Andrea

I actually had costochondritis a few years ago. It hurt really bad and was tender. I took aleve and it helped a lot and finally went away. I am praying for good news for you!

I hear you loud and clear!!! Sometimes it is hard to take joy in the children and the weather bc cancer is there lurking. Thank you for posting this! Venting is good!!

They found a clot in my mom's lung during chemo. They installed a a filter in her groin to try to catch further clots and she will be on coumidin (blood thinner) for the rest of her life. But otherwse it had no effect on her. Keep us posted!

I am so excited for you!!! My best friend had it and she look AMAZING! Good luck!

I think for certain forms of lung cancer, Tarceva is the drug of choice. My dad has BAC and right now is not on treatment, but if he needs treatment, the onc said it would be Tarceva, not traditional chemo b/c Tarceva works best on his kind. It is frustrating when we hear about other people with LC and we want all the details b/c we know so much and want to make sure the patient is getting the best care

If you like the oncologist and don't want to switch offices, I would wait to talk to the oncologist. That was rude of the PA

How scary for you all, I am so sorry Please keep us posted. I am praying it is somethign other than lung cancer. If it is malignant, you will see from thsi website that there are so many survivors!!!

That is AWESOME!

I have tears in my eyes reading that b/c my mom NEVER thought she could go through what she did. And here she is today looking amazing. People have NO idea what she has been t hrough until I tell them. Thank you for shsaring that quote. I am going to save it.

My dad said the biopsy was not bad, he recovered fast. Make sure she stays still after like they say. My dad didn't and he had pnemothorax, which is a little lung collapse. They said it happens in about 5% of cases. I realize lung collapse sounds scary, but it wasn't, they just put a litlte tube in him, he went home, and had it out the next day.

My mom only lost half her hair, she never needed a wig, but when hair started growing back, she looked like a poodle when it was wet. We called it a "chemo perm". It took about a year, but it finally went back to how she had it before. I am not good at hair, I always have to have mine blown out before events, so no hair advice to offer. Just wa nted to share that my mom's eventually went back to normal.

Everyone is differnt, but both of my parents recovered very quickly from Vats. My mom was better in like a week and my dad was lifting things into the house when he came home. There was some soreness and pain, but all in all it was not bad at all they said. My mom had a bypass which was more invasive, and I believe similar to somee types of lung surgery, and she found that more painful and it was harder to reocver. But the good news is that she did recover, just took a little longer than a VATS type procedure

Both of myp arents were told that a brain MRI was part of the work up for lung cancer. It can't h urt to ask about it.

I am not too sure, but I think that they feel from surgery they removed all the cancer. The Stage II has a few lymph nodes and Stage IIIA like my mom has other nodes. With surgery they hope to get it all. Sometimes they also do chemo after as a preventative in case there are floating cells around. So the chemo can kill any cells that might be floating, but it may not be totally necessary. That is my two cents worth

I asked. A wise thoracic said her chances were 50/50, either she would make it or not :) Stats are just stats. There was as 5% chance my dad's lung would collapse during his biopsy, it did, who would have thought! Just focus on the fight

My mom was on gemzar and gemzar/carbo. She did really well on it. She said it was not as bad as she thought it would be. The first round was easy and it does get worse as time goes on. J ust when it hit the worst, she was done with it. She had the typical chemo side effects of nausea, fatigue, etc. She became dehydrated and needed a hydration drip a couple of times. She only lost half her hair, never needed a wig. And she did have to get some shots to boost her red blood cells. All in all, it was tolerable for her.

Spring is here! Summertime is fastly approaching. Do you have friends over for a bbq or picnic or 4th of July celebration? Turn it into a fundraiser for LUNGevity! Check with your accountant--you can probably tax deduct the cost of the food you serve since it is for a fundraiser. We can all use tax deductions! Ask your friends to donate $5, $10, $20, whatever, instead of bringing food. They would spend that much anyway on a side dish, dessert, flowers, etc. They can give you a check payable to LUNGevity, or donate on line. You can set up your own page at LUNGevity (SO EASY!) Your friends get a tax deduction. You can also contact local restaurants and grocers and ask for gift cards for raffle prizes or a silent auction. Let's say your friends don't have a lot of money for raffle prizes and you don't want to ask, you can do an auction. For examaple, sell a $25 gift certificate to a restaurant for $25 in a silent auction. This way you raise funds and your friends are out of no money. LUNGevity will give you their letter for the tax ID number merchants will want for their records. So many of the chains and local restaurants and supermarkets are willing to donate gift cards, it is amazing. This is easy and fun and it turns into something we would have done anyway into a nice fundraiser. Every little bit counts

I loved your post. And it is so true, you never know what life is supposed to bring. My mom lost her dad when she was 12. He literally got run over by that beer truck, he was crossing the street on hi sway home from work and was run over and died. He didn't have cancer and was dead in a split second. Rich you are an inspiration!

Such good news. Thanks for sharing! I remember clinging to stories like that when I first joined. I also was/am supersticious about calling an ything good news

Thanks Jill and Katie for letting me vent!! (I will be searching for cyst results in May) I actually think my weight problem has a bit to do with anxiety. I had lost 60lbs, gained 30back. Almost like if I am heavy, I have that wrong with me and if I were less fluffy, things would be way too good I am going back on track though trying to lose it agian I am soooo blessed, I can have no complaints, but I guess we are all human and i have those deomons so if nothing else, I hope my neurosis/lunaticia can make someoen else feel better about their own.

Hi everyone, I read all the time but have not been as active in posting. I hope to be better soon. I apologize for that. Some of you know me, some of the new comers don't know me that well. It has been over 4 years since my mom's diagnosis. Knock on wood, we have been so blessed. I have always suffered from major medical-related anxiety and I think my dad's diagnosis pushed me a bit over the edge. I used to be soooo ignorant and think lung cancer couldn't touch us since they quit smoking over 30 years ago. Ignorance is bliss I think :) For the past 4 years I have been living from dr appt to dr appt. I refused to plan things b/c I worried it would jinx scans, blood work, etc. I am slowing starting to learn that life will be full of tests. I worried that planning my twins first b-day will jinx my blood work in April and my dad's scans in May. My mom wisely pointed out that they will always have upcoming scans, I will always have upcoming blood work and mamograms, etc. I am trying REALLY hard to live a new "new normal" life. Yesterday we were at a beautiful outdoor mall in Newport Beach, warm weather, palm trees. I looked around at everyone and wondered who had cancer lurking in their bodies. I know that is not normal :)But I also managed to take the time to reflect on life blessings and enjoy it. The twins are 9 months this week. They are so much fun! Everyday I worry that they bring me so much joy, when is the other shoe dropping.... Ok, enough babbling. I just wanted to say hi to everyone, and just vent out loud in case others are suffering from "lunaticia" as my mom calls it.

I want to ask some local businesses for gift cards or something to raffle as prizes for those who donate to the b-day party/lung cancer fundraiser for my twins. Does anyone have a letter I can piggy-back off of that they sent to businesses? I can easily write my own, but why re-invent the wheel if someone else did it

I love it!

Sending love your way Tina. You have too much going on for one person

I have polycystic ovaries, they were all functional I believe. I am glad that the dr office was able to calm you down. Have you had a long standing relationship with this office? Do you trust them? If so, then don't worry. If you are concerned, for peace of mind, you can always go somewhere else for a second opinion. It is easier said than done to tell you not to freak out. I remember freaking out over one of my cysts and not understanding how they could tell it was not serious. My fertility dr said "I will be you my house it is not cancer and believe me, I have a ncie house" Sometimes drs throw aroudn words like "complex" and don't realize how we freak out.