Don M

Welcome Kaja. Your tumor was not huge to start out with. I hope they made it much smaller. Don M

Welcome Rocky don M

I count October 31st 2003 as the beginning of my lung cancer saga. It has been 4 years since it was revealed to me that I had a large mass in my upper left lobe. I miss my lung. don m

Welcome Celie Don M

Welcome to lchelp. I have never seen a suv that high for lc. It makes me wonder if it is just a very intense infection. The only way to find out for sure is to have a biopsy. I don't think I would want to wait to see if the infection clears up and then rescan. It could also be a combination of infection and lc. I would do a biopsy. Also, you may find out from a biopsy that the mediastinum is not involved and the hilum is not involved in spite of the uptake. If it is cancer, it is possible that it would be an earlier stage. I had a PET scan for my second cancer that showed uptake in my mediastinum and hilum and a 1 cm nodule. A biopsy proved that the only malignancy was at the nodule and I was able to have surgery to get rid of the cancer. You should not lock yourself into accepting that it is 3b cancer until after a biopsy. Don m

Shelley: Dr. West once told me that most of the benefit from chemo is the first 4 treatments. The returns diminish after that and so after 6 treatments, the toxicity outweighs the benefit. Don M

Mary Colleen: I am sorry Vic got such disheartening news about his job. I wonder if his company has a retirement program. Maybe he could get a disability retirement through his company and be able to keep his insurance. I visited the American’s for Disabilities Act website and it appears that your husband’s company would be in violation of the act. Here is a question and answer page I found at the site: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/q%26aeng02.htm I can understand how your husband may be reluctant to put himself in an adversarial relationship with the company though. I think that these types of cases may be mediated and end up with some kind of settlement. Don M

Leslie, I too hope your dad gets to feeling better and maybe the tarceva is bringing on his fatigue. I like Wendyr's suggestion. Don M

Barb: Hey I know how blessed you must feel. I had friends come over one day last summer and they cut up and split and stacked 3 cords for me. I had a small clearing cut out on my property and there were some downtrees left over from last year. It was the first time I saw a mechanical wood splitter in action. Those things are amazing. One of the guys had one that he tows around on a small trailer. It runs on a Briggs and Stratton engine and uses hydraulics to drive the wedge piston. I helped run the splitter. One of the guys just called and asked if my wood was put up yet. When I said no, he offered help and I accepted. Last year I put up my own wood, but just did not have the oomph for it this year. I have a nice fire going in the insert at the moment. I fed them pizza and sweet well water. Don M

Hi Pam. welcome to lchelp. don M

Just to make sure Roger, I am not offended either and I hope you did not take my raspberry personally. It was directed at those who did the study. don m

I had 4 rounds of carbobplatin/gemzar in the adjuvant setting in 2005. I tolerated it just fine and my numbers were always good. I took compazine and dexadron to offset the nausea and I had fatigue that I managed ok. I was working then, and took sick leave for a few days during each cycle. Don m

Hi and welcome: that would be a good question for Dr. West: http://www.onctalk.com/ Just register at his site and you should get an answer within a day or two. Don M

I have never had much trouble with mine and I have been opened twice at the same site. Don M

Hi Barbara: I had periods of depression for the first 3 years or so. I took lexapro, which seemed to help, but eventually I just kind of stopped the lexapro and the depression does not come back very much. I guess I just got kind of tired of feeling bad so it went away in the last year. I told myself that this getting old. But while I had the depression, I would be patient with myself and just let it wash through me. I knew that it would not last forever. So, just let it go through you and be patient I guess. I hope tomorrow is a better day for you. Don M

RASPBERRY...BBBPPPPFFF (TONGUE STICKING OUT) I DON'T THINK MUCH ELSE AND WOULD NOT GIVE THE STUDY A MOMENT'S WORTH OF CRITICAL ANALYSIS. Don M

Hi Frank and welcome. Push for treatment right way. also go to Dr. West's site and ask him what the procedure would be for treatment if the primary cannot be identified. You have to register to post. At the very least though, I think they could do radiation. http://www.onctalk.com/ Don M

Hi and welcome; As soon as you get PET scan results, you and your oncologist will have a better idea of what is going on. They should have called you in for a consultation though after the ct scan. The first doc you saw is the one who ordered the ct san and you should talk to him. Don M

Hi Joe and welcome to lchelp. Don M

Hang in there Ken. It sounds like it is not cancer. Don M

Now that sounds tough Wendy. I have money issues too, but at least I my kids are adults and I am satisfied with just staying at my house and not going anywhere. At least I can still pay the bills. I hope your son finds a little job that can help him feel good about stuff. Maybe he could do yard work in the neighborhood? Don M

You may have to go to a major comprehensive cancer center to find a thoracic surgeon who does vats. I don’t see any in South Carolina listed by NCI. There are several in North Carolina and Alabama. Here are some links: http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_ ... uabcc.html http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_ ... clccc.html http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_ ... /dccc.html http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_ ... wfccc.html Going to a NCI designated facility is not necessarily the end all and be all for cancer treatment. I go to a cancer treatment center in Seattle, and it is not designated by NCI as a comprehensive treatment facility and I think it is an excellent facility. They do VATS there too. Looking for specialists at a NCI designated facility is a good way to start looking though. Here is another link to check out. If you click on a picture of Dr. John DeRosimo at the bottom of the page, a short demo of VATS will be launched. He is at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Although this is not a NCI designated facility they are probably very good. The video shows a contact number for an appointment. http://www.muschealth.com/video/Default ... ideoid=202 Don M

I hope your mom's scan report brings good news. don M

I hope you and your mom have may more such days. Don M

Since your mom has stopped coughing and is breathing better, that is a very good sign that she will show good results at her scan. We do live from scan to scan don't we? I hope your mom continues to improve. Enjoy the fall Festival. Don M