Laurie

HELLO KARMA'S DAD!!!!!!!! HELLO!!!!!!! So glad to meet you!!!!!! I'm from NEW HAMPSHIRE.. and MY MOM had SCLC!! She was in and out of the hospital for a month and a half with low blood pressure and dehydration... We eventually had to set her up on 8 hr IV therapy for a month!!!! BUT NOW SHE IS IN REMISSION!!!!!!!!!! YIIIPPEEEEEE!!! It sure seems like chemo is the worst but it is working!!!!! Maybe they could give you a lower dose??? Please don't give up!! Just listen to the BERNIE SEGAL TAPES.. and know that you CAN DO THIS!!!!!!! Many blessings to you!!!!!!!! Laurie

Linda, Hang in there and keep up the faith...Are you going to have brain radiation? My Mom had it and had only minimal side effects from it. Thinking of you! Bless you Linda. Laurie

Renee, I'm so sorry to hear about your boyfriends accident and that you are feeling quilty about your MOM. But you did the right thing for her and you are a wonderful and loving daughter! I am praying for you and thinking about you. Take care of yourself too. Laurie

Hi Bart Ziggie, I am praying for you and sending positive thoughts for your scans tomorrow! My Mom had the same chemo that you are on and it was very harsh on her. She had alot of nausea and lost alot of weight as well, 30 pounds. She mainly survived on Watermellon, Cream of wheat, toast with melted cheese and a choclate shake I used to make her made out of Carnation instant breakfast ice cream and chocolate syrup. We really didn't change her menu from this during the nausea as it would make her get sick and lose what we had gained. I tried to have her eat one small thing every 4 hours or so. I felt having the pills with no food will make her sick. The smell of food also made her very ill. They gave my Mom the most agressive dose that they could due to her collapsed lung. I do think that most people have radiation concurrent with chemo. I've heard there are some studies that say good things about 2x radiation and Jenny here is having it done, but there is NO WAY my Mom could have done it. They started my Moms radiation on the second chemo cycle. I think the radiation is determined by the location of the tumor. My Mom was scheduled for 6 cycles of chemo and got real sick after the fourth.. the doctor stopped the chemo and she had a clear scan so they didn't give her any more. She is quite a bit older than you.. but you really have to watch out for the dehydration and weight loss. Try to force yourself to eat and drink if you can, take the anti nausea pills before you get nausea and stay on top of it. Wishing you the very best! Laurie

Linda, I'm praying for you and wishing you the best with your treatments. Sending (((Hugs))) your way. Laurie

Hi Hopeful, Glad to hear you made it through the PCI. Get alot of rest and you will be feeling better with each day. Hang in there and we will all be thinking of you and praying that you are back on track soon! (((Hugs))) Laurie

KATHY YEAH!!!! GREAT NEWS!! How wonderful! I am so happy for you and Tim! Laurie

Sister friend, Hello... and welcome. I'm sorry to hear that your sister has Lung Cancer. I know how overwhelming and scarey it is when a family member is diagnosed. My Mom was diagnosed with SCLC in October of 2002. She had a large tumor on her bronchis and her Right lung was collapsed. She also had a tumor in her neck and lymph nodes. SCLC is usually inoperable, My Moms was too.. it sounds bad but it responds very well to chemo and radiation. And that cleared my Moms tumors up. Thank God we were never given statistics.. We were just told 50% chance it could come back 50% never get it back.. at one point we were even told twice that it was "probably in her brain".. but she was treated and now she is in remission and there are no tumors so far they are all gone! I know it seems like the world is going to end, but with treatment and someone like yourself to look after her care she and help keep her positive she will get through this. I am not sure why the doctors told her those stats.. I have heard them here but never let it bother me.. fiqure everyone is different and only God knows the answer. Try and stay positive.. for your and your sisters sake. She CAN beat this!! We even have a survivor of 20 years here! Blessings to you and your sister! Laurie

Yipeee! Yeah! What wonderful News!!!!!!! Congratulations, Celebrate, Enjoy!!! Laurie

This year's 20 most polluted metropolitan areas are: Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, Calif. Fresno, Calif. Bakersfield, Calif. Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, Calif. Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, Texas Sacramento-Yolo, Calif. Merced, Calif. Atlanta, Ga. Knoxville, Tenn. Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, N.C.-S.C. Washington-Baltimore, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.V. Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, Conn.-N.J.-N.Y. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz. Baton Rouge, La. Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, N.C. Memphis, Tenn.-Ark.-Miss. Birmingham, Ala. San Diego, Calif. And the 20 metro areas with the least ozone air pollution, in alphabetical order: Bellingham, Wash. Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito, Texas Colorado Springs, Colo. Duluth-Superior, Minn.-Wis. Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. Eugene-Springfield, Ore. Fargo-Moorhead, N.D.-Minn. Flagstaff, Ariz.-Utah Greeley, Colo. Honolulu, Hawaii Laredo, Texas Lincoln, Neb. Medford-Ashland, Ore. Portland-Salem, Ore.-Wash. Salinas, Calif. San Francisco San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles, Calif. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif. Sioux Falls, S.D. Spokane, Wash.

