Judy M2

I haven't had the procedure but Tagrisso should help after the fluid has been drained. Plenty of people report that Tagrisso dried up their fluid completely. Two weeks is a short time, so give it time to work. For me, chemo and radiation resolved the fluid in my left lung. Best of luck with the procedure. 

Karen, it is inevitable that kids in school will get Covid, the flu and a bunch of other weird infections. My sister (who does not have cancer) got Covid last year from kids in the pre-school she is director of, despite all the cleaning and disinfecting--I don't think they wore masks anymore. She was fine but then she's healthy with no underlying conditions. She doesn't really understand why I still isolate, and I don't think that most healthy people can.

I'm vaxxed and boosted and will be scheduling the new booster with my flu shot very soon because I'm 6 months out from my last booster. 
My husband and I have never had Covid to our knowledge. We have strict safety practices. We only socialize indoors with a small group of friends and family who are vaxxed, boosted and test negative. If someone who visits is coming off a plane, the visit is outdoors only. I've been to one restaurant in the last year and it was outdoor dining. Our biggest disappointment was having to cancel our attendance at an annual NFL reunion last month because we'd be indoors with too many people whose status we don't know. 
My biggest worry would be getting long Covid. I have fought hard to be healthy and am very risk-averse now. The thought of being in a crowd fills me with anxiety, and in fact my skin crawls when I have to go to Costco (even with a good mask). 

Hi everyone, I haven't been checking in for a few months. My husband became disabled last year and I was the caregiver this time. But he has had surgery and is completely recovered. It was a long haul, for sure. 
I'm sorry I couldn't attend the Hope Summit. I always appreciated the virtual conferences. 
I'm still doing well and continue to be NED. I've been on Tagrisso for 38 months now (after chemo and radiation). When I was first diagnosed, I didn't think I'd be around at 70, but I will reach that milestone next month. 
I was so sorry to read that Justin passed away. He and @Izzywent through so much and yet they were so supportive of everyone here. Izzy, if you read this, my condolences to you and the family. 
 

Hi everyone, I haven't been checking in for a few months. My husband became disabled last year and I was the caregiver this time. But he has had surgery and is completely recovered. It was a long haul, for sure. 
I'm sorry I couldn't attend the Hope Summit. I always appreciated the virtual conferences. 
I'm still doing well and continue to be NED. I've been on Tagrisso for 38 months now (after chemo and radiation). When I was first diagnosed, I didn't think I'd be around at 70, but I will reach that milestone next month. 
I was so sorry to read that Justin passed away. He and @Izzywent through so much and yet they were so supportive of everyone here. Izzy, if you read this, my condolences to you and the family. 
 

Hi everyone, I haven't been checking in for a few months. My husband became disabled last year and I was the caregiver this time. But he has had surgery and is completely recovered. It was a long haul, for sure. 
I'm sorry I couldn't attend the Hope Summit. I always appreciated the virtual conferences. 
I'm still doing well and continue to be NED. I've been on Tagrisso for 38 months now (after chemo and radiation). When I was first diagnosed, I didn't think I'd be around at 70, but I will reach that milestone next month. 
I was so sorry to read that Justin passed away. He and @Izzywent through so much and yet they were so supportive of everyone here. Izzy, if you read this, my condolences to you and the family. 
 

Hi everyone, I haven't been checking in for a few months. My husband became disabled last year and I was the caregiver this time. But he has had surgery and is completely recovered. It was a long haul, for sure. 
I'm sorry I couldn't attend the Hope Summit. I always appreciated the virtual conferences. 
I'm still doing well and continue to be NED. I've been on Tagrisso for 38 months now (after chemo and radiation). When I was first diagnosed, I didn't think I'd be around at 70, but I will reach that milestone next month. 
I was so sorry to read that Justin passed away. He and @Izzywent through so much and yet they were so supportive of everyone here. Izzy, if you read this, my condolences to you and the family. 
 

Hi everyone, I haven't been checking in for a few months. My husband became disabled last year and I was the caregiver this time. But he has had surgery and is completely recovered. It was a long haul, for sure. 
I'm sorry I couldn't attend the Hope Summit. I always appreciated the virtual conferences. 
I'm still doing well and continue to be NED. I've been on Tagrisso for 38 months now (after chemo and radiation). When I was first diagnosed, I didn't think I'd be around at 70, but I will reach that milestone next month. 
I was so sorry to read that Justin passed away. He and @Izzywent through so much and yet they were so supportive of everyone here. Izzy, if you read this, my condolences to you and the family. 
 

Hi everyone, I haven't been checking in for a few months. My husband became disabled last year and I was the caregiver this time. But he has had surgery and is completely recovered. It was a long haul, for sure. 
I'm sorry I couldn't attend the Hope Summit. I always appreciated the virtual conferences. 
I'm still doing well and continue to be NED. I've been on Tagrisso for 38 months now (after chemo and radiation). When I was first diagnosed, I didn't think I'd be around at 70, but I will reach that milestone next month. 
I was so sorry to read that Justin passed away. He and @Izzywent through so much and yet they were so supportive of everyone here. Izzy, if you read this, my condolences to you and the family. 
 

