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barbvh

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    Great News!

    in HOPE

    Posted

    Thanks to everyone for helping me celebrate.

    I have relaxed a bit now and am concetrating on a few other health issues. Nothing serious, but does need to be taken care of. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms

    Great News!

    in HOPE

    Posted

    Good Evening Everyone

    Today is an Amen – Hallelujah kind of day. Today we celebrate!

    I saw my oncologist this morning.

    My PET/CT and CT reports from last week showed that all but 2 of the nodules that grew so much between my scans last December and my scans in February are smaller by about 50%. Two of the littlest ones grew a bit, but they are not concerned about them right now.

    The nodule that I had in my left lung and the enlarged lymph nodes are no longer seen. This was SO wonderful to hear. This is what they thought may be metastases on February the scans.

    What this means that I still have lung inflammation. My oncologist said it may be from my ruptured silicone implants. They will watch me closely, but everything is much better. I still have some symptoms because of the inflammation, a cough, shortness of breath and fatigue. They are beginning to improve and hopefully will continue to do so. I see my pulmonologist on the 22nd and I will have my next CT in 3 months as long as I feel well.

    Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

    Hugs,

    Barb

    Looking for some tips

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Jackie,

    First of all Good Luck with your upcoming surgery.

    I had my RLL removed last May. I was in the hospital for 6 days. The one thing I personally appreciated having with me was my mP3 player. I know that they discourage these kinds of things, but the music and meditation I have on mine was a GREAT help. If I took a walk around the floor I just took it with me.

    As far as doing things ahead; I stocked up on food staples and made a few frozen meals. I had a lot of family and friends bring meals the first few weeks and that helped a lot. Since I am a bit anal, I did some heavy household things I knew needed to be done. I did not want my husband to need to think about certain things during my recuperation as he was going to be the cook, maid and laundry person on top of working full time and taking care of me. My daughter came a stayed with for about 5 days after I was discharged. This was an amazing gift and helped both myself and husband. It was good to have someone there those first few days.

    I was off work for about 8 weeks and worked half time the first 2 weeks back.

    As far as keeping the girls in check. I wore tank tops for a while and then wore a bra only when I was out.

    Great News

    in HOPE

    Posted

    Hi Everyone,

    My oncologist called me today and EVERYTHING from my bronchoscope last week was negative. No tumors, cancer, fungus infection, TB or virus, They believe it is inflammation that they will watch it and rescan me in mid May. I guess that PET scans are not always accurate and sometimes what looks like cancer is inflammation. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

    GREAT CANCER NEWS, BUT

    in HOPE

    Posted

    Hi Everyone,

    Thanks for all your good wishes. I saw a pulmonologist at Karmanos today. He is scheduling me for a bronchoscopy with biopsy and lavage (saline wash) on Wednesday. He wants to be SURE there is NO infection or cancer recurrence. He gave his reasons and they are valid. He said that the needle biopsy only gets minute pieces of tissue. He said the tissue they got and was benign could have been from the core of the nodule and that if is possible the surrounding part of the nodule could still be malignant. He wants to be certain. If everything comes out benign with this, then we wait and see what the scans in mid May show and go from there.

    Wishing you all a GREAT evening!

    GREAT CANCER NEWS, BUT

    in HOPE

    Posted

    GREAT NEWS!!! I saw my oncologist today and the final pathology report shows no signs of cancer. It is a HUGE relief to know that the cancer had not recurred. They said they need to watch me closely and are going to repeat the PET and CT scans in 8 weeks.

    BUT, evidently, I have some kind of lung inflammation they are very concerned about. I was referred to see a pulmonary specialist at Karmanos this Monday. The report did show that it is not TB or fungal infection. Hopefully he can figure out what is going on. From the labs they did yesterday it looks like they are checking for sarcoidosis.

    So at the end of the day, I am SO thankful there is no recurrence, but left with another wait and see. One of the docs called me today to see how I am doing and made it crystal clear that my lungs are a bit of a mess. The radiologist went as far as to say that my lungs look like that of a coal miner. Though I never smoked, I had 2nd hand exposure all my childhood and have had toxic exposure to silicone and asbestos.

    We'll see what Monday's appointment brings.

    Thanks for all your support.

    Great Prelinimary Biopsy Results

    in HOPE

    Posted

    I posted this under test times last night and realized it should probably be under GOOD NEWS!!

