Andrea

Denise, I don't have the answer, but I do remember reading posts of people talking about fluid and it was not cancerous. Like it could be, but not always. I seem to recall Mo-Sugar going in to get drained fairly recently, check posts from her or PM her.

I am so sorry, Becky was so inspiring. In case people did not see it, she recently posted a newspaper article from her school which told her story. You can find the post under LC in the News forum. I am at a loss for words

Enjoy Splurge And I hope not to see you back since you won't come back if everyone gets better. So here is hoping for no more posts You can PM instead! heeheheeheheehehehehehehehehhee. I crack myself up. Don't mind me.

I know others can relate and laugh at themselves and with me at this. For whatever reason, I went with a HMO. After my mom got sick, I was like why did I do that to save some money, I want a PPO in case I ever need a multitude of drs. Well at first I was told I cannot change until Oct. I JUST found out that open enrollment for Blue Cross will be in April!!! And Affleck is coming about other insurance options! And I was squealing with excitement over this good news b/c I want good coverage. I was telling my office manager how happy I was about it. And somenoe asked me what I was so happy abuot and I said "April is open enrollment, we can change our plans!" My secretary said "I know why you are excited, you are signing up for cancer". I said "well I don't want to sign up for cancer, but in case of" I can guarantee that most people would find my happy reaction absolutey insane. However, I bet a lot of you can understand where I am coming from and don't think I am crazy :):)

I now have a comeback for anyone who says "Money means nothing". My remark will be "Unless you need a cancer drug to stay alive that your insurance company won't pay. What? You say then sue the insurance company? I agree that is a possibility, but that costs money too." I can't wait to use that line. I have a warped sense of humor now and get a kick out of shocking people. Yest we went to one of those sit through an hour presentation and get a free prize. I made the guy mad b/c I said "yes, vacations are important, but my mom has cancer, that is more important, we are really just here for the prize" It was worth the prize, it is two nights free at Disneyland Resort and two disneyland tickets. My close friend who insisted on flying out to my wedding is coming back to CA to vacation, she loves Disney, so it was worth my hour

Just curious, how much is Iressa? My mom might be going on it

I want to post this in big letters and make this very clear to Nataline and Anne---------GRIEVE, BE HONEST!!!! You know, there IS a reason Rick and Katie created this forum It is for the purpose of grieving, if people don't want to read it, they should not come to THIS particular forum. It is so logical to me, the forum is "for those who have lost a loved one to LC". I don't think anyone expects it to be laughs and giggles. Ok guys? Love you :):)

Phil paid me $1,000,000. Brian and I can finally aford a 2000 square foot home in Irvine heeheee. I am the opposite, I eat and binge when stressed and the weight comes on. The only time I cannot eat is if I am off of prozac and I am too depressed. Now I eat, I get heart fluttering all the time, I just am a wreck. I decided I had a pulmonary embolism before b/c my heart has been fluttering on and off for a couple of months now. People told me they are going to commit me soon

You know Nat, it takes a lot that I like you so much. Usually I hate girls like you, you are blonde, thin, pretty, like to work out, and you are sweet and you worry about others. GAG ME WITH A SPOON! heheheehheehheheheeee. I decided I have to lose weight, I just started a diet. I can't be Chairperson for Southern California Activism at my current weight b/c when I want to go rip cigarettes out of people's mouths, they will just say "well what about you, you are fluffy, that is unhealthy too!". And I will have no defense! That could be traumatic and damaging to my mission

Truly amazing. Two incredibly dumb questions: 1. Which one is Katie's dad? 2. What is the name of the song? I know the song, I love the song, they played it with the 911 stuff, and I cannot remember the name of it. I want to downlaod it. Thank you

