shelliemacs

Beth, you know the drill. The day of the news is always the worst. There will be a plan in place and a new fight will begin. Please hang on. You have come so long and are in NO WAY a quitter. Ok so this is a setback. But give the Avastin a chance. Your young and a fighter. Cry today, but get mad tomorrow and fight, fight, fight.

Dean & Gay, Positive thoughts and constant prayers for you both.

god bless her for getting to 95.

I understand the "1 year mark" we just passed it on 6/8 for dad. Moms 2 year mark is coming up on 8/15. Its really unbelieveable to see the calendar turn to 1 physical year since we have seen them or heard their voice or hugged them. I put one foot in front of the other and am still just walking along. I haven't learned to live "happy" again yet. hopefully we all will someday.

He' s probably following you around right now waiting for his cake. Get him one and still celebrate his day.

I am sorry as well that your having to go through this. I lost mom and dad to LC 9 months apart. then just 2 months ago i lost my beloved father in law to lc and the day we burried dad, my sister was dx;d with breast cancer. we just passed dads 1 year anniversary on June 8 moms 2 year anniversary is coming up on 8/15 (we burried her on my birthday). I can't tell you how much time it will take to stop hurting so deeply, I still do. let time pass and cry when you need to. shelly

Karen & Dave, I continue to hope that things will turn around and that Dave's pain gets brought under control. Karen, I can't wrap my mind around where your mind must be. I lost parents but I guess thats more acceptable than watching your spouse suffer at such a young age. Dave. Your fight is inspirational and you can beat this b*stard back again. please know that your being thought of constantly with prayers and good hopes. shelly

wow, it seems unbelieveable that today is already 1 year that dad is gone. 9 months and 7 days after we lost mom, dad followed her. So much has happened in this last year. my sisters cancer, losing my father in law to Lung Cancer as well. Moms 2 year anniversary is in August. They could never be apart for very long. I guess its true, one day you wake up and a year is already gone. one minute at a time.

welcome to you and your whole new family. You just took on over 2000 more relatives here, who know exectly how your going to get through this journey. ONE DAY AT A TIME. thats how you do it. This is a long hard journey, many ups and downs. many turns and twists, many tears and some smiles. But you will never go it alone. We ALL are on this road with you. There isn't a question you can probably ask that someone here has not gone through or can give you an answer too. Personal advice, go to every appointment, ask questions, take notes, get smart about treatments and push for those treatments. Doctors sometimes don't take patients lives as serious as the patient does themselves. So sometimes you have to be the aggressor and definitely the advocate for your husbands treatment. There are those on here who have survived 2,5,10, over 20 years with LC and unfortunately we do loose people too. I lost mom in August 2003 at 61, dad in June 2004, and my father in law just over 1 month ago all to Lung Cancer. My sister is still battling cancer but hers is breast. I am sorry your here but glad you found us.

welcome Burlington VT. my father was born there but I am not sure how long he lived there before moving to NY. Lots of people here with lots of experiance. Me personally have only been a caregiver but seem to be some sort of professional at it now. 4 times as of today. Mom, Dad and Father in Law were lost to LC and sister is still fighting her breast cancer. Many laughs and tears but always someone to share them with.

Katie, Wishing you a Very Happy Birthday.

Vitamin D may play key role in fighting cancer New research suggests nutrient improves survival ratesThe Associated Press Updated: Getting enough vitamin D may be a matter of life or death. A provocative new study suggests it plays an important role in surviving lung cancer. People can get the nutrient from their food, vitamin pills or being out in the sunshine. Researchers found that the lung cancer patients with high intake who had surgery during the summer were more than twice as likely to be alive five years later than those with low levels who had operations in winter. It is one of several recent studies to show the benefits of the “sunshine vitaminâ€

I am beyond sad as I type this. Please accept my most sincere condolences. I know the pain of loosing a mom.

My father was a carpenter. He had SCLC. I believe this to be true.

the last time I checked for it, I could not find a hand book on how to "do it" the handbook on being a mom, being a cancer caregiver, being the supportive wife of a sick husband and the supportive daughter of a sick mom. Well I just have not seen those copies in my local book store. So were all flying by the seat of our pants here and in whatever you are doing, well then I guess thats how its done. there are no rules to follow or instructions that tell us how to deal, cope, get through this, live, work, laugh all while trying to stay alive. stop being so hard on yourself, take a bow once in a while for what you have and continue to do. pat yourself on the back if you need approval. Love thyself first. someone said that, i am not sure who.

