recce101

Hi, welcome to the group, and maximum congratulations!! If you'll post some of your details in a profile and join us in welcoming the constant flow of new members who have just received their diagnosis, you'll be a true inspiration -- no doubt about it. My Aloha, Ned

Hi, terrymac, welcome to the group. I'm another "engineer type" who always attempts to connect 2 or 3 unusual and seemingly unrelated events to a common source. Not just for health issues, but for everything. It may come from my experience as an aircraft accident investigator when I was in the Air Force -- or, on the other hand, maybe I was attracted to the safety field because I already had that tendency. But, as in most things, sometimes I'm right, and sometimes I'm wrong. It's quite common for cancer patients to develop stomach issues, especially if they've been through a program of chemo. Some of the chemo drugs are quite rough on the digestive system, from one end to the other, and the adverse effects can last long after chemo has been finished. But having stomach problems BEFORE lung cancer surfaces...well, that doesn't sound as likely, but I don't think anyone can say it's impossible. After all, if your lung tumor is 4cm across, then something's been going on in there for a good while, and that could be responsible for your recent weight loss at the least. May I suggest that you post your question for Dr. Jack West at onctalk.com. He's an internationally known lung cancer expert on the oncology staff of a major Seattle center, and he's very committed to cancer education, to his website, and to answering individual questions from people like you and me. Sometimes he drops in here when he has the time, but you can get a quicker answer (usually within 24 hours) at onctalk.com. A lot of us use the same usernames there as here. Best wishes and Aloha, Ned

Hi, Jussi, and a warm welcome to the LCSC, although neither you nor I can be truly "glad" you're here. We have an increasing number of members with a personal history much like yours -- active, health-conscious men and women in their 20s and 30s who had never smoked and who suddenly found themselves diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. But, like most of them, your otherwise good health and positive attitude will serve you well in the months and years ahead. You mentioned Ernie, and I've got to toot my own horn just a little. I'm the one who introduced Ernie to the LCSC! He's been in this cancer thing somewhat longer than I have, and we met on another site. After a day or two I discovered the LCSC through Google, found it far superior to the other site, and talked him into coming on board. We both have aviation backgrounds, but I'm definitely not a marathon runner! Aloha, Ned

Max: Here's an article that I saw just this morning that discusses SUV uptake values in PET scans: http://onctalk.com/2007/10/04/imaging-f ... sclc-risk/ It applies to patients diagnosed with Stage I adenocarcinoma (the most common sub-type of NSCLC) and the probability of recurrence if the tumor is surgically removed, and of course those things aren't known for you yet, but at least it shows where 3.9 falls on the scale for that situation. Thanks for the good thoughts on my own PET scan. I'll post a profile update when I get the results, which may not be before my onc appointment next Tuesday. Aloha, Ned

Welcome -- your husband is very fortunate to have you as his advocate. You asked about the profile. Yes, it's very appropriate for you to do the profile on behalf of your DH. In fact, as you look through the many posts on the site, I believe you'll find that family members posting messages and updating profiles for their loved ones considerably outnumber those of us with cancer doing our own posting and updating. I'm in the second group. And I don't mind being in the minority here as long as I'm on the minority side of the statistics charts as well! Here's a step-by-step for doing the profile: Click on "My Profile" at the top of the screen, scroll down to "Signature," enter/update your information (if you want, you can use the same formatting codes as in the "Post a reply" window I'm using right now), scroll down further, ensure "Always attach my signature" is marked "Yes," and click "Submit" at the very bottom. Best wishes and Aloha, Ned

Max: One good thing about your PET scan report is that there's no indication of SUV uptake anywhere except in the one lung nodule. And 3.9 doesn't sound especially high, so I think you have good cause to NOT worry. Tell you what. I had a PET scan this week too, but don't have the results yet. I'll trade you, sight unseen! ...But since you're 4 years smarter than I am, you may not be gullible enough to take me up on that. Are you?? Aloha, Ned

