rvillella

I would think that it is only a portion of the DNA that changes. Since the strands contain so much information one little maladjustment in the part of the sequence would cause the cancer. I'm currently in a blind study to try and determine markers in the DNA for Cancer, to try nd help in early detection. Ralph

Jim; I am in my third week of radiation and I can tell you that anything that eases the pain in the gullet is worth it. My RAD ONC prescribes magic mouthwash (nasty tasting stuff) and my Chemo OMC says take the pain killers from my surgery. All in all it is rough but doable. Not everything goes down right but you have to keep trying. I got bad enough this week that they had to pump fluid into me before my chemo because I was a little dehydrated. Soft foods seem to work for me. And some things that I didn't think I could eat I can. Everyone's different. Praying that you sail through without the discomfort. Ralph

Finally, Monday was the first day back to work. Nothing serious to report there, made it through a 7 hour day without any ill effects. Made it to my 49th birthday . My better half took me to see Carlos Santana on Sunday as a partial birthday gift . Night was cold but the music was great. I'm in my 3rd week of chemo and radiation and everything seems to be okay so far. A little trouble with my blood pressure and heart rate. Seems to be jumping up and down alot. Doctors aren't sure what it is but I am keeping a close watch on it all. Prayers to all. Ralph

Love the Happy Dance although mine is really slow these days. Hard to dance fast and furious when your one lung is working for two. But we do it anyway. Prayers for strength and happiness. Ralph

My knowledge of Pet Scans is this. They put in a radioactive dye in sugar water, shoot it into a vein and then wait for the tumor or whatever to start sucking up all the sugar water as it eats. On the Pet Scan I saw some really heavy coloring where the Tumor was. With Carbo/Taxol it is supposed to attack cells that are rapidly dividing (EATING) and kill them. If this is the case the cancer cells won't shine like they should if there was nothing killing them. Not sure if this helps any. I took the Pet scan after they had done a bronchoscopy to determine what was blocking the bronch tube. So it may be more than just the chemo stopping them right now. As for Radiation my Rad Onc says they need to focus as much as possible on the bad spots and leave as much of the good spots alone so they don't kill all the cells, just the cancer ones. Prayers to all. Ralph

Well today I started the CHEMO portion of the therapy. I am doing a low dose of Carbo/Taxol right now until all the radiation is done and then she (hemo/onc) wants a normal dose 1 week and then 3 weeks later another one. Right now I don't feel any side effects , but then this is the first one and it is low so it may not hit right away. Yesterday was a really banner day, the Surgeon said I was done with him, Not completely, but I get to do everything through the Onc's now. I can drive again and I don't have to be on oxygen all the time, only when I sleep. Seems my respirations fall to low when i sleep right now so I have to wait a little longer to get rid of the oxygen completely. And I can go back to work part time they said. Just have to haul around old faithful with me. I'll keep you all posted on what is happpening with my meds and stuff as time goes on. I appreciate all the good vibes, prayers and inspiration you all have sent my way, It truly helps when the biggest question on your mind seems to be "What Did I Do So Wrong in my life.". Now I know better from all you wonderful people. Ralph

Vicky; I really don't have any answers either. I am just a starting freshman but have had to wait on some of the treatments because of surgery with dirty margins. I have an extremely hard time of waiting and all the beautiful people here have helped me with my anxiety. I will pray that you are done with the rounds and can spend time with your children. Mine are all grown and out of the house and I have 6 grandkids which I don't get to see to much. But when I'm through with all these treatments, I will be seeing them more than they want. Ralph

Great news. Glad to hear he is having some fun. Ralph

Hi All; Just a quick update on everything so far. Started the radiation treatments on Wednesday. Seems like a big fuss for so little time. I get into the form, they line me up and then I get one dose then the machine moves and I get another. Takes all of 10 minutes. Fortunately the technicians are all nice and I can joke around a little. Had a scare on Monday. I woke up with a stuffy nose and couldn't seem to breathe like I was a couple of days before that. Took my temp and it was up to 99 degrees. Kept taking my temp all day and just before 3 PM it was up to 100.5.. Called the surgical PA and he told me to try and get an appointment with my Primary and failing that to go to the emergency room. Ended up in the emergency room till almost midnight, my poor wife was so tired after working all day and coming home to take me to the doctor. Ended up with some antibiotics. Not really sure what it is, but this is the way it started last time so both of us were kinda scared. Since then I'm having a really hard time sleeping at night. Guess I'm afraid it's all happening again. The ONC isn't to worried though. He just said to continue the treatments and keep him posted. Ralph

Darci; My Radiation ONC is telling me not to eat a whole lot at one time but to space it out over the whole day. Something like six smaller meals. He also wants me to eat what I want as long as it is high in calories and such. I have only gained back 4 of the 25 pounds I lost during all this and my surgery was just over a month ago. I haven't had enough radiation treatments yet to know if I will have the problem with swallowing but I hope your FIL doesn't get those problems. Haven't started the chemo yet but I'm hoping it won't kick me to hard. Good thoughts and prayers for you and your family. Ralph

You are an inspiration to me Connie. I want to be just like you. Congradulations. Ralph

Saw the Radiation Oncologist yesterday. He is a real breath of fresh air. So many doctors today don't tell you like it is, just tell you what they think you should know and leave it at that. Dr. Anders tells you everything about the procedure and the possible side effects and then answers your questions straight on. I am starting a 6 week regimen of radiation and a chemo of carbo/taxol. The radiation starts next week, about a month after the surgery and the chemo we're not sure of. I see that doctor (VA versus Teaching Hospital) on the 26th of this month. Just wondering what I may face in the near future. I am really wondering about the not being able to swallow part. Is it really that bad, or is it manageable? Thanks for the prayers and the help so far. Ralph

