Donna B.

Thank you for your responses. Yes, my dad's recent diagnosis of cancer is not a recurrence, but a new tumor that occurred in a different part of his lungs. My dad was blessed to have been able to overcome his cancer back in the early 90's. (Because he had the maximum dose of radiation, he wasn't able to have external radiation in his chest again. Brachytherapy (internal radiation) was an option suggested by his surgeon--esp. since his margins weren't clear.) Thank you as well for the reminder that he has a good chance to fight this recent cancer given his track record. Warmest regards, Donna

Hi everyone, It's my first time posting on this site, but I've found good information and comfort in reading your messages over the past months. My dad had NSCLC of the left upper lobe back in 1990 (smoker for 20 years; quit in the 80's) and beat it with surgery, radiation therapy, and chemo. It came back again in another area (right middle lobe--new primary tumor) early this year. He had a lobectomy and brachytherapy (internal radiation) in July and seemed to be doing well as far as oxygen saturation (95-96%) without much shortness of breath. However, he developed shortness of breath at the end of August and we found that he had a pleural effusion on the right side. This past week, he had a surgical pleurodesis to stop the pleural effusion from returning. We don't know yet what caused the pleural effusion (most all doctors think it's the progression of the cancer)--biopsy results from the pleurodesis should come back this week. His CT surgeon says his right lung is now expanding (it was "trapped" before the surgery). I know he just had surgery, but he seems to still need oxygen as much as before and he is coughing a lot more than usual. He has underlying emphysema to complicate things. It's so hard to see my dad go through all of this and wish I knew that his breathing will get better for him. My dad is now 72 and not as strong as he was in 1990 when he was "cured" from his first bout with lung cancer. Before he was diagnosed with cancer this year, he was quite active and very strong. I can see that this cancer and the treatments have really been taking its toll on him. Normally the positive and strong one, he has been feeling quite down lately. I think his recent compromised breathing brings him a lot of anxiety and depression. He is also in the midst of chemo--could this also contribute to his feeling "down" as well? Anyone have similar experiences like this due to a trapped lung and after a pleurodesis? Any comments would be greatly appreciated! Thank you. Donna