Don M

Beth: you have my prayers. Don M

Hi Denise: your post indicates that your mom has no evidence of disease now. When was the last ct scan? I think I would want one every 3 months for the first year. The only thing you are unsure about is the blood count. I can't help you with the blood count. I may be wrong, but people don't go on second line drugs like iressa unless there is disease present. I have heard of people taking celebrex to stay disease free. At any rate, I don't like the malpractice comment your mom's doc made. It indicates that he may not be very proactive in treatment. I think you should see another oncologist and you can take a copy of the blood test report with you and ask about it. The doc Rich mentioned looks like a good choice. I hope your mom stays disease free. You sound like a loving daughter. Don M

Peggy: you and your family have my prayers. Don M

Have some more prayers Cindi! I hope you set up somewhere that is homey for you. don M

Melanie has my prayers.

Mew!

I think a lesion is a general term that can be all sorts of growths, but a nodule is a particular kind of growth. A nodule is a lesion, but so is a skin cancer. Don M

David: Please accept my condolences. Don M

Welcome back Connie

Happy Birthday.. Let's see. When I was in the first grade, you were in the 4th grade. You were one of the big kids! Don M

Cathy: I have been following your posts since I joined in Nov 2003. I have always been struck by your courage and upbeatness. If you do hospice, I hope you continue to deal with your new situation with the same courage and grace you have shown in the past and I am sure you will. You have my prayers. God bless you. Don M

Your mom has my prayers Val.

Hey, thanks everybody. I am encouraged to see that it will eventually go away. It kind of came to me last night that my problem was acid reflux. One telling sypmtom was that when ever I bent over, I would go into a dry coughing spasm. My daughter has some prevacid. I tried some and it helped me almost immediately. I asked my surgeon about the possibility of getting acid reflux just after my surgery and he had never heard of any instances. I am going to see my oncologist this Tuesday and will pick his brains about it. My insurance won't cover rx for acid reflux unless I get my provider to write up a justification. I am just going to look for some suitable over the counter meds. Don M

I remember seeing some posts maybe a year ago about people who have had acid relux disease onset after a pneumectomy. I think it has to do with the stomach getting moved and organs shifting and what not. I think that is what I have and would like to get pointed to the posts or talk to those who have had experience with it. I tried to do a search within LCSC and came up empty. Don M

Please accept my condolences. I am glad you got to spend some time with him. Don M

Fay: what a awful experience you had. What a powerful story. You are a good writer, but I think the subject matter made it easy. I am glad you can write about it. I will likely never forget it. I guess we all learn compassion through suffering. Thanks for increasing the comapassion in this world a bit. Don M

Hi Rosie: I am sorry to hear about yoour dad. You can be sure that everyone in this group will advise you to get your dad to seek a second opinion. It is not clear from your post that he actually talked to an oncologist. I have heard tht MD Anderson is a good cancer center. There are many stage 4 survivors who have been around for 4 years and longer. I am an early stage survivor. If I were a late stage survivor, I would definitely take the steps to keep on surviving for years to come. Don M

Cathy: you have my prayers. Don M

Bill and Jang: may your surgeries go well and I hope your recovery is quick. Don M

Hi Bill: I am 60 years old. I have had 2 lung surgeries. the first one was an upper left lobectomy when I was 59. Be sure to ask for an epidural to mangage pain. I have been told that using an epidural can minimize post op pain down the road. I was in the hospital a week both times. After my first operation, I was walking around the block within a week after going home. In 3 months i was was walking a mile in 16 minutes. I could not split any wood until about 5 months after my operation. I had my lobectomy in Jan 2004, and was able to put a garden in the following spring. Don M

I am glad to see you are back Frank. You certainly have a way to whittle this disease down to size with your humor. I certainly hope that you can be decorked and unbagged very soon. Don M

Fay: I generally walk in 1 mile segments. I walk 2 miles a day, with a break in between. I walk a mile in 16 minutes. I have walkded 2.5 miles at a time, but I prefer to break it up. I am about ready to go for my first walk now. Don M

Hi Starry: I just wanted to add my welcome and support. I see you have received a lot of good advice from others. Don M

Hi Jan: I see you have received a very nice welcome at this point. Yeah, it does sound like you are one of the lucky ones. I would also like to add a caution that you consider a follow-up of chemotherapy, especially if you are staged at IB, which would be a larger stage 1 tumor. I was staged at Ib in Jan 2004 with an upper left lobectony and by Feb 2005, it was determined that I had another tumor in my remaining lobe. I did not have chemotherapy the first time. In February 2005, I had the rest of my left lung removed, and was staged Ia. The docs did not know for sure if it was recurrent or a new cancer. I have heard that about one third of all recurrences are local cancer. Anyway, I asked for chemo the second time. I am 4 days into my first round now, and it is ok so far. Of course, I will never know for sure if having chemo the first time would have made any difference or not. Don M

Maryanne: I hope all goes well for Joel and that the side effects are minimal. As you know, I start my chemo tomorrow too. My cocktail has been changed from taxol/carboplatin to gemcitabine/carboplatin. the oncologist says there is less neuropathy with gemcitabine. Don M