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Mikey

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Mikey last won the day on April 16 2022

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  • City
    Perth
  • US State (if applicable)
    None
  • Province or district (if non-US)
    Australia
  • Country
    Australia
  • Status
    Lung cancer patient/survivor

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  1. Hi Justin I hope you are doing well my friend. I have been thinking about you and praying for positive results despite the fact that I am an atheist! I have not had much internet coverage lately as I am travelling in the far North of Australia. I have your last message as of June 8th. I hope all is well with you Cheers Mike
  2. Thinking of you Justin. My prayers are with you for a positive scan result as you deserve it. Stay strong my friend. Cheers Mike
  3. Thanks Tom My surgeon has told me I am stuck with him for the next 5 years for 6 monthly scans which I am quite happy about!!!
  4. Hi Doug I am 59 and retired and loving it and about to head off travelling to make the most of everyday I have in my life. I read your post to introduce yourself which happened to coincide with the day I had a lobectomy of the top lobe of my right lung. I am by no means a fitness fanatic and my usual fitness regime would be carrying my cartons of beer from the car to the fridge in my workshop. I found the surgery to be no where near as bad as I was expecting and will be going home tomorrow. All I can say is try to keep a positive mindset as I feel this is our body and immune systems greatest weapon. Also have you considered other opinions apart from an oncologist. From the start I have been involved with a respiratory specialist who then referred me to a cardiothoracic surgeon to remove the tumor and then I went straight back to the specialist. I guess what I am suggesting here is do you have complete confidence in the opinions you are receiving or is it worth getting a second opinion? The treatment options are progressing so rapidly you need to be confident that you are getting the best possible advice. I am not offering advice here but only suggestions. You need to be happy that the information you are receiving is the best you can hope for. Cheers Mike
  5. Hello All and time for an update. However firstly my greetings to you Justin. You are a very special person and despite your personal battle you have the time to comment and offer encouragement to new posters, but an even more special trait is to remember others significant upcoming dates and offer your thoughts and best wishes when those dates come around. I find this truly remarkable and Izzy I know you are proud of your son and so you should be as he is a special person. So I had the surgery on 26th. Went into pre op about 0730 and was back in my room by 1130. All went well and the wedge biopsy showed an active cancer and so right top lobe was removed. Was eating bacon and eggs by 1300 as I was starving. Hospital staff were amazed that I needed no pain relief and seemed to have no adverse effects. Did not need to administer any patient controlled medication and I think the regional epidural helped enormously. The worst thing for me was the catheter! Sleep has been difficult especially with regular obs by hospital staff and having a 30 degree angle on the top half of the body due to the drainage tube. Liquid drainage dried up very quickly but I had some surgical emphysema so the bubbling has continued and delayed my release. However I have seen the specialist today and the biopsy has been completed. It appears that it has been captured very early and the biopsy has shown no spread to anywhere else confirming the lack of lights on the PET scan. The biopsy report states Invasive Adenocarcinoma in right upper lobe up to 14 mm and 90% acinar predominant. Only one lymph node examined being Station 10 which is not positive. I am having the tube out tomorrow and being released with the next action being a scan in 6 months time. I have people telling me I should buy a lotto ticket but I say why as I have already had my piece of luck and I have avoided a huge bullet. Whilst I am thankful for my result I cannot help but feel guilty for those that do not experience the luck that I have and are diagnosed at a much later stage and face a very different journey to me. However what I do say to myself is that 4 weeks ago I was not part of this family and now I am. And every family has members of many various traits, however if they are a close family they treat all as equals and look after every member. And that is how I have felt since reaching out to you good people. During my short time on this journey I have been surrounded by fantastic supportive people. The medical staff I have dealt with and the hospital staff over this last 6 days have been outstanding and I am truly humbled by what these people do on a daily basis. Even though my journey has only been 4 weeks I can look back now at the wisdom of some on this forum. The initial stages of uncertainty when all you want are answers is probably the most frustrating thing I have ever experienced in my life. I tried to be positive by saying I think its been found early and it should be OK, but of course specialists will never give you false hope as they need facts so you have to rely on yourself to give you hope. However in that situation the human brain will never allow you to get too positive and will then start to throw in the 'what if's' just to play with your mindset! The night before I had surgery I was talking to my night nurse about what would happen the next day and I told her I will be up and walking after surgery tomorrow no matter what. I didn't see her again for a couple of days by which time I told her I was on track to do 1500 steps that day just walking back and forth in the corridor as far as my 10 metre length of suction hose would allow me to go. She said I knew you would be doing this as it was obvious from your attitude before surgery that you had the mindset to beat it. She said she has been watching people for so many years that the most important weapon in any battle against illness is the mindset. So I guess from my roller coaster journey and what I have learned is that I would say to anyone newly diagnosed, your brain is your greatest ally but you need to learn how to use it and that is not easy. I may expand on my beliefs later but I think I have rambled for long enough. I thank you for listening. Best of luck to all. Mike
  6. Thanks Justin Giving up hasn't been too bad. Almost 2 weeks now. Helps when you have a very good reason for doing it! I am also vaping but it doesn't cost too much here as we have the most expensive cigarettes in the world thanks to a 200% increase on excise over the last few years thanks to our Government. A packet of 20 is over $30 (or about 15 pound) now. Take care and Ill update when home from hospital hopefully about the end of April. Cheers Mike
  7. Thanks Justin. I am so pleased to hear of your positive progress. I hope your right side strength continues to increase and that the June scans are the best that we can all hope for.
