Don M

Fell on her butt 4 times and kept on going? Your mom sounds pretty awesome to me too. It is good to hear the pulmonolgist is more upbeat now. Don M

Your grandpa has my prayers. don m

Cool. My friends from where I used to work put up my winter's firewood stash for me this year...nice. Don M

Max, I am sorry you have to deal with cancer again. At least you seem to have caught it early. Your pulmonolgist and cardiologist will be the ones to clear you for surgery. You should know within 3 weeks, maybe less. There is no reason for it to take any longer than that unless you are not going to a comprehensive cancer center. I don’t like the fact that your doc did not inform you in a timely manner about the biopsy. If you go to a comprehensive cancer center, it all happens quickly. If for some reason you cannot have surgery, you should consider having the tumor killed with cyberknife surgery. Here are some links: A message board where you can ask about cyberknife surgery. http://www.cyberknifesupport.org/forum/ a facility in Phoenix that practices cyberknife surgery. They specialize on the brain and spinal column it looks like, but the web page mentions tumors in the chest can be treated. http://www.thebarrow.org/Medical_Specia ... /index.htm A National Cancer Institute certified comprehensive cancer center in Phoenix. http://www.azcc.arizona.edu/ If I were you, I would take all my tests and records and go to the University of Arizona Comprehensive Cancer Center first and see if you can have surgery. They should let you know quickly. If you can’t have surgery, cyberknife surgery is the next best thing in my opinion. Don m

Good luck with your surgery Connie. Your surgeon sounds like an ok guy. He has his game face on. I think 90% odds in your favor are good too. As I recall, the lung surgery odds are 95%. Don M

Hmmm...now that you mention it, I guess I have noticed a cooling down as it were. After all, it has been 4 years and I guess it is kind of old news to my siblings now. The last update I sent out to them did not engender much response, while my previous updates did. It does not bother me much though. My spouse and children continue to be supportive as always and when people in my area ask me how I am doing, I tell them am still alive. You know, I just remembered that I had a coughing fit in my front yard the other day and my nearest neighbor called me up to make sure I was ok…pretty cool, eh? I live in a rural area and cannot see my neighbors’ houses. I must have bee coughing really loud.

Welcome Jean: your husband is off to a good start with his treatment now that the brain mets are gone. soon he will be able to start chemo. I hope his first chemo brings very good results. don M

Welcome Louise don M

Way to go Geri...keep racking up the years now. Don M

hi: yeah, it may not be cancer and if it is it was caught early. So wait and see and let us know.. Don m

Good luck with your treatment Dick. don M

Hi Barbara; I hate it especially when young families have t deal with this lc c**p. I hope your husband sees an oncologist for a second opinion. The first oncologist may have not been very positive. Here is a link where you can choose a major comprehensive cancer center by state; http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_ ... names.html Don M

Amanda, welcome to lchelp. I hope your husband gets good results with his new treatment. My daughter's name is Amanda and she is 30. Don M

Ask Dr.West: http://www.onctalk.com/ I think it may be that the avastin is killing the tumor from the inside. It goes after the blood vessels to the tumor and so the tumor may be starved for blood and so is dying from the inside out. Also, I think avastin goes to the center of the tumor to do its work. Sometimes a big tumor, in excess of 5 cm, will cavitate because the blood supply can no longer support a huge tumor. I had a cavitating 7 cm by 5 cm by 4 cm at my last PET/ct scan 8-31-07. The docs think it is just too big to keep the center alive. I am not on and have not used avastin. Don M

Welcome First Son. Please accept my condolences for your loss. Don M

Get a second opinion at a comprehensive cancer center. They will explain everything to you and all the specialists communicate with each other well. Here is a link where you can choose National Cancer Institute (NCI) approved Cancer Centers by state. There are other excellent comprehensive cancer centers not on the NCI list, but this is a good place to start looking. http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_ ... names.html Don M

Barb, you all have my prayers that Rod and the rest of you get through this time with peace and dignity. Don m

David, please accept my condolences for your loss. don M

Hi Dick: You may find that if you ask a family member or friend to go with you on your appointments, they may be happy to help. They could just feel awkward and not know what to do or say. It is often helpful to have a second set of ears, especially at consultation appointments. I had anger first and then depression. I took anti depressants for a while and xanax from time to time. Now I don’t take anything. I have been dealing with lc for 4 years now, and for me, I eventually just got tired of being depressed and do ok emotionally now. I still have a reasonably good quality of life and so that makes it easier to be upbeat and positive I suppose. As others have said, you just do this one day at a time. I still have long term dreams or plans, but I pretty much focus on the present moment and be grateful if I feel good. I guess I have reached a point in my disease that I live from one scan to the next. I think that most of us have a scan-oriented way of life. If my scan says stable, yay then I forget about the disease for a while until the next scan. I have other interests beside my disease. I have grandchildren. My wife and I are going to go to Phoenix next week to visit our son and his family. We live in the state of Washington. I have a high definition video camera and will get lots of video of my grandson and his mom am dad and his dog. They are just moving into a new house. We leave next week. I just recently built a new computer that will allow me to efficiently process and edit the high def video. When I do this stuff, I am not thinking about lung cancer. Things should settle down for you once you get a treatment plan going and a routine settles in. Good luck with your treatment. Don M

Welcome Dick Don M

I think that the new chemo regime is promising and hopefully your sister will get even more shrinkage. Don M

Leslie and Adrian: Please accept my condolences on your dad's passing. Don M

welcome Susan: Don M

I hope your grandma is and remains comfortable as she approaches her final days. Please don't worry about prolonging the inevitable or whatever. Life is so very precious. Most of us will keep it as long as possible. I believe that the extra time we gain can be a period of deep spiritual instruction or even a deep spiritual awakening. It’s hard to say when dying actually begins anyway. Technically, I suppose it begins when the body begins shutting down. You are a good granddaughter. Don M

Welcome. I hope your dad's current treatment brings good results. don M