Nushka

Thanks Dean for the post. She sounds like a very special lady. Nina

Jane, I hope you will be careful and travel safely. This is a very hard time for you and your family and please know that we are here for you. You are in our thoughts and prayers. Nina

Thank you so much for the post. I too am a IIIA survivor. It gives me hope that I may have many many more years to watch my grandchildren grow. I hope you will take the time to post often. We need all the encouragement we can get. Nina

Congrats Becky and Cookieman. A new arrival is always a time of joy....kisses on the nape of the neck are the best! Saw this a little late but hope you had a good weekend. Nina

Thanks for the update Fay. I hope Nancy will be home soon and feeling like getting on the computer. Will be glad to see her posting again. Nina

I am so sorry Shellie. It is so hard to lose a parent. Wishing you strength through all of this and thinking of you. Nina

Ry, thanks so much for the update on Mo. I really miss her and was thinking about her again today. I hope she comes home feeling much better. Tell her daughter that she has a very special mom. Nina

Sorry about your friend. I will be thinking of you. Nina

Thanks for the post.

So sorry for your loss Angela. You are in my thoughts and prayers. It is a terrible thing, this cancer beast we are all fighting. We are here for you if you need us. Nina

Thanks for posting Curtis. We all cared so much for Becky and wish you and Katie well. Maybe it was a blessing that things progressed so quickly. At least she was not in that awful postition for months at a time. She knew how to live life and did so up to the very end. We all admire her for that. Keep us up to date on you and Katie. All information is important to all of us. Again, thanks for all of your posts. Nina

Deb, sorry to hear you are under the weather right now. I hope the WBR works well and that you are back posting often again soon. We are all thinking of you and have you in our prayers. Nina

I agree with all of the others. If I were the patient and I was able to understand what was going on around me then I would NOT want someone else making that decision, even if I was a little confused. Smiling and responding to your emotions tells me that he is very much alive. I am hoping the doctors are wrong. He has been through alot with all of the surgeries etc and needs some time to heal. If he goes into a coma or loses his faculties, the story will be a different one. But for now, I would not pull the plug. I am so sorry you are having to go through all of this. It is not a time any of us look forward to but often one we will have to reach. My mother was on a vent for about 3 days. But she was in a coma after the first day and did not respond at all. Her kidneys shut down as well as other organs. We did ask for her ventilator to be turned off. We had promised her we would not just keep her alive if she was not able to respond. We followed her wishes. I have a living will and hope that you will have time to discuss this with your husband so that if this happens in the future you will know what his wishes are. Best of luck to you. Nina

You can see my story at the bottom of my post. I had a chest film that showed a "spot"...then a CT that confirmed it was there. Next step was a CT guided biopsy done by a radiologist. Then the PET and then surgery. After surgery they told me I had two nodes involved (which had shown up on PET but the surgeon said to ignore them). It turned out the PET was correct so I then had chemo and radiation. That was over a year ago. I feel good except for some bronchitis that I can't seem to get rid of and a wheeze from the radiation. I will have more tests next month but as of April I was still clear. I am so sorry you have to be here but I agree that you need the biopsy. That will give the docs what they need to determine cell type and treatment options. I wish you well in your fight and hope that the biopsy turns out to be negative for cancer. You have come to the right place for support and answers. We will be more than happy to share our experiences with you. Nina

Thanks for the post Ray. I am looking forward to keeping up. Nina

Mo, my dear Mo, Get yourself well and come back to us. We need to see that happy smile when you post. I will be praying for you Mo and thinking about you often. Let us know asap how you are feeling. Nina

Dear Margaret, It seems very strange for her doc to tell you her prognosis before he even knows for sure what is going on. Get a second opinion. As for the surgery, it took me about a month to be able to do much....but I went to Las Vegas at 4 weeks. I slept in my recliner for weeks and kept a small pillow handy for coughs and sneezes. It helped to hold it to my chest for my breathing exercises as well. I woke up in the hospital with tubes coming from my side and am told that is very normal. They took those out in a few days....I left the hospital in 5 days. Each person is different and you can't expect that everything will be the same for all, but if they can get it with surgery that is the best route to take. Much better odds with surgery. It is always possible that some cells are not detected on a PET scan. But there seem to be no more tumors....that is a very good thing. I had radiation and chemo after surgery just to make sure it was all gone. I still have check ups every 3 months and get anxious each time. I wish you the best and wish I could be more help. You have found a wonderful place to ask questions and I am sure others will have more advice to give you. Best of luck to you. Nina aka Nushka PS. Tell her to be sure and take her pain meds. Pain will keep her from doing her exercises and walking and she needs to do that to heal quickly.

Will be thinking of you tomorrow David and hoping that the CT is clean. I would appreciate it if you would also think about my husband tomorrow. He goes for his annual cardiolyte stress test to check up on his quadrupple bypass that he had 12 years ago. He has not been feeling well and we are both a little nervous about it. It will give you something to think about while you are waiting on your test results. Thanks, Nina

Hang in there for your Mom. I am hoping the new meds will help her pain and have heard from lots of folks that taxotere is a big help for them. Will keep you in my prayers and thoughts. Nina

Dear Bob, I joined the board shortly before you went on your "famous" trip. I read your past posts and feel as though I got to know you. I am sooo glad to see that you are posting again. You are in my prayers and my thoughts. I hope you can eat that steak soon and so proud of you for not giving up...keep up the fight...we all believe in you. I am sorry you are depressed but I can't imagine anyone facing all that you have had to face without being depressed. Just know that we are all here and pulling for you. We miss you. Nina

Sorry, never heard of it. But like you said, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Nina

Angel, It sounds like you are doing about all you can do from a distance. I agree with him that it is his decision but a second opinion might change his mind. Is there anyway you can go to Atlanta for a few days? I know it is hard to tear away from your own life, but it might make you feel better to know you went to see them. I admire your involvment and glad you found this board. We are here for you and wish you and your family only the best. Nina aka Nushka

Great attitude. That is half the battle...think about how lucky we are and how many good times we have already have and intend to have. The best of luck on your new treatment...hope this one is IT. We all have been blessed in some way and we need to cling to that now as we face this dreaded disease. I, for one, feel very blessed and look forward to each and every day. Nina

Nancy, so happy that you did well during the surgery and that it was only one small place. Wishing you well on the results and hoping that you recover soon and come back to us with good news. Nina

Let us know how your visit went. Keep hanging in there. Nina