  8. Thanks Lou. A great post and I have read it and hopefully absorbed all of your tips. I am sure I will be reading it again in the near future.
  9. Hi Folks Time for my update. Met the surgeon on Wednesday and he cant do next week so am in for surgery on 26th April. He will take out a wedge and then send it off for biopsy and he said if t is benign then they just sew me up but this is highly unlikely as it is showing to be active so then he will take out the top third lobe of of my right lung, the connecting strands to my windpipe and the connecting entry to that part of my lung including the lymph nodes. He thinks it will be about a month and then I am free to travel and I am stuck with him for the next 5 years for scans each 6 months to to make sure there are no nasties that escaped. But no follow up chemo or anything as they are confident it is so early that nothing has escaped. I am so lucky that this has been picked up early and I guess I wont know until the biopsy after the lung has been taken out as to what type of cancer it is and how aggressive it was/is. I am also intrigued to know if it the result of years of smoking or if it could be the result of home renovations and the removal and disposal of asbestos products about 25 years ago. I tend to think it will be smoking related! I realise that this forum is generally US based and I am in Perth in Western Australia which is a city of about 2 million people. But you need to realise that we are one of the most advanced medical research and treatment cities in the world. We have produced people like Fiona Wood who produced the synthetic skin to treat victims of the Bali bombings. I guess what I am saying here is that I feel in very confident hands and the specialists and surgeon's are giving me so much confidence. I apologise if I appear condescending with my statements but I am sure many in the US would regard Perth as an outback town. However my specialists and surgeon that I have dealt with have been the nicest people you could ever meet and give you nothing but confidence. You know when you meet some doctors there can be a bit of an us and them syndrome but I have found the surgeons to be a much easier bunch of people to deal with that love a joke and just make you feel so much at home. So just need to address my high Calcium score with the cardiologist this week to make sure its OK to have surgery. Will keep you updated but all is looking positive at this stage. Thanks for listening. Cheers Mike
  10. Hello Lizzy Your post is inspiring and just tells me that you are a person of great inner strength. I am early in my diagnosis and mine has been found early and I think my treatment over the next few weeks will lead to me being close to NED very quickly. So I am lucky so all I can offer to you is the emotional journey that I have gone through and til you find out the plan for the future! However the one thing I have learned not only from this, but also in life in general is the power of the mind and our brain. It is very hard in times of doubt to stop our minds thinking of the worst case. However I think we have all found that on the roller coaster we go from times of optimism to pessimism which can change on an hourly basis. I am not a religious person and have no great faith but I do have a belief in the power of our brains and how that can affect our lives. I would say to to you look at this positive progress and convince yourself that we are beating this intruder and I am going to win! Wake up with thoughts that I will win over you. Whilst you need the medical assistance I am a firm believer that your mindset can be one of the greatest contributors to your health. The brain is an incredibly powerful weapon so please use it it and stay positive and I wish you nothing but the best, Take care Mike
  11. Hello all and especially to Justin for his thoughts. I was determined to keep all updated with my progress as in the early days of diagnosis we are all filled with uncertainty and I took great solace in reading others posts on here reading about their journeys. When faced with a diagnosis in the first few days life is a roller coaster and as so many of you state the fear of the waiting for a diagnosis is the worst time. We all just want to know where we stand and what is my journey ahead. I was frustrated by those who make one or two posts at the early stages but never update as I really wanted to know what their journeys were and how they fared in their battle. To those of you that continued their updates and to be very open and frank as you battled your sometimes difficult journeys, I both salute you and thank you. I have spent over six months planning a 7 month trip across the top of Australia with a couple who are good friends of ours and we have made so many bookings for once in a lifetime experiences such as swimming with whale sharks off the North Western Coast of Western Australia and helicopter flights over some of the biggest monoliths in the world and my world was shattered on the 1st April with the discovery of a lesion on my right