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Terry, Good to see you posting. I will be praying for good results from your scans. Stay positive, Ernie

Marci, Welcome to the site. We will give you all the support we can. Maybe you could fill out the profile on your mom. This would help us give you better support. All cancer is treatable and we have some long term survivors from all types of cancer. Keep us posted. Stay positive, Ernie

Christine, Welcome to the site. You have already received lots of good info. I am just another one of those 70 year people that tries to keep a positive attitude. I had 18 month of remission and I am now taking chemo again. I look at this of just part of the process of living with cancer. Stay positive, Ernie

Jim. You have my condolences for your loss. I have stage IV lung cancer. I had a pleural effusion that went away by itself. The pleural was three fourths filled with fluid. You stated that “but God works in mysterious ways” This is so true. The day we are born we become terminal. You stated “And don't forget your love one is dying, but it does not give them the right to treat you without respect” In hindsight this was true in your friends case. As a cancer patient my care givers did not think that way. They all believed that I could successfully fight this. I think it is best to believe that your care receiver will be able to live with this disease. Again I am sorry for your loss. It will be hard for you to think that the person will live if you are put into this situation again. Never forget your statement “God works in mysterious ways” and it's His decision Stay positive, Ernie

Welcome to the site, I am glad you decided to post. All of the things that I take have been run by my oncologist. His policy is if it does no harm then go ahead and take it. Some things I do not take within 24 hours of the chemo, before or after. Stay positive, Ernie

Welcome to the site, We will give you all the support we can. Stay positive, Ernie

Welcome to the site, I have been out of town for a couple of weeks or I would have replied sooner. From what you have told us so far about getting information regarding to staging and type, it is hard to give any advice. I would want a second opinion and even a third opinion. I would want this before the surgery. Here is a list of some places to get a good second opinion. http://www.blochcancer.org/articles/xtrnew.asp Stay positive, Ernie

Kerri and Patty, Welcome to the site I am glad you found hope here. Patty I answered your e-mail as soon as I got back from our cruise. You have a good team to fight this. With a daughter named Kerri you can't miss. My only daughter is also Kerri. You are on your way to become a Survivor or as Lora Ingram says a cancer Thriver (not really a word). Stay positive, Ernie

We made it back from the cruise. Ports were Halifax, St John, Bar Harbor, Portland, Boston and New London. It was the first time some of these ports had a shi of this size in their port. The ship carries over 5,000 including the crew. I think I like smaller ships. It will take me forever to catch up with my e-mail and postings on this site. We did have a great time, except for the cold I caught the last 4 days, but I didn’t let it slow us up. Just wanted to let everyone know that we are back and I didn’t fall overboard. Stay positive, Ernie

Trudy, Welcome to the site. The first few weeks are the hardest. As soon as you realize that you can become a long term survivor things begin to smooth out. I am having the same chemo as you. This is after almost two years of remission. I feel the good Lord did it before and he can do it again. Learn all you can and decide what things you want to do to help yourself beat this. Knowing that you can live with cancer helps a lot. I have a close friend that has had 28 cancers in 17 years. He lives a very active life and is assistant pastor of a large church. I just came back from a 10 day cruise. I had a great time and live a very active life style. You can too. Stay positive, Ernie

Dar, My daughter went out and had a CT scan as soon as she found out that I had cancer. It has been recommended for anyone that might be high risk, heavy smoker or history of cancer in family. If you wnat to get one, get it. You might remind your doctor that you are the patient. Stay positive, Ernie

Nonni, The CT scan will show more than an x-ray. It sounds like a good thing to do. I will pray for good results. Stay positive, Ernie

Debbie, I have flown a lot with cancer during treatment. When they let me I fly my own plane. I am going on a cruise next week. I will fly to get the ship. I am in the middle of my chemo. I will wear a face mask to cut down the chance of catching somthing. I would advise your mom yo do the same. I flew for the airlilnes for 32 years and I know the air is not that great in an aircraft at 35000 feet. If your mom feels up to it should be no problem. Stay positive, Ernie

You may find that the people that consented to the CT scans were people those themselves thought they were more likely to have cancer. So the CT group was heavily loaded with high risk people. This would account for a higher ratio of cancer from the Ct group. Stay positive, Ernie

Judy, With any symptoms you should contact you doctor just to be on the safe side. If you could fill out your profile it would help us know more about your treatment. Stay positive, Ernie

Chesney, Welcome to the site. It would be good if you could get your mom to accept help from others. The bigger your team the easier it is. What kind of chemo is your mom getting? Have they mentioned Tarveva or Avastin? These are two drugs that have helped a lot of people. I would get a free copy of a book "Fighting Cancer" by Richard Bloch and give it to your mom. She may welcome your help after reading it. Go to this web address for a free copy. http://www.blochcancer.org/articles/letter.html From this web site you can get a free copy of fighting cancer and get a list of places to get good second opinions. I think this book is a must for anyone interested in beating this disease. It may help a caregiver to know, but unless the patient gets involved in his cure it will do little good. Stay positive, Ernie

Brandy, Welcome to the site. We will give you all the support and information we can. Your grandpa's cancer is very treatable. I have a question. Do you know why they took so long to start treatment? Ct scan in January and dhemo start in July? Keep us posted. Stay positive, Ernie

I can not tell you anything about the talc procedure. I did have a pleural effusion. All pain went away when the fluid was gone. As for diet, there are lots of ideas. What I think is bad about the foods we eat, is what is put in them, antibiotics, hormones, pesticides. Chlorine, fluoride and many others. I try to eat most natural or organic meats and vegetables. I do like to eat a lot of beans which is part of the diet that you were on. What is most important is that you maintain a healthy weight if possible. Stay positive, Ernie

I think that I would go for the treatment as soon as possible. As far as doctors predictions on how you will feel, he has a 50/50 chance of being right. He is either right or wrong. I would seek a second opinion on the WBR. There may be other options that could be better. Stay positive, Ernie

Gail, welcome to the site. Look foward to hearing more about yourself. Stay positive, Ernie

Welcome Jennifer, You will get lots of support here. Stay positive, Ernie

Michelle, Welcome to the site. I had Tarceva along with my chemo the first time and now the second time I am having Avastin. Both of these drugs can be given along with chemo. You maight ask about them. I am starting my thrid year and I have not had a sick day yet. I will pray that your mom has good resutls. Stay positive, Ernie

I thought I would give you your laugh for the day. Some of you know I started back on Carboplatin and Taxol and yesterday they added Avastin. So I rechecked all the side effects of Avastin, one of them being bleeding. You can have nose bleeds etc. So when I woke up this morning to find what appeared to be dried blood on my pillow, I immediately thought that I am not going to get away with no side effects from Avastin. I jumped up and blew my nose to see if I could see any blood. There was no blood. I do think I got the ear wax out of my ears. All I could think of was when is it going to start to bleed again. After I settled down, I began to think about my tracks of the night before. I remember that I brushed my teeth, went out and had a glass of water, took my melatonin, headed back to bed. But wait, I stopped on the way. As I went passed the cupboard I reach in and sneaked a very small piece of bitter sweet dark chocolate. I then went to bed chewing on the chocolate. Light lightening coming from a nearby cloud, this thought came to me, “I bet those are chocolate stains from my guilty mouth.” So still no side effects. Stay positive, Ernie (the chocoholic)

We have got a lot of that around here. How about telling us a little more about yourself. Stay positive, Ernie

Trish, That’s great news. I am also just past 2 years. Bottoms Up, That’s what they say, but I find it very difficult to drink anything when I am in that position. Stay positive, Ernie