Don M

Kathleen The mets are small. She should respond to cyberknife. Try the following link and talk to the oncs who answer questions on the board. It may be helpful to get a cd of the mri and post the images on the board for the oncs to look at. http://www.cyberknifesupport.org/forum/default.aspx?c=4 They will be able to get rid of the mets entirely without damaging any adjacent healthy brain tissue. What kind of radiation is your mom having? Whole brain radiation? Gamma knife? I would avoid whole brain radiation. Some may argue that WBR will kill mets too small to be seen for cyberknife to kill, but I think one could just wait until they get big enough to see and just keep on zapping them. In terms of side effects, some pople have had wbr and do just fine. Others have problems within months. And no one knows yet what the effects would be years down the road, because people don't usually live that long after wbr just 5 years ago. These days, survival time is longer and the long term effects of wbr may be a real concern. Gamma knife is similar to cyberknife except the head does not have to be immobilized in cyberknife. I would push for killing the mets by targeted radiation. I think that one can manage the brain mets indefinitely whenever they may pop up using cyberknife. If I got brain mets, the fight would definitely not be over. I would just get them zapped as they arose and keep on going. Don M

Rob: you and your mom have my prayers. Don M

You know, you can always get a copy of the report. If you need to have the oncologist to go over it with you, then I guess you have to wait. Don M

So far so good Kelly. I hope the good news continues. Don M

Spacyjane: that is most wonderful. I take delight at your news. Don M

Jorja, you and your dad have my prayers. It is good to have the dnr in place just in case. Hopefully, your dad will pull out of it and respond to more treatment. Don M

Katheeen: your mom is having an mri now and that is good. I am concerned that the oncologist told you "that with NSCLC it is not as common for it to spread to the brain and that they would not do a brain scan unless there were symptoms" . My understanding is that it is very common to have mets to the brain. In the past, oncologists would typcially wait for symptoms before an mri, beacause by that time the disease was reaching its final stages and there was not much more treatment to be done. The intent would be to treat brain mets palliatively. More recently, oncologists look early on for brain mets, in the absence of symptoms so that the mets can be held in check. They see that there is longer survival happening with lc patients due to new drugs and they see that the mets can be handled long term by using gamma knife or cyberknife for the mets. They try to catch them when they are small and can be managed more effectively. Last February, a new tumor was discovered in my remaining lung. I had no symptoms of brain mets, but my oncologist said I should get an mri anyway. I immediately agreed. The mri came out clear for me. I hope the mri shows your mom has no mets. Don M

Please accept my condolences at the loss of your dad. Thanks for sharing the details. Don M

Hi Darci: if an xray showed a spot on my lung, my onc would immediatley order a ct scan. I think they should get a second opinion too, at a major cancer center. Don M

Cindy: you and your dad have my prayers. I liked Holly's response. If you dad is not getting tratment now, just try to convey to him that hospice will make him more comfortable. Don M

Linda, You and your mom have my prayers. Don M

Hi Katleen: wait and see seems like the best thing to do. It is still a plan. I would think that it could be called stable actually. 2 mm change since December is not much. I hope you and your mom can enjoy each other and not let the limbo thing get to you. Don M

Hi PinkP and welcome to this board Don M

My cancer was found by accident. I had a ct scan of my abdominal area for a different issue, and a possible nodule was seen in my lower left lung. I had a chest ct scan a few months later and a large mass was found in my upper left lobe. I had a bronchscopy which was inconclusive, a lung needle biopsy which was inconclusive, a PET scan which showed uptake and pointed to the mass being malignant, a biopsy which showed malignancy and immediately after the biopsy of my mass and lymph nodes, my upper left lung was removed. The ct scan will give better information about your dad's spot. If the ct scan shows it to be a spot bigger than 1 cm, the radiologist may say that it is suspicous for malignancy. Then your dad may undergo the bronchoscopy and/or lung needle biopsy. Sometimes a mediastinoscopy is done to check out the lymph nodes for malignancy in the mediastinal area, between the lungs. There will probably be a PET scan done too, to see if there are any other possible malignancies and to see if the spot has uptake. The uptake is an indicator of high celluar activity. A lung infection as well as a tumor can show uptake. A PET scan is also useful for detecting malignant lymph nodes. In my case, there was no actual proof of malignancy until I had my lobectomy. At this point, all you can do is guess and worry about what it is. The chances are 50-50 that it is nothing. Just try to not obsess about it until you get better information. I hope it is nothing. Don M

