MandyB

Hi All. Dad had his CT scan yesterday, and we went for the results today, Great news, no sign of the tumour, although scarring to the lung, the scans are identical to 3 months ago. We are now 14months since stereotactic radiotherapy finished. Still on 3-monthly scans, but Dad is doing great. Much love to you all xx

Hi everyone. Dad's CT result was fantastic. although there is quite alot of scar tissue in the lung, the tumour has gone!! No sign of it, just a black void where it used to be. I asked the Oncologist what happens to tumours that have been zapped with radiotherapy, and he told me sometimes the tumour shrinks and a part of it remains but is classed as dead. Sometimes the body absorbs the tumour completely, and it looks like this has happened to Dad. We are still at 3 monthly CT's, but as you can imagine, we are thrilled with the result so far. My prayers and love to you all. Mandy B

Hi everyone, sorry not been around for a while, just been catching up on all the posts. Ned, I'm sending prayers and love for you and I hope the steroids can do their magic for you xxx Been a bit of a hectic few months, I lost my beloved German Shepherd Oscar in 29th December, so all in all, with Dad's DX and losing my Oscar 2010 was a pretty crappy year to say the least. Anyway onwards and upwards, as they say. Dad is doing good, still no side effects from the Stereotactic radiotherapy in August. His next CT is on Tuesday 5th April, but we won't get the results until the 20th as I'm having a few days away with the girls in between appointments. If you remember way back in 2009, Dad was admitted into hospital with congestive heart failure, where an eagle-eyed radiologist found a 'nodule' in Dads right upper lobe. ( thank God for that man!) It was a wait and see game, and by April last year, after a PET scan we got the news that it was a cancerous tumour. Anyhow, everything got put on hold with heart treatment while Dad has his Radiotherapy, so his cardiologist only arranged for him to have an angiogram yesterday. Well folks, Dad's blocked artery has re-routed itself and found another way around his heart!!!! No surgery needed, just he has to stay on his heart tablets, maybe not even another cardiology appointment needed!! I couldn't believe it, so of course got home and 'googled' and it CAN happen, the heart is capable of doing this. Its called Collateral Circulation, apparantly. So maybe some other 'force' was working that day Dad had his heart failure, The tumour would never have been found if Dad's heart had not let him down that day. And now, over 18 months later, his heart has repaired itself. Do you believe in miracles?. Its certainly made me think. I send prayers and love to all of you fighting the battle at this present time, but never ever give up, Miracles do happen. I ask for prayers that Dad's CT scan is good news too. God Bless Mandy B xx

Congratulations to your Mum, Cyberknife is having great results!! Mandy xx

Hope everything goes well for the colonoscopy tomorrow Eric, Hope you didn't have a bacon roll today Mandy xx

Hi everyone. Not posted for a while, but I come here most days and read the forums. My Dad is having his first CT scan tomorrow since stereotatic radiotherapy finished. Results will be with the oncologist next Wednesday (8th Dec). Dad is feeling fine, with a little fatigue, but no nasty side effects. The Oncologist did tell Dad that the radiotherapy would break one of his ribs, but he didn't say how soon this would happen. Dad has no pain, so I presume his rib is still OK at the moment. Please would you keep my Dad in your thoughts tomorrow. Much love to you all Mandy xx

we are now 8 weeks since treatment, and hopefully the cancer is still getting 'fried' every day. Dads first CT scan is around the end of November and results will be one week later. At the moment we are keeping positive and trying not to give cancer the time of day, we don't talk about it that much, but its not a taboo subject by any means, not like 6 months ago, when I couldn't even say the word without feeling sad, lonely and depressed. Now when I look at Dad, I look past his illness, where as before I was looking for 'signs' that his health was deteriorating, ( even though it wasn't) I pray that this has been caught in time, and hope to be able to bring you some good news in December. God willing. Thanks everyone Mandy xx

