linzy

Oh Connie what an inspiration this story of your mums fight has been to me, i'm so sorry for your loss she sounded like an extraordinary woman so brave n strong right to the last...amazing! and with such a great daughter to. Love n hugs Linda

Hi Nick , thank you for support it really does make a difference, i'm much more positive now than I was when I first posted this thread..thanks to all the love support n prayers ive recieved. So sorry to read about your mum..it made me cry she sounds like such a wonderful woman. Love Linda xxx

Hi Guys n Gals Thought you might like to know how my scan results were. Went to see my oncologist on Tuesday this week and she showed me the scan and the growth in my left lung has more than halved its original size! the growth in my lymph nodes have shrunk to but not as much as they would have liked ..but hey ..its still shrunk n i'm delighted with that...and..in my right lung I had a lot of gunk still there from the phnuemonia and they were worried that there might be cancer underneath it..but there wasnt all the gunk has cleared and no signs of cancer!! how fabulous is that!..and only 2 sessions of chemo! ..1 session being 3 weeks... It gave me such a boost! She said that she will give me 2 more sessions then give me a break for a while Loadsa love n prayers to you all Linda xxxx

Hi guys, Hope your all doing well...I gotta say Lisa that the stories ive read on here are inspirational to say the least and whenever I have doubt I come here and read more it truly gives me hope. I'm on my second session of chemo now...3 weeks per session 2 bags, 1 bag, then a week free ..after this one I have a scan appointment 12th September...so we will see if its done anything ..i'm trying my best to keep a positive attitude towards this. but you know , I asked the oncologist about Tarceva and she didnt seem to happy to discuss it..its available in Scotland but not here in the uk..and she said it was to expensive £1,600 per month just to give me maybe a couple more months ...and only works in 1 in 10 people ...so I guess that was a no then!...its all about money isnt it?..thats very sad. Love to you all Linda x

Thanks for your replies guys..i'm beginning to think maybe I should get a second opinion...the consultant and the oncologist told me that my cancer was inoperable because of where it is ...in between my lungs and next to my heart, they also told me that the growth at the bottom of my left lung had probably spread through my bloodstream and thats how it got to settle in my chest area and that I probably have bits floating around in my bloodstream...and I still have a bit of gunk in my right lung left off the phnuemonia so they couldnt see if there was any cancer under that but they suspected there might be....but surgery was out of the question...my only option was chemo and radiotherapy or a combination of both but he said all it would do was make life a little more comfortable for me and maybe give me another month or two...who would I go to for a second opinion?...I think we in the UK are way behind in our treatment of cancer, ive been reading about this drug called Tarceva (erlotinib) but its still being tested in clinical trials here in the UK and is not given out freely...ive printed off some notes about it to take to my oncologist next Tuesday...so we'll see. Linda

Hi Chesney, Your mum sounds like a strong lady and is probably being like all mums...trying to protect her children from as much worry as possible..doesnt work though does it? Why not ask her if you could go with her to her next appointment? she maybe doesnt tell you to much because she cant remember herself...I know when I go to see my oncoligist I find it all to much to take in and if it wernt for my daughter n son I would never remember half of what they said to me...its all to much to take in... your mum may feel the same...my daughter asks the doctors questions I would never have thought of and remembers a lot more than i do...if it helps, show her this thread...I know I couldnt go it alone and I think your mum will probably be relieved to know that you want to help and be there for her...I know i would Love Linda