Don and Lucie, seems there is nothing you two can't overcome. Thrilled to see your both still doing fine.

Ray, good to hear from ya. I am glad your still checking in with us, you have been missed.

Jen, I know there are other people on this board who have had these same mets and are still here and LIVING with stability of the disease. Dave Grant for one comes to mind. I think he is like 3 years into having mets to almost all the places you do. Maybe you could look up his profile and somehow get in touch with him or email him to find out what treatments he is using as well.

18 months, 7 days, 11 hours, now all I can do for you is buy plastic flowers. You went away, on that August day no matter how much I begged God to let you stay, and a big part of me also died that day. I try not to cry, to keep it deep down inside, but sometimes missing you is just too much to hide. my heart still won't heal, sometimes its better not to feel. I am so angry and mad, sometimes so overwhelmingly sad this feels like the worst pain I have ever had. Mom, I wan't you hear with me. Thats the way its supposed to be. A girl needs her mom, her whole life long. can't you go tell God that I still need you, that your baby can't think through, this life's hard issues without thousands of tissues. I miss calling you, and talking about nothing. but even in that nothing, we were sharing something. Come back to me mom, even if its in a dream. the family say, my eyes have lost there gleam. I need you so damn much, having no parents, truly freaking sucks. I miss you mom, love your baby girl Shelly

jen, my mom had 6 major and several minor brain mets. all were gone after 15 wbr treatments. yes they can be beat. Lance armstrong also had many brain mets. he is still alive and totally healthy. to expand on moms experiance. appointments went within 5 minutes. after a few weeks she did get tired but the steroids they put her on to combat the brain swelling made her appetite ravenous. she missed eating and having an appetite so this was a wonderful sign to us that it was working. she did loose her hair but the goal was to get rid of the brain mets. and that is what happened.

Kel, I can not express how vividly I understand your deep fear and pain for and over your wonderful mom. I have been there and pray for her miracle.

Jen, I too feel sick over this. But my feelings are from Anger. Anger at your doctor for not getting down and dirty with you and asking YOU what YOU want to do now. It is up to YOU whether or not you want to try more chemo and go through the side effects yourself. Its not your doctor who will be feeling the effects. Please seek a second opinion or tell your doctor that YOU wnat to fight on and try something different. Your kids need you to fight on. I just lost my third parent (mom 8/03, dad 6/04, F/I/L 4/23/05 were burying him later today) to LC. I am dying inside with mothers day coming up. please dig as far down inside yourself as you need to and find something inside you to pull to the surface and renew your fighting spirit. "do not go quitely into that good night" fight this son of a witch cancer with all you are. all my prayers

we lost my Father in Law on Saturday. He went very quickly and without details. Not so peacefully. His battle is over and again we are back into not only grieving, but utter HATE of cancer. It feels like cancer has a vendetta against me but its too chicken to hit me but takes all the people around me. I have skipped right over grief and am well into RAGE against cancer. enough is enough.

Betty, I don't know how to respond except to say that you are a hero in my eyes and extremely brave to be able to fight the way you are. I am not sure I would be as selfless facing what your facing.

as older members of the board know, I lost my mom to LC in August of 2003, my dad to LC in June of 2004. then my sister got Dx'd with breast cancer the day we burried dad and yesturday we found out my father in law is stage 4 NSCLC. Mets everywhere. He is a firefighter who also smoked. between the 2, he was exposed to so much smoke and carcinogens. He collapsed in his bathroom and after two full days of tests we got the news. mets to the brain, adrenals, kidneys, liver and both lungs. the say weeks. He is passing on any treatment. The dr.s tell us there is so much cancer that they are not sure he could survive the first treatment. we are going to support this decision, but my husband is dying inside. he stood by me when it was me going through it with my own parents and after 14 years of marriage I feel his dad is mt dad. I just can not believe this is happening again. how much can a person withstand before the think there is some sort of curse following them. I am absolutely numb and thank god for my meds I went back on. were moving his dad in with us so I can take care of him. Unfortunately I have lived hospice twice now and can do what he needs done. he still has his sense of humor but I am afraid the meds to reduce his brain swelling will take that light from his eyes very soon. I am not sure how I will get through this onem i guess like with both my mom and dad, I just went through the motions. cancer is just a family destroying nightmare.