Over the next couple of weeks, Dad started to 'open up' a little to Mum about things, he read all the booklets the oncologist had given him, he still didn't want friends and family to know, but he seemed to be excepting the diagnosis, which was a huge step forward, because we were able to discuss things fully with him and not be frightened of saying the word 'cancer' in front of him. He then made up his mind that he would try radiotherapy, and when we went back to see the Oncologist, he told Dad he was a prime candidate for a fairly new kind of radiotherapy. Stereotactic Radiotherapy, A high dose precise treatment that could be done over 5 sessions. Some people only need 3 zaps, but because this cancer is so close to Dads rib and very near a main nerve, they would spread the dosage out over 5 zaps. I think its very similar to CyberKnife, GammaKnife in the USA. The treatment would be done at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology on the Wirral in England (North West UK) Its around a 100 mile round trip and I was concerned for Dad if he needed the 35 conventional radiotherapy Zaps that he would become to fatigued to make the trip every day. But he was very very fortunate to be able to have this fairly new treatment, its given in exactly the same way conventional radiotherapy is given, it just maybe takes a few minutes longer thats all. The first 'zap' day came around, and I was more nervous than Dad, unfortunately the planning team were not quite happy with the scans, x rays, and needed another 6 hours to perfect the treatment plan, so we were told the first treatment would be delayed by one day, But we had the peace of mind of knowing that they wanted to get things 'spot on' before they would even consider starting radiotherapy, when there are only millimetres between tumour and rib, then we were grateful they were being so cautious. The following day we returned and treatment started, it was all over in a flash, all those months of worrying, and Dad is back in the car tucking into cheese and tomato sanwiches and a mars bar!!! I phoned home every couple of hours to check in on Dad, somehow expecting side effects to 'kick in', but no nothing, even after his 5th and final zap, he was absolutely fine, no skin rash, no redness, no fatigue, no loss of apetite, in fact he gained a little weight during treatment, I think it was all the sandwiches I prepared for the inward and outward journeys!! He continued to go to car boot sales and he goes out metal detecting once a week he takes my mum supermarket shopping, and generally his lifestyle is the same as before treatment. I could never have imagined things could have gone so well for him. Oh and he's still the first person at the Post Office at 9am on a Monday morning to pick up his pension continued underneath

The consultant explained to Dad that the nodule had lit up during PET scan, and that from now on it would be called a 'tumour'. He didn't say the 'C' word, and I worried that Dad may not have understood what he had just been told. So after that first blow, the consultant mentioned a bit of activity in Dads' bowel and he would be requesting Dad to have a colonoscopy ASAP. Thats when I felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks, it was the most stomach churning, gut wrenching, buttock clenching experience of my life, I couldn't even look at Dad, We both walked out of the room, and didn't speak, I can't remember much about the drive home, just silence I think, and knowing I had to tell my 83 year Mum who was waiting at home for some news was almost unbearable. Ok, heres a bit of light relief for you all, I was just approaching Mum and Dads home, when Dad asks me to stop at the newsagents so he could pick up some lottery tickets!!!!!!!!!!! I kid you not, I was sat in the car a trembling mess and I could see Dad inside the shop filling his tickets in. Colonoscopy is scheduled for June 7th, for all of you here that have had one of these, you will know that they make you take a potent medicine the day before to basically purge you of anything that you have eaten. yes you know what I mean, well there's a problem according to Dad, because that day (June 6th ) was voting day in the UK and Dad is determined that he has to go and vote!! I tried to persuade him not to bother, and to stay close to the bathroom at all times that day, but no, he went and voted, luckily the polling station was quite nearby in the local church,but I'm sure it must have been a mad dash just the same!! Good news one week later. The biopsies were all negative, and all they found was a tiny ulceration in his bowel. one less thing to worry about, it felt like Christmas, seriously even with LC looming over us, we walked out of the hospital in such great spirits that day. In July we met with the Oncologist, who gave us every available option to Dad regarding treatment, to be honest I didn't want Dad to have any treatment at all, that may sound so selfish, but having never been affected by cancer so closely before, I just thought of the 'horrors' of chemo, and if it would only give Dad a little more time, and that quality of life would be zero for him. I didnt want to see him suffer through treatment only to get a few more weeks with us. I told Dad I would support him in whatever decision he made, I would take him to all hospital appointemts, but I would understand that if he didn't want treatment, I would respect his wishes. continued underneath