Welcome! And I hope Lenny looks in on us too. There are many people here with NSCLC Stage IIIB or IV, and a good number are doing very well -- far better than the statistics and prognoses tossed about so casually would have us believe. But don't let me get started on that!! As he and his wife get into the chemo phase of treatment, they will have a ton of questions. If we know more details on his condition, what his scans have shown, and the drugs to be used (plan of treatment), we can tailor our responses more specifically to his situation. For example, I assume he has mets to the hip since he had radiation there, but has there been any involvement of the brain or other organs? My best wishes and Aloha, Ned

You might consider removing or disabling any appliances that could be a fire hazard if she "forgets" -- keep you from worrying QUITE so much when you're not there and help you sleep a LITTLE better when you are. You're doing a wonderful job in a horrible, often thankless situation. My Aloha, Ned

JB, much Aloha to you and Colleen. Ned

Most of us have no doubt that these "miracles" happen. The main question is, who's it going to happen TO? Delighted for you that this time it was your mom!! Aloha, Ned

Congratulations, Joe! October 2 has meaning for me too. That's the date in 1957 when I started active duty as a brand new brown-bar (2nd lieutenant) in the Air Force. Then 2 days later, 10/4/57, the USSR launched their little Sputnik. That caused great concern throughout the nation, as we had believed the US was ahead in the space race. Our panic increased the following month when the Soviets launched Laika (the "space dog") into orbit and again in December when our highly publicized Vanguard rocket failed in its first satellite launch attempt, exploding 4 feet off the launch pad and leaving the grapefruit-sized satellite spinning and transmitting aimlessly in the tall grass. But it wasn't long before things turned around for the US space program, and the same can be said for Lance and you! Aloha, Ned

Congratulations on your milestone and expecting many more to come! Aloha, Ned

Hi, Teresa, welcome to the community. The first few weeks are the hardest, with all the tests, consultations, and uncertainty. Things are usually easier to handle after treatment gets underway. Give us your dad's diagnosis specifics and treatment plan soon as you have the info. Best wishes and Aloha, Ned

I'm happy to hear the infection has cleared up. My port incision took its sweet time healing, probably because my chemo started just a few days after installation and included Avastin. There's a 28-day waiting period after major surgery (thoracotomy in my case) before Avastin can be used, and that was met, but the onc and surgeon decided that didn't apply to the port installation. My port incision got red and tender a week after the first Taxol/Carbo/Avastin infusion -- they had a phone conference about it while I was in the onc's office, and I was put on oral antibiotics as a precaution. It was red again when I went in for the third cycle infusion, and I got oral antibiotics once again. In retrospect I think some sort of waiting period should have applied to the port incision too, but I was delighted to get the full treatment started ASAP and didn't make an issue of it. There was no infection, and it healed nicely after a while. Aloha, Ned

Congratulations, Barb! You are definitely here, more so than many people I know who have never been sick a day in their uneventful lives. Let's do it again next year! Aloha, Ned

Welcome, Dawn -- and Kate too! I believe you'll find this site far different from any Internet group you've known before. It will soon become part of your family. Ask anything you like (there are no dumb questions), and even though you're new to the site, you're not new to life, so never hesitate to offer your comments to others. For Kate, many others here can answer your question better than I, but I think many will say that while the pain changes with time, it never goes away, and you may become a better person because of it. Best wishes and Aloha, Ned

Hi, Mary, I remember you too. I did a quick search and see you had 24 posts under Aliboo. Maybe one of the moderators could join the two if you're interested -- not sure how that works. But welcome back! Aloha, Ned

Hi, Max, welcome to the group! Even if it turns out you don't need our support, we can certainly use your great attitude -- so if your PET scan says the nodule is nothing of concern, I hope you won't be in too big of a hurry to leave. Best wishes and Aloha, Ned

