bunny

ha, wow, she really does!

beautiful tribute, terrible loss.

this one hurts worse than some. she was a friend and light in the world. we spoke by phone several times and sent a few little things back and forth. I, too, have reached out a few times with no response and suspected but wanted to be wrong. I will miss you Cindi, I already do.

we had a very nice Christmas. small, quiet as usual...with the major addition of baby Levi, of course. he was the star of the show.

Wendy, they've actually already stopped the Tarceva. her last Rx finished in Sept. and they told her not to refill. So this week we'll get to ask more questions, but she's already off it - which may be why I feel a little squirrely-er than usual going into this appointment. Thanks, everyone, for responses. In a nutshell, Dr. West said the concept behind stopping Tarceva is to avoid having the cancer become resistant to it. I guess, in theory, if she has growth they could start her on it again. She has had no sign of disease since her first post-surgery scan in 2005 (surgery in June, scan in Sept.) so we're essentially talking about proving a negative here. Ack. My head hurts. LOL I will keep you all posted, for sure.

How terrible. It's a horror when any of us lose a loved one to this terrible disease but...that poor little boy . Prayers for the family.

I just want to concur with what Ned said, that it sounds like a pleural effusion. Fluid *in* the lung would be a pneumonia, which my mom had after surgery. I encourage you to ask the doctor, though. Sometimes they forget that it's a foreign language to us when our family members are newly diagnosed. I remember when my mom was being treated emergently for a blood clot in her lung, I was horrified to hear the nurses say that she had a pulmonary embolism. I was like, oh no, not that, too!? It's the same thing, turns out. Good luck with the rest of it, and I know what a relief it is to feel like a plan is in place.

thanks. I reposted on onctalk before I saw this, but what you say makes sense. I'll head back over there and see what Dr. West has to say. it struck me as a 'if ain't broke don't fix it' scenario. thanks again for your responses, all.

So Suki's onc has stopped her Tarceva for no other reason than she has been on it for 2 years and they 'have no data' for patients on it longer than that. I asked the question on onctalk but didn't get a response (or I don't know how to find it! ). Has anyone else heard of this? We're seeing the doc for her 6-month check next week so I will ask him, too, but I wondered whether anyone else has heard of this. She's been NED since her surgery in June 2005 and Tarceva is the only drug she's recieved.

sounds like your dad is making good decisions and has lots of support from you. my mom couldn't have chemo at all due to complications from surgery but has did well on Tarceva for 2 years.

prayers and best wishes for the PET scan. and I share your frustration with the short shrift LC often recieves. it's not right.

I remember mine so well, more for the first response I got... I was out of my head with fear and questions, and Patkid told me to 'come in and rest a spell'. it was like coming home.

fffffrrrreeeezing cold and grey. I am home this AM because Levi's babysitter's son is sick and it feels like a snow day! woo hoo!

holy moly, they are GORGEOUS. wow, such pretty girls! I can't believe how big Caroline is, compared to when I first signed on.

um...no.

my mom got a CT scan every 3 months. I remember thinking it was a long time to wait after her surgery, but that's what they did. now it's every 6 months. like the others have said, I would definitely insist on a CT scan versus a chest xray. good luck!

I just wanted to chime in and congratulate you for being such a great advocate for your husband. we had to 'demand' a few tests ourselves, even after my mom's diagnosis was clear, and were always vindicated in doing so. for example, 3 weeks after her surgery, her breathing took a turn for the worse. the on-call doc told me it was par for the course post-op but I took her in anyway, and sure enough she had a blood clot in her remaining lung. so you just keep going with your gut, and keep the faith. xo amie

I love what Sharyn said - that maybe Keith is giving you signs in the form of new people in your life, a new job that takes you a little further from the outer trappings of acute grief, etc. I have no experience that comes close to yours, but you sound pretty OK to me, girl. pretty amazing, actually. xo amie

you know? I like them all. I just love Christmas lights. for the tree at my mom's, I prefer multicolored lights. this year we'll have room for our own tree! yippee!

sorry to hear you have another diagnosis to deal with. LC was my mom's second cancer, too, and she had many of your feelings. hang in there, sounds like the LC is early on and treatment should be a breeze for a toughie like you. xo

you've gotten great advice already, but I wanted to chime in. read as much as you can/want to, but make sure you ignore the prognoses alot of the literature gives. also, I'm not sure why you're 'assuming satge IV', but never lose hope. mom is stage III3b, and cancer free 7 years after diagnosis. not without alot of difficult treatment, but cancer free and living her life. bring a pen. don't be afraid to call after the appointment if there are questions you forgot. we found it very helpful to make friends with the head nurse in mom's onc.'s office. it's hard to get the doc on the phone but the nurse always takes our calls and has answers for us. hang in there, and best to all of you. xo amie

grateful for my husband, married a year tomorrow. grateful for my new apartment and its fancy new kitchen. I have a dishwasher! grateful that my little boy's first fever came and went without anything more eventful than that. grateful for my friend Pat (see above). my god speaks through her so often.

how fun! Amie Woodside, Queens, New York City union-side labor lawyer 1 son, 6 months (and 2 days) old, married to David the Irish for exactly one year tomorrow! mom Suki is a 7+ year NSCLC survivor. also have a brother, Justin. and a dad Joel, who is my BFF, although he hasn't been Suki's husband for close to 30 years.

fried onions

white meat. actually I prefer the stuffing, so I put just enough turkey on my plate to justify enough stuffing to feed a small army. last year I was pregnant and couldn't have any of the stuffing (cooked in the bird, risk of raw turkey juices, etc. etc.) so I plan to make up for it this year.