SamGirl50

Good day everyone,
I haven't been on in a while. After my vats in Nov. 2020, I've been trying to live my life as if this whole cancer thing never happened but I should have known it wouldn't be possible. Day by day the fear and anxiety alone was/is hard to ignore. Now I'm looking at a recurrence with a lymph node involved. I'm scheduled for a bronchoscopy on the 21st for the lymph node and the new tumor is in the same lung but the LRL. Now I'm living in fear again. What does it mean if a lymph node is involved. Is there still a chance for cure/NED. They mentioned not wanting to give me surgery again but if the lymph node is negative they will do a radiation seed for the nodule but if it's positive they will do chemo. I don't know, just so confused and tired of being afraid. 

Sam
I too struggle with anxiety and fear not knowing what my future is. I've been NED for 1 1/2 years now. I live my life and do the things I did before diagnosis. Sam keep fighting you CAN get there 
Chuck
 

Hi SamGirl,
Sorry to hear about your recurrence.  LC is one of the most recurrent forms of cancer so we do live with that aspect of the disease.  I had my lobectomy (LRL) in May of 2019 and through this past August I have been NED.  Despite this I know that there is always a possibility for recurrence (even at my Stage 1 there is a recurrence rate of 30-35%).  But like you, I just try my best to live my life and not focus on the cancer.  Otherwise I'd lose all the joy of living and that would be a tragedy.
Regarding the lymph node...  I'm assuming that you have a recurrence in the lung and something is showing up in the lymph node as well.  Was that discovered with a CT or PET Scan?  Either way, in answer to your question "Yes, I have seen many of our survivors here who've had recurrence and different types of involvement and have come through treatment NED.)"
There is quite a bit of hope offered considering the large number of survivors on this site and forum, and I hope that you'll take a bit of time to read a blog titled, "10 Steps to Surviving Lung Cancer; From a Survivor".  It can offer some important information on surviving this disease.  Please keep us updated as you continue your journey.
Lou

Good day everyone,
I haven't been on in a while. After my vats in Nov. 2020, I've been trying to live my life as if this whole cancer thing never happened but I should have known it wouldn't be possible. Day by day the fear and anxiety alone was/is hard to ignore. Now I'm looking at a recurrence with a lymph node involved. I'm scheduled for a bronchoscopy on the 21st for the lymph node and the new tumor is in the same lung but the LRL. Now I'm living in fear again. What does it mean if a lymph node is involved. Is there still a chance for cure/NED. They mentioned not wanting to give me surgery again but if the lymph node is negative they will do a radiation seed for the nodule but if it's positive they will do chemo. I don't know, just so confused and tired of being afraid. 

Good day everyone,
I haven't been on in a while. After my vats in Nov. 2020, I've been trying to live my life as if this whole cancer thing never happened but I should have known it wouldn't be possible. Day by day the fear and anxiety alone was/is hard to ignore. Now I'm looking at a recurrence with a lymph node involved. I'm scheduled for a bronchoscopy on the 21st for the lymph node and the new tumor is in the same lung but the LRL. Now I'm living in fear again. What does it mean if a lymph node is involved. Is there still a chance for cure/NED. They mentioned not wanting to give me surgery again but if the lymph node is negative they will do a radiation seed for the nodule but if it's positive they will do chemo. I don't know, just so confused and tired of being afraid. 

Hi all! I just got out of the hospital for something not cancer-related, at least not lung-cancer related. I went into the ER because of severe abdominal cramping and vomiting and it turned out I had a small-bowel obstruction, most likely due to scarring or adhesions from my surgery and radiation for gynecologic cancer. That was 11 years ago and this is just turning up NOW? I'm indignant! I really should be grateful that this hasn't cropped up in all this time, since it's not rare after pelvic surgery.
Fortunately, they were able to get this sorted without surgery, although it involved some uncomfortable procedures. As a survivor of 3 primary cancers, I'm used to those as I'm sure all of us on these forums are. 
I'm on a limited diet, not sure for how long. It's kind of like what I ate when I had the chemo with concurrent radiation. (low fiber, soft foods, etc) Or rather what I couldn't eat.(most everything I liked). At least this time I can eat dairy products! Yay for ice cream! so long as it doesn't have any lumps of good stuff in it. 
Being in the hospital in the age of Covid is an additional challenge: overworked nurses , many of them travelers: overworked everybody else;  no visitors when you have a shared room , etc.
Guess I'm just needing to vent. I'm grateful it's not (another) cancer and that I'm alive and NED after 3.
Bridget