    Thanks to everyone for all your support, prayers and words of encouragment. I had my needle biopsy yesterday. The radiologist was a walking angel. She spent a lot of time getting as much information from me about my lungs as she could. She went in and got 5 (ouch) good samples and said that preliminary slides show no evidence of malignancy. YEAH!!!

    I will get the final report on Thursday. I am much relieved, though I realize they may still recommend treatment because of the other nodules and nodes.

    For now, I will relax a bit and give Thanks to God for some good news.

    Yucky Scan Results

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Thanks to everyone for all your support, prayers and words of encouragment. I had my needle biopsy today. The radiologist was a walking angel. She spent a lot of time getting as much information from me about my lungs as she could. She went in and got 5 (ouch) good samples and said that preliminary slides show no evidence of malignancy. YEAH!!!

    I will get the final report on Thursday. I am much relieved, though I realize they may still recommend treatment because of the other nodules and nodes.

    For now, I will relax a bit and give Thanks to God for some good news.

    Yucky Scan Results

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Hi Everyone,

    I don't post very often, but do read a lot about you all and am very inspired by your strength and courage.

    I had a CT & PET last Thursday. They were watching 2 new nodules & a lymph node found on my 12/20/07 CT. Not good news. In 10 weeks they have grown in size from 6 & 8mm to over 2.8 cm, and there are more new nodules as well. Some lite up on the PET as did a lymph node. I am scheduled for a fine needle biopsy on Thursday to be sure of what they are dealing with.

    To say I am surprised is putting it mildly. Ten months ago I was told I had a 90 some percent chance of a cure and now it looks like it is metastatic disease. On March 13 I will find out what they restage it to and what treatment is recommended. From what I have read it looks like it may be restaged to stage 3.

    No one wants chemo, but I am extrememly sensitive to medications and this worries me. I deal with an anxiety disorder and I want to keep that in check as well.

    Will let you know what I hear next week. I know I am going to need advice.

    Thanks!

    Aaron

    in GRIEF

    Posted

    Julia,

    I am so sorry to hear of Aaron's passing. The unconditional love and devotion you had for each other was amazing and a shining example to us all of what love can be. Many prayers being sent your way.

    Hugs,

    Barb

    Caregiver of Husband (NSCLC-IA)

    in INTRODUCE YOURSELF!

    Posted

    Fanzi0,

    First of all welcome to the forum. I had a lower right lobectomy 5/07 and was stage 1a as well. Like your husband I and did not need further treatment.

    I would most certainly have your husband checked out very soon. Even at stage 1a I have had follow-up appointments with my oncologist and CT scans. If your husband has an oncologst, I would start there.

    I was told by a radiologist after my diagnosis not to ignore any new or unusual pain or symptoms after a cancer diagnosis.

    As far as his smoking, it takes most people 9-11 times to be successful. From what I have read, therapy or support groups for smoking cessation along with medication increase ones chance of being successful.

    Good Luck and please keep us posted.

    Question about metastases

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Thanks to everyone for your responses. Here is Dr. Laskin's reply from the question I posted Onc Talk:

    "Hi, Dr Laskin here, I would say it is most likely that these are new primary cancers rather than metastases (though that is also possible).

    The kind of lung cancer that you had removed, particularly the BAC part has a tendency to turn up in several different spots in the lung (we generally think of it as a multifocal disease). It was the correct choice to remove the first one they found, but i would agree with your oncologists plan to wait and re-scan you in a few months, assuming you are feeling well.

    These are very small and might just turn out to be inflammatory chagnes, but if they are cancer (or look like they're growing) you could speak to your surgeon to see if your lung capacity would tolerate another surgery. keep in mind that you will only be able to tolerate so many lung surgeries so watching these spots is a good choice of action at the moment."

    Any news on Aaron?

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Aaron,

    I am glad to here that you are out of the hospital. Even though you feel so awful, it is easier to feel better at home. My prayers are with you and Julia. You are both very special people. I hope the radiation helps and that you feel better soon.

    Thanks for updating us even with all that you are going through.

    Ct Results

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Don,

    Thanks for your response. The wait and see club stinks. This is all quite new to me, so I'm still in that learning and accepting phase.

    Hopefully my nodules will remain small like yours have for a very long time.

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