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Great News Raney! Lilly

Congratulations Aaron, That is fabulous news!!!! Lilly

I'm sorry I didn't see this post earlier. Congratulations! She is absolutely beautiful and I really love the name. Best Wishes. Lilly

Congratulations Jan!! Great news Lilly

Congratulations!! Lilly

Congratulations!! Wishing you more anniversaries to come Lilly

Raney, I'm glad you asked this question..I was just discussing this with my oncologist today. Before diagnosis for about three months I had this same type of shoulder pain on the same side as my primary tumor (right side). Felt like a muscle and seemed to be worst when I was under alot of stress, so I thought it was stress until I was diagnosed with the cancer. The pain disappeared after treatment but now it is back but on my left shoulder. My scans don't show anything on the left lung so I don't get it. The oncologist did not have a reason for this pain. There is just soo much they still do not know unfortunately. Lilly

Not so much in 3's but I agree with MaryAnn, it's in the genes. There has never been anyone with any cancer of any type in my husbands family but my family there are soo many of us. Lung cancer, melanoma, stomach cancer, prostrate cancer, cancer of the eye, Lymphoma and cancer of the vulva. Who knows what else. What I did notice is that the year that I was diagnosed seemed to be a year of bad luck in my family and it seems our luck doesn't seem to get better. Lilly

I think I saw some folks on the site from Hawaii and I'm hoping I can get an opinion from folks that know. I need to take the kids on vacation and I want to go somewhere warm where we can go swimming. Since our passports need renewing and not enough time to renew, vacation will have to be in the US. So I thought Hawaii would be good but which of the Islands is the best for kids (safe beaches and lots to do). I'll take any suggestion. Today my oncologist said I can take a two week break over the summer from treatment. Yippee!!! Lilly

Heather, Although I only had part of my lung removed and not the whole thing I can give you some tips. -Take your pain meds -strategize your home sleeping arrangement before surgery (the hospital bed is perfect because it goes up and down at the head and feet etc.) My bed at home was too high to get in and out of and I needed more help at home then at the hospital. -Use the breathing spryo thingy (whatever they call it) when they tell you to. You will do fantastic Lilly

Mary, I am so very sorry to hear this news. My deepest sympathy to you and your family. Lilly

Kelly, I'm sorry about your mom. I hope you can find comfort during this difficult time. Lilly

Dana, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. Although I didn't know her for long, she seemed to be an incredibly kind, strong and beautiful woman. Lilly

Connie, Congratulations on the 12 years. That is awesome. I'm sorry to hear about the new nodule but hopefully you will just watch it for the next many years. Lilly

Great News Katie Lilly

Congratulations Andrea and thank you for listening. Lilly

I assume this includes Prosciutto. I have always eaten tons of it. Lilly

I would love to get perspective from others living with advanced lung cancer on how they manage to live life each day as normally as possible. I tend to be very positive for the most part and do not even need to take anti anxiety medicine anymore as I have adjusted to my situation. But I find daily decisions difficult such as deciding if I want to add new curtains to my bedroom. It is something I wanted to do but now I say, well let's wait until my next scan to see if I'm still stable because if I'm going to get really sick, why get new curtains. That is just one example of my daily thought process but I'm talking like this all the time. The other problem I have is spending money. If my husband or the kids want to buy something that I think is not a necessity, I always argue with them that we have to save money because if I don't survive long, they lose the primary household income. I spend way too much time thinking about money. Am I the only person dealing with this, thinking like this. I just can no longer find any peace. My oncologist is always making remarks to me such as I cannot believe you continue to work through all of this and my answer to him is "who else is going to pay my bills and insure I have medical coverage to pay you to treat me". May God decide the right thing to do is to just cure us all and do away with this disease called Cancer. Lilly

Ernie, I'm so happy for you...Congratulations!!!!

I just spent the Easter holiday with my side of the family this afternoon. All 29 of us (11 screaming kids). It was no different than in past years and I fairly enjoyed myself I guess. Holidays are not the same since my diagnosis. I unfortunately cannot make peace with my wig, so it causes me so much discomfort when I don't feel pretty anymore and don't want people to see me. Then there is the usual questions about how I feel? am I in treatment? The worst of it was when my cousin that came up from Virgina asked specific questions about my previous brain lesions because she had a pharmacist friend read my e-mail I had sent months earlier and he told her how serious my condition was. she also said she expected to find me much thinner from all my treatments. (I'm still the same weight after the baby which is 20lbs overweight). I felt as though she wanted to say she expected to find me half dead. I just wanted to scream right there!!! Then I went to my inlaws (mother and father in law and sister inlaw, her husband and kids all live together). Well, I didn't want to go because my mother in law had the flu and only got out of bed today. My WBC is low and I thought it was dangerous for me if my kids or I caught it. Well my husband said he wouldn't let them touch the kids etc. Anyhow, that didn't work because my ignorant inlaws breathed all over my 16 month old especially my mother in law. If I get the flu I will end up hospitalized like the last time. Not sure if anyone has ever felt some people can't wait for you to lose your battle with this disease, but that is how I feel sometimes. My favorite quote from Junior high days: The world is full of Queens and Kings who blind your eyes and steal your dreams, its Heaven and Hell. I hope everyone had a better Easter than I. Tomorrow back to work, Tuesday back to Chemo. Lilly

Aaron, I don't have any experience with Alimta but I went through several cycles of Gemcitabine and cisplatin combination. My hair that had begun to return stopped growing but did not fall out. Main side effect of Gemcitibine for me was drop in white and red blood cell counts. I'm praying that your new plan works wonders for you. Lilly

Connie, My memory was the best before this all started. Not anymore. The good thing is I can blame it on age even though it is really the chemo but you are right in the end it is a small price to be for being alive. Lilly

Nick, Awesome job! Thank you for doing this. My surgeon was mentioned there as well. Lilly

We all go through the same stuff. It does bother me too but I'm trying to shock people in the process with my responses so the next time they won't say anything. My job is a great example..I just want to work and don't want to talk only about my illness yet it never fails. I had a meeting yesterday and we had an agenda but my male colleague wanted to know how I was really. So I said "my days are numbered". He asked me a couple more questions and I said realistically if I live five years I'm going to do a little dance. With family my response when they annoy me with how do you feel I might say something like "I feel like dead man walking" just to see their response. This stuff adds some humor to my life. I hope I live to be 100 just to mess up their pre-conceived notion of what is supposed to happen to me. Lilly

Congratulations Wendy