Don M

Good deal Tracy. Don M

I guess I will keep on taking my antioxidants. I have been doing it for over 4 years now. And, my oncologist does not care if I do. Don M

Karla: may peace and comfort be with you and Frank and the rest of your family. Don M

I hope tomorrow is a better day for you Denise. I went on antidepressants last January and I am convinced they have helped me. I take 20 mg of lexapro a day. Don M

I don't care if being positive helps me fight cancer or not. It makes me feel good and that is all I care about. Anyway, I wonder how "being positive" can be measured in a scientific analysis with control and experimental groups. Being positive is such a subjective thing. how is it measured? Don M

Wow... I have been to 3 chemo facilities and have always been well received and taken care of. Don M

I am sorry Gracie. Please accept my condolences for your loss. don M

Nancy: I hope you get better results with your next treatment. Stable is good, but maybe they are concerned about the side effects outweighing the benefit of stability at this point. Don M

My condolences to Gracie and her family. Don M

Honeybee, please accept my condolences for your loss. Don M

Eric, please accept my condolences for your loss. Don M

Hi Kelly: I have had 2 bronchoscopies and 3 needle biopsies, all of which were inconclusive. The only way they found out what kind of cancer I had was to cut it out with a wedge resection, analyze it on the table and then cut out the rest of the affected lung tissue when it was apparent the mass was malignant. I have had two surgeries in which the upper left lobe was removed and then a year later, the lower lobe was removed. Maybe your surgeon wants to cut to the chase and just take out the mass and go from there. I would ask if a full body PET/CT scan could be done just to make sure there is no cancer in distant organs and lymph nodes. The cat scan, if it covers the chest and abdomen, would show any nodules in distant organs and large lymph nodes, but a PET scan would show whether any of the nodules light up or not. If they light up, they are growing fast and may be malignant. I think your surgeon is trying to make sure you have a localized cancer. If he is satisfied that it is local, he may talk to you at your next appointment about cutting it out with a wedge resection and then do further surgery on the spot if it is found to be malignant. I think the chances are that is local since it is golf ball sized. Don M

Congratulations Shannon don M

Sounds good Denise. I think it is encouraging that they are going for the radiation. Don M

That is pretty awesome. Congratulations Creekgirl. Don M

your friend and her dad have my prayers. Don M

That is most excellent news Cindy. Congratulations. Don M

Good deal Rochelle. I have a lot of moles and have been seeing a dermatologist once a year for a checkup. i kind of skipped doing it this year and probably should make an appointment soon. Don M

Hi Gail. yah, the pneumonia is actually encouraging news. the prednisone should help with the pneumonia plus the antibiotics they probably gave him. I hope Hank is feeling better now. Don M

Renate, I hope you get some relief from your neuropathy. I would like to thank you for starting this thread. Neuropathy as a side effect has been my biggest fear. That is the reason I have not tried any of the taxane drugs so far. But, I am going to do taxotere beginning June 10. I am going to ask for such drugs as lyrica or neurontin if I get neuropathy. Maybe I will see a neurologist too. Maybe I won't get neuropathy. I can deal with the fatigue and other stuff ok. This will be my third chemo. Don M

Cyberknife surgery is a form of SRS that allows for tumor movement when breathing during treatment. it is very accurate. Here us a website you can check out. http://www.cyberknifesupport.org/forum/ The advantages to using cyberknife is that the lung function can be conserved, there is no surgery risk, and if it is a small nodule, 3 treatments should do it. A major disadvantage is that you would have to wait for months to see if it worked. But, the success rate is fairly high. Having said all this, if I qualified for surgery, I would have it cut out and learn to live with the decreased lung function and accept the risk and hassle of surgery. There are no guarantees, but at least after surgery, you will know that the current cancer is gone. Don M

Congratulations to you and your mom Nicole. Don M

I am sorry you lost your friend Sandra. Jennifer has my prayers for peace and being awashed with Love. Don M

Sorry to hear that Randy. Don M

You have my prayers Ernie. I guess the bigger tube will let more trapped air escape? Don M