Sally, I had carboplatin and taxol  along with radiation before starting targeted therapy. I'm not cured of my Stage IIIB lung cancer but I am NED and in October had my 3-year cancerversary. 

When I was undergoing active treatment, I read that lavender was a soothing/calming scent. I asked my husband to buy me a lavender plant that I kept on my nightstand (I was pretty bed-bound at that point). Ginger and peppermint are also good scents. Maybe get some peppermint-flavored lip balm to focus your brain on that scent. Try only eating cold foods so you don't get a whiff when heating up or cooking food. 
For your bathroom, buy some PooPouri or M9 spray (made by Hollister). Both will make a big difference. 
In your case, I'm wondering whether an integrative medicine physician could be a good addition to your team. I really appreciated mine. The downside is that it's usually not covered by insurance. 
For me, nausea was worse than pain and I had plenty of it after my abdominal surgery. You can get through this. It does get better. 
P. S. I just learned about NOSA menthol nose plugs, which are used by nurses to mask objectionable odors. Available on Amazon. 

Justin, just sending you some encouragement during this difficult time. I've been in a similar place and understand how you feel. I hope your care team can help you with your side effects. 

Debbie, in addition to Karen's good advice, the American Cancer Society can provide financial assistance for travel and lodging. You may want to look into that. Take care. 

Hi Kristin, it is best to stay away from Dr. Google, and pay no attention to statistics. 
It's vital that the biopsied tissue is sent for biomarker testing, as Karen suggests. 
I'm a 3-year survivor (so far) of Stage IIIB EGFR+ NSCLC. I just want you to know that it is possible to live well with our disease, even at Stage IV. 

Debbie, in addition to Karen's good advice, the American Cancer Society can provide financial assistance for travel and lodging. You may want to look into that. Take care. 

Justin, just sending you some encouragement during this difficult time. I've been in a similar place and understand how you feel. I hope your care team can help you with your side effects. 

I'm so sorry for your loss. His journey was so difficult and you were very supportive. I'm sure he appreciated everything you did for him. My condolences. 

Justin, just sending you some encouragement during this difficult time. I've been in a similar place and understand how you feel. I hope your care team can help you with your side effects. 

I'm so sorry for your loss. His journey was so difficult and you were very supportive. I'm sure he appreciated everything you did for him. My condolences. 

Debbie, in addition to Karen's good advice, the American Cancer Society can provide financial assistance for travel and lodging. You may want to look into that. Take care. 

Justin, just sending you some encouragement during this difficult time. I've been in a similar place and understand how you feel. I hope your care team can help you with your side effects. 

While our bodies can have a wide range of naturally occurring, harmless mutations in different genes, driver mutations are key to driving the development of cancer.
There are many driver mutations. Researchers have been developing drugs that target specific driver mutations in lung cancer, creating therapies for those patients whose lung cancer harbors them.
Read our latest blog where Dr. John Heymach, MD Anderson Cancer Center and member of LUNGevity’s Scientific Advisory Board, dissucses making personalized medicine even more personal.
https://www.lungevity.org/blogs/researchers-make-new-inroads-for-egfr-exon20-nsclc-patients

Hi Justin, so sorry to hear you have intense side effects from treatment!
Don't your doctors take calls from patients about symptoms? Do not assume you need to ride things out on your own and reach out to your hospital asking for help with symptoms including pain and skin reactions. No need to suffer in silence. There must be pain killers and other medications to help with symptoms. I find my 'side effects' medications help a lot in me tolerating targeted therapy.
Hope your pain subsides very shortly. Take care!

Julie,
A singular situation for sure.  The fact that they couldn't get tissue and the mass seems to be reducing at this time gives a level of credence to your doctors' opinion that this may not be cancer at all.  I had failed biopsy attempts as well, and wound up getting surgery to confirmed once and for all if my growth was malignant or not.  In my case it was and they removed it.  I can understand that they may not want to put you through such an operation while the mass is shrinking though.  It's not a terrible surgery but it is still challenging.  
Others may have different experience and opinions, but I would recommend sticking with the doctors' approach and pushing , when necessary, to get relief from any symptoms caused by the collapsed lung.  Please keep us updated and let us know if you are getting relief from the discomfort this causes.  If you do need to have thoracic surgery I have information to share to help you prepare for, go through, and recover from such surgery.
At this point you are not diagnosed with Lung Cancer so let's hold off on that discussion.  I have all digits crossed that you get through this with a clean bill, a disappearing mass, and no further treatment needed.
Lou 

@Judy M2 Thank you for your sage advice. I've come to that conclusion too. He's getting the best care available to him right now.
You're right that this is not true for all types and stages. I watched this and they mentioned that the blood biopsies could pick up on something that the tissue missed. In stage four nsclc the lack of circulating dna isn't really an issue, and this really has to be considered with things like the risks of repeated tissue biopsy procedure and of course the turnaround time.