Manifest

For me it was the fatigue and food not tasting right. I know everyone is different even with the same treatment but those 2 things seem standard.

The way it works for me at a teaching college is the test is typically in the am with the appointment for the results that afternoon. I, like most I think tend to go crazy waiting on the results. I remember earlier when I was testing locally and my sleeping really suffered for the week of waiting.

I appreciate all the replies. I believe I am a bit clearer on some things than I was before. At least Carol's treatment aligned with mine and her retests are in line with what the teaching hospital has set. Snappy...I had to make the decision early and it was a tough one. The two terms they threw out as far as radiation and chemo were "curative and induction" and as Carol said, my understanding is that an induction plan keeps dosages to a level where surgery would be possible if circumstances warrant. The hard part of that decision is that they told me that the radiation is a one time treatment regardless of whether curative or induction

I am trying to decide where to go now and thought I would ask what ya'll thought. I was diagnosed with 3a or 3b NSCLC depending on which doctor we were speaking to. I just finished my prescribed chemo (6 weeks Tax/Carbo) and have completed 21 of 37 concurrent radiation treatments so far. The treatment plan was induction so that I could possibly have surgery after completion if needed. What is bothering I am being treated locally and feel that I have a good team, but I did go to a very high ranked teaching hospital for my second opinion. They would not really treat me due to having begun locally, but said that they would pick up treatment after the completion of this first round. (they also agreed with local treatment being a valid choice, but they would have done more tests) So I just called them and they made appointments for me on 4/22 for a PET and MRI scan which is a full 5 1/2 weeks from chemo completion and 2 1/2 weeks from radiation completion. Since our plan is to get me to a point where I can have surgery...is this time frame too long? I am concerned that anything that may be left of the original tumor may slip back to its original haunts (assuming that it actually has left). I could probably get appointments locally the week after my radiation completes which would be the required 3 weeks from chemo. But then I have lost the resources of the major cancer research center. I may be making too much of the timeframe and this is what I was hoping to get others experiences. Thanks!

Chris, I appreciate you coming on and detailing your experiences. It is looking like I am in the same boat as you and my doctors are running the same protocol to help me. I have my second Chemo this Thursday and am recieving radiation daily so I'm hoping for the day when mine is under control. Having a second check by specialists next Tuesday but I'm not sure what they can say that has not been said. Good luck with the rest of your treatment and please keep us updated. Mark

Thank you so much for the information and the energizing attitudes. It is much appreciated. I went to the oncologist today and he pretty much confirmed our path. He sent me to a surgeon and I have an appointment with a radiation oncologist tomorrow. Our thoughts are that we start an induction path such that if we get some shrinkage we can go ahead with the surgery. He plans to begin chemo next Wednesday with both Taxol and Carbo. With the radiation treatments beginning as soon as possible. The surgeon agreed that we should wait and see if we can get the tumor to a more operable state before comitting to a surgical procedure. I am still unsure as to the length of treatment and some of the details but I hope they clear up soon. I did get the oncologist to make me an appointment at Duke Medical Center for my second opinion on 2/19, but I consented to going ahead and starting the chemo and radiation in the meantime. Again, thanks for the support!

Hello ! I have been reading this site a good bit lately and it looks to be such a good source of encouragement and information that I am glad to have found it. I am a 46 year old male, married for 28 years this March. I have 2 children 22 and 18 and until recently thought I was in good health. I did smoke for much of my life and always knew that could be an issue but like most other smokers I just could not quit. All that changed in December 06 when my wife and I finally threw them down and we have not slipped. We had joined the YMCA in our area and were starting to get in shape and put our lives back into order. This month I felt kind of bad and went to the doctor who suspected bronchitis but had and x-ray done. By the time it was read I felt fine again, but the xray showed an area of concern. He sent me to a lung doctor who confirmed the xray and sent me for a ct scan. The ct scan confirmed the area and they then sent me for a long needle biopsy. This showed that the area was cancerous NSCLC consistant with Adenocarcinoma. They then sent me for a PET scan and I just got the results from it. They were not very encouraging in that it was staged at a III and probably inoperable as it stands now. My lung doctor has sent me to a oncologist and I have that appointment tomorrow. I am really having problems remaining positive now and it seems the bad news is continious. Tomorrows appointment may provide what I am missing, but with the prognosis should I be hunting additional sources of opinions ? or any ideas on what I should be doing now ?