Carleen, Your husband is so young and strong. Renee is right he is handsome! And you both look so great together. Reading your post made me smile when you talk about him, you are so lucky to have found a special connection like that.. a true love! Gives us divorcees hope eh Renee?Does he have a brother??? LOL!! He is going to beat this! With you by his side and a the doctors giving him good care he will beat this! and you will be back on your way to bliss and happily ever after in between 3-6 month CT scans! Just a bump in the road of your journey together! Hang in there and keep us posted. Many blessings to you and Keith. Laurie

Kerry, I agree with you 100%.. Don trully is an amazing man! I have recently felt like expressing this to him as well. I really admire many of his qualities, his faith and love of family. Don I'm sending my utmost appreciation that you are a member here. Many blessings to you and Lucie. Laurie

Spanky, Your Mom is trully amazing and wonderful. How great it is to see that cancer brings out the best in people and caring for others. Give her a big hug from all of us who have been affected by this dreadful disease. Many blessings to you and your Mom. Laurie

Hi Donna, Welcome and I'm so glad that you are here to share your story. You are doing so well and have a beautiful daughter. That is a blessing. Laurie

Sam, Thats so wonderful! I'm so glad to see that you are doing so well!!! Yeah Sam!! Great news!! Laurie

Sandy, I'm so happy for you! That is wonderful! Many blessings to you Sandy! Laurie

Hello Niki and Welcome, I'm so sorry to hear that your Grandfather had LungCancer. It really is a difficult thing that makes you revaluate the relationships that you have with your loved ones, and the relationship never seems to be adequate! Even when you are extemely close with a loved one like I am with my Mom, I still think "have I said the right things? Have I been a good daughter?" I want more of a relationship and it is hard... I live very far away from my parents at this time..at that makes it worse. I'm glad that you have come here and I hope that you will find the comfort that I have had. The people here are so nice and supportive. Many blessings to you Niki. Laurie

Cathy, I'm so glad to hear that you got to enjoy a wonderful weekend with your daughter! Many blessings to you and your family. Laurie

Candy, I'm so glad to hear that Hugh is back to doing some of the things that he enjoys! Hope there are many more days like this one! Many blessings to you and Hugh. Laurie

Peg, I'm so glad to hear that you husband was feeling so good and that the Iressa drug seems to be doing the trick! I will pray that there are many more good days for you and your family. Many blessings to you. Laurie

Susan, So glad to hear that your Mom is doing so well. That is great news! I will pray for lots of shrinkage for both your Mom and Deanna's Mom! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ !!!SHRINKAGE!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many Blessings to you and Mom. Laurie

Hey Susan, Haven't talked to you in awhile, I'm just wondering how your Mom is doing? I am praying for you and her healing. Many blessings to you and your family. Laurie

Hi Cherry and Welcome, I am so sorry that you have come here under the circumstances but there sure are wonderful supportive survivors here who can tell you that you will be okay and although it is terrifying, you will be treated and it is not the end of the world! A 2cm tumor really is not that big and that is a blessing. Cancer is not good no matter how big your tumors are but the earlier it is caught the better! When My Moms tumors were found it was a big already over 8cms in the lung which collapsed it, and there was also a mass on her neck that was pressing on her nerves and she was in severe pain, this was in Oct of 2002, and now she is in remmission! So I hope this offers you some encouragement, there are many here with much larger tumors who are doing well. I will pray for the best possible results for your scans and please feel free to ask questions. Keep the faith and keep us posted. Blessings to you. Laurie

Well, I was very depressed this week.. not sure why alot of things.. Just like divorce remnents, selling a property, a gigantic tax bill, feeling home sick, working two jobs...Missing my grandmother, worring about the scans and my MOM going back to work so soon after brain radiation but I don't want to whine on well others are fighting cancer, but it seems like the last two years have just been a nightmare.. Been hearing to much from the ex due to the fact that he is a family friend to my brotherand is keeping in touch through the cancer making it painful for me to move on..and more difficult to go home.. Through taking time off to fly back and forth across the country from San Diego CA.. to NH, with no pay! I lost alot of money and took two jobs.. It all seemed worth it to just have my MOM healthy.. so why depressed? Not sure I think anxieties Just feeling like a all around loser. I have watched my rich boss go on vaca.. after vaca .... and complain about everything.. at times i was so mad i wanted to slap him WELL .. Here is the GOOD NEWS! WE have won a trip to the ATLANTIS resort in the BAHAMAS!!!! FREE! Oh... mY.. God.. !!! YIIIIIPPEEEE!!! Margarittasss on the beachhhhhhh........???? May 23rd!!!!!! !!! I hope a typhoon doesn't hit, or some tropical disease.. don't want to jinx anything.. seems to good to be true!!! Laurie

Oh Jenny, I'm so sorry to hear of the problems that you are having. I wish I was there to drive you to the hospital. You should be checked WEEKLY!!! Especially with your stringent program. Please tell them you would like to see the oncologist weekly and get your levels checked. My Mom wasn't being seen weekly and she got into trouble.. a NURSE who saw us in the waiting room for radiation told me to get her checked weekly.. you are only in the beginning stages so you need to keep ahead of the cumulative effects of the treatments. Please take care of yourself! Get some rest and please keep us updated. Praying for your healing Jenny. Blessings to you. Laurie