Hi all you lovely people Sorry ive taken so long to get back to you all, but since my news my feet havent touched the ground!..I cant believe how my life has change in just a few weeks, the first week that I was diagnosed was unreal..Had the shocking news on the Monday, Tuesday I moved house and on Friday we had all the floods here in the uk, I was in the middle of all that ..luckily my house wasnt affected..thank god! Then I had the hardest decsion of my life to make...what a dilemma that was!...do I have treatment or not? boy oh boy..anyone that knows me knows that I find it difficult to even decide wich way to wear my hair today ..up? or down? lol....i'm the worst descion maker in the world...my family hate shopping with me...I drive my daughter nuts!...she says .." for goodness sake mum its just a tin of tuna...flakes or chunks? lol....she usually picks whatever off the shelf and puts in my trolley..what would I do without her, she is a star. So the descion to wether to have chemo or not just blew my mind...this one I had to do on my own... I asked everyone..what do you think I should do?...I had the same responce from all of them..."oh god Linda..I dont know..your the only one that can make that descion"....I wanted to scream!.."SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT I SHOULD DO!"....Then my oldest and dearest friend of 32yrs..said something that started me thinking, she thought that because I was thinking of not having any treatment that I was giving up.." you cant give up Lin you have to fight!"...my goodness is that what people were thinking I was doing?...of cors I wasnt, I just didnt want to be sick and wanted to feel as well as possible for as long as possible, that really made the descion for me, I couldnt have my family n friends thinking that, so I decided to try it once and if it made me feel bad I would stop...well i'm on my second session of chemo and have had no problems at all!...I cant believe how well I feel and i'm sure its doing some good because this last week ive had no trouble with my swallowing! Oh the power of prayer!... Love to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Linda

I dont even know what to write....sat here looking at the screen and still cant believe what ive been told...it feels so unreal Had a letter yesterday morning to go into hospital to see consultant/doctor for the results of my lung biopsy, he told me...its cancer and its inoperable cos its spread to to my middle lymph things..probably why ive had a little trouble swallowing down food, he said theres nothing can be done except for some chemo wich wont cure it only supposedly make me feel a little better, but wont give me anymore time, so with or without treatment (chemo)he gave me at the most 12 months

Hi Friends, Well I had my biopsy on Friday wasnt a pleasant experience in fact if someone told me I had to have it again I dont think I would!....nothing prepared me for that..think i'm a bit of a chicken ..but its over with now, and i'm feeling good, just have to wait for the results, I dont know how long that will be. It wasnt all bad tho, there was this fabulous nurse looking after us, she made us laugh so much we almost forgot what we were there for...she was just great Love to all Linda xxx

Thank you Jen n Mike, you folks are amazing. Well ive finally got my biopsy through, this Friday at 11.30am, my daughter asked me why I sounded so excited about having this biopsy....I told her, it meant I could stop speculating and finally know what I have to deal with, doesnt make me any less nervous tho ..any tips on how to keep calm n relaxed?

Thank you dscherer for your prayers and advice, i'm taking it all in and you to Missy, thank you, I'm lucky really as when all this happened I had just moved in with my daughter n her husband after selling my house, used to live 140 miles away, i'm now waiting to move into a rented house which is just across the road from my daughter and just around the corner from my son, they are a fabulous support for me always have been, but I think they find it hard to talk about in depth right now, but they do let me ramble on. Ned your post made me smile, I think i'm in the "none educated delinquent" catergory never even thought of googling it...doh!...but I do like the sound of "no abnormality detected"...i'll hold that thought...thank you Love Linda

Oh my!...I didnt expect a responce like this...thank you all so much for careing n taking the time to reply, it means so much to me, even more so after reading what youve all been through and still going through..your all so amazing.. I still havent heard when my biopsy will be..probably this week sometime, I just want to get it over and done with...I found my discharge summary from the hospital the other day, ive been trying to understand it, can you help me decipher it?..it goes somthing like this Primary Diagnosis...Right middle lobe pneumonia Secondary Diagnosis..Atypical lung mass Diagnosis notes.. CT head-NAD CT abdo/thorax-3.2cm oval soft tissue mass situated posteriorly in the left lower lobe. What does CT head-NAD mean ? does anyone know? Thank you so much Love Linda x

Hi, I'm Linzy, i'm 51 I live in a town called Evesham in the UK. i'm here because a couple of weeks ago I was in hospital after having a couple of seizures at home and feeling pretty awful, had a CT Scan and was diagnsed as having pneumonia..in my right lung they also discovered a growth at the back of my left lung....I was contacted today by the specialist who told me I would be having a Biopsy very soon....I joined here because I dont feel I can talk to my family yet, I dont want to upset them ...I have a daughter 26yrs old and a son 27yrs old a grandson nearly 3 and another due in december....I just want to cry..i'm just so scared