Hi again. Here is Dads story in a little more detail. Please bear with me, it may be long winded, but I feel this is the right place to share my feelings, worries, hopes with you all. I'm an only child, and without brothers and sisters to talk to, confide in, cry with, I know that each and every one of you will relate to some of this. Although each person dealing with the diagnosis reacts diferently, and those closest to them react differently too. I sometimes shocked myself at some of the thoughts running through my mind days after dads diagnosis. well here goes............... Dad was admitted into hospital with suspected heart failure, in August 2009, he spent 10 days having different tests and so many different scans, he couldn't remember the name of some of them. After about 5 days, he mentioned to Mum and me during visiting hours that a consultant had been to see him and told him they had found a 'module' ( yes, thats what dad called it) in his lung, and it was about the size of a halfpenny 1cmx1cm. That was it, that was all he told us. And to be honest we kind of dismissed it, as his heart was our main concern at the time. ( Little did we know eh?) Dad was discharged from hospital and over the weeks with the right dose of medication his heart stabled, but he needs to be on about 7 tablets a day now. An appointment card came through the door for a CT scan, we presumed in was for his heart, and only discovered 2 weeks later that we were in the chest clinic and that they would be keeping a close eye on this 'module' for at least 3 years for signs of change. Well that got the alarm bells ringing, and I started to delve into all things lung related, and it only then hit me that this could be cancer. Dad was a heavy smoker, I think all the pictures of my childhood my Dad is there in the background with one in his hand. He stopped smoking 17 years ago, more because he begrudged paying so much money for a packet, rather than health worries. Dad was offered a PET scan after the 3rd CT scan showed little if any change, The consultant mentioned scar tissue, oh how wrong could he be? PET scan was performed on 13th April and results were back on 21st April, I knew as we walked into the consultants room that this was not going to be the news we wanted to hear. Continued underneath.

Thank you everyone for the welcome. Eric its nice to have another Brit to chat to, and your blog is so similar to what Dad went through, with the double whammy of LC and 'maybe' bowel too I will be back tomorrow and relate in more detail what happened from day of diagnosis. In the meantime, I am so grateful this forum is here and I will be popping in and out frequently. MandyB x

Hi everyone. I'm from the UK, and my Dad was diagnosed with LC in mid-April this year. Although his docs had been keeping an eye on a nodule they found in August 2009, it was only in April this year, that they thought a PET scan could give a definitive answer, as the nodule was around 1cmx1cm, but hadn't really grown or changed in 6 months. anyway the PET scan lit up like a beacon and so Dad got his cancer diagnosis on 21st April this year. Dad is 79, ex smoker, not smoked for 17 years now, but worked in the nuclear industry for around 20 years. No needle biopsy was performed as they felt it was too near his rib to get at. So although we knew it was cancer, we have no idea what kind it is. Dads was an incidental finding last August during a chest x ray for heart failure, so Dad and his surgeon were reluctant to opt for surgery, with his medical history, age etc. Fortunately Dads oncologist told him he was a great candidate for Stereotactic radiotherapy, to be done at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology on the Wirral in the UK. Dad had 5 zaps, with no side effects, no skin irritation, he ate well throughout and no more tired than he gets with his heart complaint We are now 8 weeks since treatment, but 4 days ago Dad developed a cough, maybe just a seasonal cold, maybe the radiation, we are not sure. But he seems to be ok, he's still eating well, and at the moment just taking cough medicine. I thought I would share dads story with you all, and keep you informed of his health over the next few months, he is due to have his first CT scan since treatment around the end of November. Dad was only the 10th patient to have this treatment at Clatterbridge for LC. mainly in the UK it has been used for brain tumours. But I did do alot of internet research and found it has been used in USA for a couple of years or so Thanks for listening MandyB x

Hello everyone. I have been reading this forum for a few weeks now, and decided to share my story about my father. please forgive me if I post in the wrong place on the forums, I'm just working my way around them. I've cried and smiled at all your messages on here, and also found it a great comfort since my Dad's diagnosis earlier this year. OK, now I will see if I can find the right place to tell you all about Dad. MandyB x