Please don't [behave]! Passion fuels our effort, and we're all on the same side here. Besides, my online Merriam-Webster defines adjunct as "an associate or assistant of another" -- your comments are consistently helpful and energizing. By this weekend I should be able spend more time on the little project I mentioned, which aims to broaden the perspective of some people who are passionately involved in the breast cancer campaign, support and commend their efforts, increase their understanding of the lung cancer problem, help them realize that the connection between lung cancer and smoking has been oversimplified and has cast an unfair stigma on those so afflicted, point out to the anti-smoking hard-liners that lung cancer remains a major risk for people (especially for women) who stopped smoking long ago and even for those who have never smoked, and solicit their help for increased lung cancer funding which does NOT compete for the same funds now allocated to breast cancer and other worthy research efforts. Gotta run for now. Aloha, Ned

Welcome to the LCSC! Your mom and I have the same type of cancer, as you can see from my profile below. You have the right idea on statistics. Just keep in mind that the statistics you read about are historical averages (or means or medians) for a large number of patients in the past, and better treatments are available now. Also, these numbers can NOT be applied to a specific individual. Saying that only x-percent of people with a certain diagnosis will be alive in a year is NOT the same as saying that an individual with that particular diagnosis has only an x-percent chance of being alive in a year. Not the same at all! And no matter how dismal the statistics may seem, there are always some who come out on the winning side. But I think you know that. Please accept my best wishes and Aloha, Ned

Hi, Kim, welcome to the community. From what I've seen and read and experienced, I'd say that just about anything is possible as a side effect of chemo or practically any medication. Maybe not common, maybe extremely rare, but possible. What does your father-in-law say about the situation, especially how he feels just before a fall? Does he say he feels weak or lightheaded, or that the room seems to tilt all of a sudden, or that the room seems to spin, or that his feet are numb, or that he suddenly loses control of a leg muscle, for example? I've had all of these at one time or another, many of them from an inner ear disorder (Meniere's Syndrome) which I've had since 1994, long before cancer came into the picture. Aside from the poor hearing in my left ear, the other Meniere's symptoms are being controlled fairly well with medication, but I did notice some balance problems (tilting, not spinning) when I was on taxol and carboplatin last winter. Then during my 6th chemo cycle I got a bad case of peripheral neuropathy, probably from the taxol, and had to use a walker for a couple of days until a new medication took effect. Conveniently, we had a walker in the closet that my father-in-law had used about 10 years ago. If you or your husband can sit with him at a low stress time and ask him to explain how things feel and look while he's walking, you might pick up some item of info that will help. A lot of these things are almost impossible for a physician to detect without some clues as to what things feel like from the patient's perspective. And if he's not using a walker, I think he probably should. Tell him that it's probably just temporary. Mine was! Best wishes and Aloha, Ned

Hi, Lisa, welcome to the group! Don't worry too much about posting in the "correct" forum. Many (maybe most) of us use the feature "View posts since last visit" which is just above the "Last Post" column of the page when you first log in. That will display all of the recent posts regardless of what forum they're in. Also, sometimes the focus of a topic shifts as more responses are added, and that's not a big deal either. If it gets really off topic, one of our moderators can move the thread to a more appropriate forum. Again, welcome, and let us know how things are going. Aloha, Ned

Teri, your trip was such a glowing tribute to Bill. I believe we all feel the deep love you had -- have -- for each other. We scattered the ashes of my father-in-law in 1997, and my father the following year. Of course that's very different from what you're experiencing, but for us, the scattering was not a goodbye. It was simply a thoughtful way to carry out their wishes, to allow something they no longer needed to merge back with nature in a place special to them. Their presence is with us as much as ever, and we have a little table with their photos and a few momentos in our living room. Some in Hawaii keep cremation urns in their home indefinitely, and no one I know thinks that odd in the slightest. Take your time and follow your heart. My Aloha, Ned

MAXIMUM CONGRATULATIONS! GOOD SHOW! Aloha, Ned

Rachel: You're doing great! Hope you can stay on Tarceva for a long, long time. That's next in my arsenal too -- onc brought it up again today. Aloha, Ned