Please accept my condolences at the loss of your father. Don M

Hi Shirie: welcome to this board. You have a very good chance at a cure, especially if you do the chemo. I had stage IB cancer over 2 years ago, but did not do chemo. Maybe I would not be having my third cancer if I had done the followup chemo. I did do chemo after my second cancer. I did carboplatin/gemzar, but it apparently did not work because my third cancer was forming as I was finishing up the chemo. I can only guess that the chemo I did was not effective because: 1. I was using a first line chemo on a secondary cancer. 2. Or, maybe I should not have been taking antioxidants during chemo. 3. I should have done carboplatin/taxol instead of carboplatin/gemzar...my second opinion onc asked me why I did not do carboplatin/taxol instead of gemzar. He did not offer any opinion that doing the gemzar was a mistake though. I gave it my best shot after the second cancer though and have no regrets. You will be giving it your best shot too. I am rooting for you. I think the 3 most important things you can do during chemo are: 1. Drink a lot of water. 2. Eat 3. Walk for exercise and then take a nap if you have to...don't give up entirely on exercise. Your lung capacity will improve if you keep up the exercise. I walked a mile a day during my chemo. So, fyi, my third cancer is in my remaining lung. I had the rest of my left lung removed at my second surgery. I can't lose any more lung, so I am having targeted radiation to kill the tumor and to spare the surrounding lung tissue. I will be done with radiation the first week of June. After that, I will do 4 rounds of alimta, a second line chemo, as a followup. I will not take antioxidants this time. Die tumor, die. Don M

Pam: Actually, your life and state of mind sounds a lot like mind. I am enjoying myself in my retirement. Keep on enjoying your beingness. Don M

Congratulations Jennie; I hope Berry gets the tarceva covered. If iressa worked, I think it is likely that tarceva would too. Don M

That is very good news Trish. I am amazed every time I read Jeffrey's profile. Keep it up. Don M

Hi Connie: I hope things go better for your mom now. I am going to start alimta when I am done with radiation in mid june. I have heard that its effects genrally are not as bad as other chemos, but some people still have a real hard time with it. The main problem some people have with it is shortness of breath. I hope it works well for your mom. Don M

Hi Pat: I have had 2 lung surgeries. In my experience, a wedge resection was done first just to remove the tumor. They tested it for malignancy while I was on the table. When it was found malignant, and my lymph nodes were found to be clear, they took out my upper left lobe the first time and the rest of my left lung the second time. So, I had a biopsy just before each resection. I would want to know if the mass was malignant before they took my whole lobe. It might be that it is benign and you would lose just part of the lobe. I would want it out whether it is benign or not. Ask you surgeon if he is going to do a wedge resection to see if it is malignant or seek a second opinion and ask him. It could be that the tumor is so deep in the lung or so big, that a wedge resecion would be impractical and end up destroying the lobe anyway. Don M Don M

Thanks for your tips everyone. I asked the nurse about it yesterday and she gave me a tube of aloe vera. I am going to try that stuff. After all, it is free...sort of. There sure is a wealth of information and experience on this board. I think it is great. Yay Katie. Yay Rick. Don M

Thanks everybody. Chloe is my second grandchild by birth. So, now I have 2 grandchildren by blood and one by foster care. My oldest son also has a foster son, who now calls my son and his wife dad and mom. He has been with them since 14 months old and is now 4 years old. They would like to adopt, but that is another story. I am one of his grandpas now. My first birth grandchild is Keaton, and he is 15 months old now. I have 4 children, 2 sons and 2 daughters. The 2 sons have children, the 2 daughters have yet to marry and carry on the progeny. Don M

Did anyone who got redness from radiation treat the skin with anything? I have a red spot on my chest about 1.5 inches in diamter. I had treatment 21 today and have 13 more to go.

Ny oldest son and his wife had a baby girl today. She was delivered 6 weeks early by c section for medical reasons. My son's wife and their baby are doing fine. My new granddaughter's name is Chloe Rhianon. She weiged 3 pounds and 1 ounce at birth. She was born at 1355 hours. Don M