My wife tells me that I am somewhat like your FIL in that I am not the same after the surgery and the diagnosis. I have learned to pay more attention to her and our kids (2 cats and a dog) so that I don't fall into that despair. I have taken care of myself and my family for to many years to be beaten down by something like this but I still get really mad at myself for not being able to do all the things I used to. And on top of all that my wife is my rock and my soul and we haven't even been married a year yet and she is holding me up and won't let me fall into that mind frame. Just remind your FIL that he can feel sorry for himself all he wants but he can't give up without a fight. Ralph

Glad to hear your FIL made it through okay. Hope the good news continues. Will continue to keep him in my thoughts. Ralph

I guess Mrs. Reeve's didn't read the part about not smoking. Oh wait she didn't smoke and according to everything I have read she never has. So it's not that smoking causes LC it's that everyone believes it does which makes it a bad thing to back in government, when they are suing the tobacco companies for not telling everyone the truth in the first place. Unfortunately when stars or others start dying of LC then money will start pouring in from other areas for research.

Since I was in the Air Force I have been in almost every state except the far northeast and upper midwest. I have lived in NM,ID,WA,FL,VA,AK, been stationed in Germany,Turkey,Iraq,Philippines and been through numerous other countries. Ralph

As someone who has lung cancer I know that I couldn't keep going knowing that I was relying on my wife and family to much. After the first week at home I asked my wife to go back to work and let me fend for myself during the day. So far it has been great. Now if I could only sleep through the night, then I would feel more normal. Please go on the trip and enjoy. When you come back you will be in a much better place to help out. Ralph

Went and saw the docs yesterday. Got a good laugh. I had to hace blood drawn and x-rays done before the appt. So when they gave me the x-rays to take to the appt. I got curious. I pulled out the x-ray and thought this is so funny, just one lung in there and the rest is all white. Got a good laugh at that one. Met with the chief Onc, looks like radiation and chemo are in the works now. They are giving me a few weeks to recoup from the lung surgery and then into a regimen of radiation/chemo then just chemo. They intend on using Carboplatin and Paclitaxel. If any of you can let me know what I might expect from this I would appreciate it. Since they screwed up in the surgery I still have this desire to keep on kicking and want to make sure of what I'm getting myself into. Ralph

I just had my right lung removed and barring any complications the pain is tolerable. I was using only one of the 2 prescribed pain pills since going home. It's been just over a week since the surgery and I am down to Tylenol 325 mg every 6 hours. The only real pain I have is when I forget the stitches in my back and turn really fast or stupidly. Ralph

Hi all, Sorry my wife couldn't post but they couldn't keep her out of the hospital. Seems if it could go wrong it went wrong. The day I checked in the admitting officer asked about my VA Disability, abd whether or not I was getting any. Saying that I was and that it was a 70% disability, he asked why I was paying for all this. Much to my surprise they have been charging me full price instead of the partial they should have been. I went to the people who do the billing and they said they would see what they could do for me. The next day I went into surgery. They couldn't get the Vein they wanted to cooperate and then it seems they got rushed into getting me into the room. To make a long story short, the lung had attached itself to the chest wall, the cancer in the bonch was closer to the bronchial tube that the margin wasn't clear enough, the surgeon was trying to decide whether to just close the whole thing off and stop when one of the arteries was accidently cut and I lost 90 percent of the blood in my body. He made the decision to take the lung, worry about the margin later and last but not least, try not to leave any cancer. That little surgery lasted 18 hours. I am still a quart low on blood, which is why I will be on oxygen longer than they thought. And now it looks like a few rounds of Chemo and Radiation for anything they may have left because of the margin. Sorry this is so long, but I haven't been able to get this out to anyone other than my family and they don't know what it all means anyway. Thanks for the prayers, they did help. Ralph

Well all, today I go in and tomorrow I have the lung removed. I won't be able to communicate for a little bit. I don't have my laptop and the VA doesn't use WiFi. But either my wife or I will post as soon as possible after the surgery. Everybody has been so kind and I want to thank you all again for the words of encouragement and support. I refuse to let this get me down or take me out. I'll be around for a long time. Ralph

Sorry, being a computer geek the naming conventions are usually your first initial and last name to log in and use a system. My name is Ralph and I am a retired US Air Force enlisted guy. I currently work in a casino in the IT department. Which means I get to sit at a computer all day.

Went to the onc today and they said they didn't want to see me. Said since the lymph nodes were clear there was no reason for me to be there. The tumor in the right bronch is 4cm X 2.5cm and the oncologist says that since it is in the bronc that I am a IIa. Onc doc says that they will monitor me but that I will have a lot better chance if they take the lung either partially or fully. Then they will look into some chemo (maybe)after the surgery. The surgeon came back in, same one who did the mediastenoscopy and said let's schedule this right away and see what we can do. So I am scheduled to go in on the 16th of August and have the surgery on the 17th. Then it's 5 days or so in the hospital and then the recovery at home. This is not going to beat me. I'm going to get through this and anything else that comes along. Thanks for the prayers and help recently. You all give me lots to shoot for.

Well yesterday (Friday)they did the Bronch and the Mediastenoscopy. The surgeon says that the initial results on the lymphs is negative but that the tumor in the bronch is to close to the main bronch that they may not be able to do any resections. I see the Onc on Monday and then will decide if I get Chemo first to try and decrease the size of the tumor. Then maybe, just maybe they can do a resection and not have to take the whole lung. The surgeon says they should have the final results on the lymphs by sometime next week. Here's keeping your fingers crossed and all. Ralph

Just got the call, gotta go in and wait for a bed to open but the scheduler thinks that there will be one soon. Just gotta hold on a little longer. Thanks for the prayers and the kindness.