Natalie, I KNEW you were holding back. You bad girl! My goodness, you are such an amazing person. My mom was right about you when she immediately said "class act". I have to tell people how amazing you are, I hope you don't mind. When Nat's mom passed away, she e-mailed a few of us privately and said her mom was diagnosed late and she does not want any of us to give up hope. Here this girl was in grief and worried about telling us!! Natalie--------vent, rant, rave, grieve. Let it out! Tell us how you are feeling and how sucky it is! PLEASE. It is reaity and you need not worry about discouraging everyone As a matter of fact, it will make the rest of us saps feel normal. Your experiences can only help. The reality is that this disease is horrible, nondiscriminatory, and really it is like a raffle who does well, who does not. You personally, Natalie, have inspired me so much. I think of you daily. I want to hear what my dear sister is feeling. I so want to hear you vent and grieve, I want to be here for you and I solemly swear that NOTHING you can say will discourage me (I can't speak for others except for my husband, I love speaking for him. heehee). I promise you this, if you share your grief, at the next Lakers v Kings game, which will be the last of the season, I will root for the Kings! Brian may divorce me, but I will do it heehee. Lakers are way ahead right now.

Thanks for posting that. It helps so much to realize there is hope!

All I can say is good luck to everyone in getting into the trials!! Cheryl--I did see your post and the first time I read it, it was over my head, like zoom Then the oncologist yest mentioned a trial. I said oh, I read about people mentioning something like GVAX. He looked at me and said "i havce no idea what you are talking about." I guess this trial is different Such baby steps, at first chemo and side effects were over my head and now I could ramble off different treatments Same with the surgery. I am now in the learning process of clinical trials and radiation. How do oncologists learn all of this stuff????? They treat all sorts of cancers and all these big words

Deanna, My mom had all of that too. She got shots to help. She also had a blood transfusion. And with low platelets, hers went really low, like 5, she was told to be careful even brushing her teeth and no flossing b.c you bleed easily. However, these effects are so common, nothing to worry about. They will give some booster shots, get the #s back up and get going again I am laughing at myself right now, I can tell you this is normal until I am blue in the face and it really is, but if you were like I were, you won't believe it until the #s are back up and chemo is flowing again. It is sooooo scary while going through it. I used to e-mail people each time and say "toxins are flowing" Her #s always stabalized and they were able to do chemo. However, she went every week for blood check and sometimes every few days and got the shots, etc.

I concur also Sometimes I read a post quickly at work and later want to go back and re-read and I am like hmmm, what category is it

Thanks everyone! So for the first time ever I can say my mental status is normal Hahahahahaha. Wierd thing is that I always had an abnormal fear of cancer, and I never knew why and still don't know why. I never experienced it, yet I was afraid. After my mom got diagnosed, my close friend who is a doctor said "your worst fear has occurred, so now you can stop worrying what will happen if cancer hits your family"

Steph, I am so sorry. I wish I had magic words to say, but I don't. The only words coming to my mind now are anger at this horrible disease Hugs, Andrea

Karen, Prayers to you! Have you made a decision yet on treatment? Please post. You may have already done so and I missed it. Let me know what the dr says

Has anyone tried this? We saw the oncologist today and we are still waiting for his results of additional pathology tests. He sent 25 slides of tissue for analysis. He thinks my mom will get radiation to the medestinial area and then possibly participate in the following study. He also mentioned Iressa. Basically he needs the results to see which he thinks is best. Just curious if anyone has done this Name of Study: Phase II Study of TGF-B2 Anti-sense Gene Modified Allogeneic Tumor Cell Vaccine in Patients with Stages II-IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Sponsor: NovaRx Description: The purpose of this clinical trial is to determine the effectiveness of an experimental vaccine for patients with Stage II, III or IV non-small cell lung cancer whose disease has not been controlled by other therapy or who currently have no measurable disease. The vaccine consists of lung cancer tumor cells that have been genetically altered to block transforming growth factor beta (TGF-B2), a substance known to weaken the immune system. Patients will be randomly assigned (by computer) to 1 of 3 dosing groups. The patients in each group will receive at least 4, and up to 16 monthly injections of vaccine at Hoag Cancer Center. To be included in this study, the following basic criteria must be met: At least 18 years old No evidence of disease or may have measurable tumor of a certain size No history of spleen removal At least 4 weeks since chemotherapy, surgery or radiation therapy Additional criteria may apply Trial listing updated: 12/10/03

