My name is Stacia. My mom was diagnosed in October 2006 with Stage IV metastatic NSCLC at the age of 47. She was never a smoker, and was always healthy. The tumors are small and are in her lungs, spine, and sternum. She has been going through chemo for a little over a year now, and recently started radiation. She was having some pressure in her head, and wanted her doctor to do a brain MRI. The results came back the Monday before Thanksgiving that she has small lesions (less than 20) on her cerebellum, pons, and temporal lobes. This is her 2nd week of radiation and she says she just feels tired, no other real symptoms yet. Her doctor said that it could take up to 3 weeks for symptoms to appear.
Her doctor is remaining positive. She's out of work on disability, so at least that stress is gone. I just keep hoping and praying that she is in that small group of people who can make it through this.
It's so hard sometimes. You never expect your mom to be diagnosed with lung cancer when you're 20. I just get so frustrated with health magazines sometimes. They'll have all of these articles about breat cancer and cervical cancer and colon cancer, but rarely do you hear anything about lung cancer. It just seems like the world is focused on all of the smaller cancers, when one of the biggest ones is staring in our face, unwilling to back down. I understand that the others are just as formidible, but it still frustrates me just the same.
I'm just looking for a place to vent, to find friends, to share, to relate.