Don M

Welcome Mandi: I hope your mom gets a treatment plan soon and follows it. Things will settle down a bit then. Don M

Welcome. It looks like your mom will be in a good position to fight the cancer. Don M

Karen: please accept my condolences for your loss. Don M

I would remark to the cancer, "stupid cancer" and then proceed to consume it with my body the way it has consumed me. I would consume it utterly. I like Aaron's touch about having Wagner in the back ground. Maybe Brunhilde could sweep in whooping in her Wagnerian way and magically cut out the cancer without hurting me a bit. Then she could roast it using her spear as a shis kabob and eat it with a tankard of meade. Burp. Don m

Good luck to to your dad with his treatment Adrian. I hope his cough improves markedly. I know how annoying it can be. I have a cough, that fortunately I can manage with cough drops and codeine. don M

Go grandma..go away back pain. Don M

I am sorry that you all have had so much overwhelming bad news. Your mom probably feels overwhelmed now and so "why bother?" she says. I hope she will reconsider and at least aim for treatment that will make her feel better. don M

I have bcbs. Just make sure that you don't confuse meeting your deductible with catastrophic cap. I think the way it works is that you first have to meet your deductible. Then your insurance will pay the agreed upon amounts. It often is 80%. for my insurance, they pay 70% of the allowed amount for chemo. After I reach $5000 out of pocket costs, they pay 100% of everything. I have put off switching to an insurance with a lower catastrophic cap because I did not want to plan for having more chemo, hoping that I would not have to do it again, but I think next year I will switch to a lower cap in case I have to do tarceva or taxotere. I will have to pay more deductible and my premiums will be higher, but I will be out $3500 at the end of the year instead of $5000. Don M

I was in the midst of alimta last summer when a heat wave came along. I went to town posthaste and bought a unit that fits in my window and sucks in outside air. I think you would want to avoid a unit that cools inside air. I will probably use it for a few weeks this summer. Don M

I am very sorry Tina. you all have my prayers. Don M

Tracy, it is sad that you can't get support from your own family. Maybe they will come around if you and Kasey have a frank talk with them. Just focus on what you have to do for your treatment. You can't allow family struggles to take up your energy. Maybe your dad and mom will begin to understand when they see you go get your treatment and have to make arrangements for friends to take care of your kids instead of family. I would be tempted just to drop the kids off at grandma and grandpa's and tell them to deal with it, but you have to find a solution where your kids will be comfortable I guess. Actually, your dad did offer some tentative help from what you posted. Maybe you should outline exactly what it is to him that you need and give him the opportunity to step in and help. I guess if you were just dealing with some jerk at the supermarket, you could go off on him with no problem. But you are dealing with your loved ones. I hope they come around. Don M

I am sorry Heidi. I hope the next treatment chases it away for good. Don M

Maybe you could talk him into going on lexapro or something similar. it might help. You know, I am a little surprised that they would bother to call to let your dad know that the provider was out of network. I would be grateful.

Sounds good. Don M

This is all very encouraging Rod. You maybe a candidate for surgery after systemic treatment. Don M

Welcome Twinmom. Yeah, it is a lot to take in. Soon, you will be on a tratment path and things will be better. Don M

I hope your mom has a quick recovery Sue. Don M

Welcome. I hope they get your mom's medical stuff sorted out soon and get it fixed. If she has a lot of inflammation in her lungs, they may not find out much from a PET scan at this point. Moving in with grandpa sounds like a great idea. Don M

I have had 2 surgeries and went on ibuprofen after 2 or 3 weeks. I never had the symptoms your dad has. I wonder about the flu feeling. Make sure his lungs are clear and he has been coughing up gunk. There is a danger in getting pneumonia if he doesn't keep his lungs clear. They probably made sure he was coughing up stuff while in the hospital and so most of it is probably gone, but just make sure he is keeping his lungs clear. Don M

Welcome Will: I hope your wife starts feeling better soon. When people ask me how am I doing they really want to know about my lc and so I tell them. Don M

Jen, I hope your mom has an uneventful and successful surgery. Don M

I had a ct scan every 6 months and an xray in the interval time so that I would have a ct scan then 3 months later have an xray and then 3 months later, another ct scan. I did this pattern after my first and second cancers. After my third cancer, I have been doing a PET/CT scan every 3 months. Don M

Hi Rod; I also have a clear vision of my self living well into my 80s and then dying rather quickly from something else besides cancer. I kind of like the way my grandpa died. He had a heart attack and then was able to collect himself for a few minutes, without pain, and then died. He got to know the first batch of great-grandchildren before he left us. I want to watch my grandchildren grow up and have their own kids. You certainly have the full gamut of emotions. Once you get on a treatment path, you can expect to be more focused and have less turmoil. Good luck. Don M

Hi Gail. I have had 2 major lung surgeries. I was able to return to work after 3 weeks the first time and after a month the second time. I sat at a desk for 2 months or so and then did more strenuous field work. It took me about 5 months to get over it completely. I stopped pain pills at 3 weeks out and took ibuprofen. Try walking a little bit each day and increase it. I had a dry cough after my second surgery that drove me nuts. I finally got some pills that had codeine like stuff in them to quiet the cough and took them for about a month. the cough eventually went away. Don M

I found out about my lc In October 2003 at age 59. since then, I have had a lobectomy, a completion pneumonectomy, 4 rounds of carboplatin/gemzar, 33 treatments of IGRT, 4 rounds of alimta. The chemo and radiation I had done in the presence of my third cancer. My third cancer ignored the treatment. My first 2 cancers were cut out. I am about to have cyberknife treatment which I think will finally kill the third cancer. Although I have had this current cancer since at least August, 2005, I have had no spread as of my last PET/CT scan in March 2007. My third cancer stayed smallish until September, 2006 when it tripled in size compared to the previous 3 months. It is 4 by 7 cm now. I have had no new disease since August, 2005. I smoked between age 24 and 40. I quit smoking in 1984, 19 years later I got cancer. I also have a family history of cancer and have had significant exposure to forest fire smoke and pesticides. Don M