I am so sad for Andrea B. I am worried about Judy B. and how Steph is holding up. I miss Natalie's mom even though I never met her. I wonder where Laurie is and I hope Denise's mom is doing ok. It is so wierd, I never met anyone here, yet everyone feels like close friends and family and I find myself crying for everyone and I have no idea why I have tears running down my cheeks now. My poor husband, he thinks I am nuts. He keeps asking me if something happened today. Nothing happened. But I started a minor cough, do I have lung cancer? I get heart flutters, I wonder what is wrong and this is not a normal way to live. I have a 32 year old acquaintence from LA who was just diagnosed with lymphoma yest from simply shoulder pain! It is hard to cope always thinking the worse. My mom and I got our haircuts on Sat and went to Nordstroms. I walked around and wondered to my mom out loud that I wonder who else in the store has cancer. I dream it. It is always on my mind. I am so lucky and I feel guilty about that. For now, my mom just had her surgery and she is stable and has a fightint chance. But as we all know, that rarely lasts long. I hate feeling sorry for myself and I just hate how this disease robs us of normal life. I hate crying and I hate being moody and cranky. Ok, I am done rambling. Maybe there should be a forum for loony rants like this one that are posted for no reason And now for a xanax.

Thanks for posting this, it is interesting. I think they are testing my mom's tissues to see about how she would do with Iressa.

Heather-- A law firm? High stress? nah, you must be imagining it. Hahaaha. I am so funny. So funny that from the stress I might go to a funny farm My understanding that as long as you have continuing coverage, you cannot be denied b/c of a pre-existing condition. That said, I am not sure if they could raise your rates, etc. But I do not believe they can deny you coverage. As for the wedding being a life changing event, check the time line on it. I wanted to switch to Brian's ppo b/c like an idiot I chose HMO here and there is like a 3 month window. I legally got married in Nov even though Feb was the wedding, so I am out of luck until open enrollment. Elaine--As for retaliation and firing b/c of cancer, they CANNOT and MUST not do that. You can fire someone b/c they are wearing a pink or red shirt. But not b/c of race, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability. Of course proving the reason someone is fired or laid off is what keeps me in business, I do employment defense But in reality, they cannot fire someone because of it. If something "fishy" goes on at work, where suddenly your hsuband gets warnings or gets written up for no reason, have him document it and keep it so he can prove that he was set up and then he can sue. But it rarely happens. So don't worry

I will help too if anyone wants to get involved! Renee's e-mail inspired me to take this on and I am loving every second of it! Renee is the expert and master, I am her protege and learning, so if I can give input, please let me know!!! The Hoag Cancer Center, a prominent hospital in Southern Ca was so excited that finally something is being done. So many people want to reach out and help. Besides helping out for a great cause, if you get involved, you will personally be blessed by so many people Everyone says "g-d bless you" to me for doing this, even if they turn me down for what I ask for heeheeheheheh.

I e-mailed the Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach and they said they cannot advertise for me since it is not a Hoag event, but that what we are doing is great and she forwarded my e-mail to the Lung Cancer coordinator.........I got an email from the Hoag Hospital Lung Cancer Coordinator and she is so excited and wants to be part of the planning committee and I am calling tomorrow. Yay! Hopefully the more people involved, the more they bring in more people. I really think I am going to have to go with a County park and come up with a way around the "no exchange of money on County grounds". In a way pre-registering everyone will help with crowd control and I do need an idea of how many will be there. If a few walks ins come in, I can do IOUs or something. And I will sell raffles ahead of time too. Besides the expense of the schools, renting porta potties and then meeting with the school parking committees and security seems like it would cut even more into proceeds and be a bit more than I can handle. Maybe worth it when we become a bigger organization, and have insurance and more funds, etc, but since this is the first event and the goal is awareness for future events, I want it to be practical, yet great. I am looking forward to brainstorming with everyone! I am taking my anger out in wanting to raise money. I know a 32 year old who was just diagnosed with lymphoma today, she was virtually symptomless, it just rips at the heart.

Andrea, The only chemo I have had experience with is gemzar/carboplatinum. It worked so far for my mom. Saying lots of prayers