lung. I have spent the last 10 days on this roller coaster ride of has it spread, how bad is it and where to from here and do I cancel all bookings? I had a PET scan and CT imaging scan yesterday, and a respiratory test today. The receptionist told me it can take up to 10 business days to get PET scan results back and so my wife and I came home and spent the morning in deep depression thinking how can we last that long waiting to find out what the results are. My doctor said that is rubbish and they get them very quickly. Anyway the specialist rang me about 5 hours after my respiratory tests. He said the scans showed that there is a small active cancer cell in the top of my right lung and the good news is that they have caught it very early. He said this is unusual as like me there are no symptoms til much later stages, and it is only through some coincidence which in my case was my doctor saying at your age (59 years) we should do a CT scan to have a look at your heart arteries and the scan also sees your lungs and they picked up the abnormality. There is no spread anywhere in my body. The respiratory test showed that although showing slight signs of early Emphysema they were in fact in excellent condition, much to my surprise after years of what I classified as a smokers cough! So I am booked in for surgery next Tuesday and it will be removed. I asked will I have follow up chemo and he said no we have it so early I have no doubt that after we take it out you will be declared No Evidence of Disease. I said I gather I will need another scan after about 3 months and he said no, not that quickly. Once we take it out and you recover go and do your 7 month trip as we wont want to see you before then! So I think my trip may be delayed about 2 weeks. But as far as I am concerned I have won the biggest lottery anyone could hope for today. I am feeling emotions that I don't think I have ever felt before going from the lows of this morning to the highs of this afternoon. I write this post to update you and celebrate my joy at my prognosis. But I also realise that there are many faced with a much more dire situation than mine and I would like to say my thoughts and prayers are with you and the advances in treatment give us all hope. I also write this for those that may have received news in the last few days to say stay strong as you don't know what your diagnosis is until they tell you and the waiting is the worst bit. I will let you know how the surgery goes after I get home. I think its about 4 or 5 days in hospital but I am more than happy for that. Thankyou to all for your support and this is one of the best forums I have found in my life. Cheers Mike
  12. Thankyou so much Justin and I appreciate it more than you can imagine. I had a PET scan today and a imagining CT so hopefully I will get some results tomorrow. The last week has been a roller coaster and teaches you a lot about how your brain works! It can go from optimistic highs at one stage and an hour later you are in pessimistic lows! I spent 35 years in Air Traffic Control where pressure is not an issue and you deal only with facts and then you process and deal with them. But I haven't been in this position where you have to wait ages to get the facts before you can deal with them. Everyone is so right in that the waiting is the worst part of this whole journey. I will ensure that I keep my progress updated. I think it is vital for those that read these threads as it is frustrating to read those that start a thread but then never update. For newly diagnosed people you want to read the journey and find out the end result. That is why I appreciate your honesty and continued posting through your extremely difficult journey and I am so joyed to see you are finally getting on top of this and wish you nothing but the best for your long and happy future. I guess the thing we all have in common is that we are going to spend a fair bit of time in our futures being fed into cylindrical scanning machines! But I will be happy to do that for a long time I hope. I will keep you updated and for you to send me best wishes tonight is testament to what a magnificent person you are. Who would remember that! Cheers to you my friend. Mike
  13. Thanks Lou and also thankyou for the hours that you and others like you spend responding to and reassuring people regarding the journey ahead. I think I am becoming more optimistic each day after the initial shock. There seems to be no great urgency from my specialist to get things started which whilst frustrating as I just want the plan in place and to start it, I am also thinking if he thought it was really bad I would be in there straight away. The waiting is the worst bit! Lets just get on and take care of this!!! Cheers Mikey
  14. Thanks Tom for your response. I have been doing a lot of reading on this forum over the last few days and appreciate all the positive feedback.
  15. Thanks Justin Just sent a reply to your posts before I saw this response. You are a good man.
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