the Goodnews section and most days its the only place I go. My 59 year old husband was diagnosed with SCLC in December. Same old story I see in many of the posts. He and I both had a bout with some kind of mild flu. A couple of days later he developed a cough and went to the doctor. He was twice diagnosed with pneumonia and on antibiotics. After the second xray the doctor noticed that the xrays hadn't changed and things just went crazy from there. He had a CAT scan and we went to see a specialist on December 3 and he told us he thought it was cancer. When we told him we had a 5 day Florida vacation planned in 2 days (our first ever with no children in our 24 married years) he said without hesitation - go, it won't make a difference, this has been there 3 months or more and 5 days won't change a thing. My husband already had the back pain so maybe he was right to tell us to go, but I struggle with the wisdom of that decision every single day. I absolutely did not want to go, my husband wanted to go very badly. We went, we managed to have a good time together even with the possibility of cancer hanging over our heads, and nothing can ever erase the memories we made. We had the bronchoscopy as soon as we returned and we were first told that they didn't think it had spread but further testing proved different. He has always had back problems but I think I knew in my heart that the horrible pain he was having was definitely NOT his usual back pain. Also after the biopsy he got very sick, very quickly. The night before his first treatment we had to call the ambulance and on the day he had his first treatment scheduled he could barely walk into the Doctor's office and had to lay down as soon as we got him there. The good news is that the pain is completely under control with a very low dose of oxycontin. He is currently going through chemo (3 days of chemo and 2 1/2 weeks off. We just finished round 5 - one more to go. His most recent CAT Scan (after the 3rd treatment) showed a big improvement. He feels pretty lousy right now, but it seems more related to the therapy than the disease. He doesn't cough and is hardly short of breath at all. I hate to see the therapy end, I feel "proactive" or something while we are doing it. I could go on and on, but I won't. I am grateful that I found this place. I have been reluctant to actually post or register because it would be another step to making this awful thing real. Thanks for listening.