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TJSMOM

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Posts posted by TJSMOM

  1. Hi everyone. I have posted several times on the newcomers board but this forum looks like where I need to be today. My dad is having surgery next Thursday to remove a tumor and some lymph nodes from his left lung and possibly removing the entire upper left lobe. I have been doing great until today and I don't know what's different about today. I think my main worry is that his pulmonologist originally told us that with dad's emphysema (he has only 37% lung function now) there wouldn't be a surgeon anywhere that would remove the entire lobe where the tumor is at because it would make daddy and invalid. Then when we saw the surgeon he recommended taking the entire lobe if the tumor looks like he expects it to look. I questioned him and told him what the pulmonologist said and he said he though invalid was a pretty strong word and that daddy might have to be on oxygen for a few months but then he thought he could eventually wean himself off that. I know that surgery is the best option he has right now but it scares me to think that he would have less than 37% lung function after surgery. I have been trying to concentrate on the "what is" and not let the "what if" get to me but today I am having a hard time with that. Sorry so long....just needed to talk.

  2. I'm sorry that you have to be here. I can't say that I know exactly how you feel because I don't have cancer but my dad does and it's no doubt the scariest word I and my family have had to deal with. He is scheduled for surgery on 6/3/04. The friends I feel I have found on this board are wonderful. No matter how I am feeling I know that they are there for me and I've only been here a little while. You are in my thoughts and prayers and I'm sure God is holding you in His hands to help you through the physical and emotional pain you are experiencing. Please keep us posted on how you are doing.

    God bless!!!

  3. Hi everyone. Just wanted to let you know that my daddy is having surgery on June 3. They will take out the tumor and some lymph nodes and possibly remove the upper left lobe altogether. Any extra prayers will be greatly appreciated. I will keep you posted. Hope everyone has a great day.

  4. I think Daddy's surgeon mentioned something about the wedge surgery being done for emphysema patients.....does anyone have any more information about that? Also....is the lobectomy hard to recover from as far as being able to resume normal activities. My daddy is extremely active with my son and he is so worried that he might not be able to play with him at all this summer. I told him that TJ would be just as satisfied watching Nascar with him but he's still worried. Thanks for the feedback and support so far. You guys are awesome.....God bless.

    :D

  5. Hi guys....haven't posted in a couple of weeks. We have been waiting on my Dad to finish his antibiotics. He went back to his pulmonologist and nothing had changed so we went to a thorasic surgeon. The surgeon said that he actually has 2 spots. 1 is hot and the other is cold on the PET scan. He wants to schedule surgery next week to take out the spots and if they are cancer (and he thinks they are) he will remove Daddy's entire lobe. The pulmonologist had said that we didn't have that option because of Daddy's emphysema (his lungs are only functioning at 37% now) but the surgeon seemed to think it would be okay. He said that Daddy might have to have oxygen for the first couple of months after surgery but could possibly wean himself off as he heals. Has anyone else had the lobe surgery that also had bad emphysema? My mom, sister, and I are holding up pretty well. We are all still very scared but I think that's pretty natural. Nobody wants to lose their heroes. My one positive outlook is that God is on our side and no matter what I know He is holding Daddy in the palm of His hand....and you can't ask for any better than that. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

  6. Hello Everyone...my dad's biopsy report came back today. When his pulmonologist did the scope on Wednesday he said he only found 1 spot even though the PET showed two. He said everything else looked clear and he did the biopsy of the one spot. Today he said the biopsy didn't show any cancer cells at all but he may have missed the spot and just got the area around it. Dad's PFT's weren't good at all due to the Emphysema...his function is only at 37%. The Dr. told him that he would not recommend having the 1 lobe removed because it would make him basically an invalid but that the surgeon would probably do a "wedge" and then he would go through chemo. Then after all that information he said that sometimes patients with lung diseases have serious infections that show up as spots on CAT scans and put Daddy on 850 mg of Augmentin for 2 weeks. At the end of the next two weeks if his spot has shrunk then it's probably infection...if not it's probably cancer. The entire visit he did keep saying that he was almost positive it's cancer because the spot showed up "hot" on the PET scan and since it looks like we have caught it early 2 weeks would not do much damage until we see what the Augmentin does. He has never mentioned an oncologist....just a surgeon. I think that 2 weeks is a long time to wait. If we went to an oncologist could he give us a 2nd opinion? I'm sorry this is long....just really confused and still scared. Any opinions out there? Thanks...

  7. Thank you so much for your support. I am a little calmer than I was when I first posted. Please know that you all are also in my prayers. Thank you for making me feel so welcome and for helping to calm my fears. I have read some of the other posts and you guys are amazing. I will keep you posted and visit each day. God bess you all.

  8. My dad had a chest x-ray and cat scan done last week and the pulmonologist sent him to have a PET scan done. We got the results today and he has two small hot spots in the upper part of his left lung. My mom, sister, and I are all really upset and confused. His Dr. told us that if the spots showed hot it was probably cancer and if they were cold it was probably scar tissue from where he had TB when he was younger so we went into the scan thinking if they were hot they were automatically cancer. They came back showing hot but now he wants to do a scope and biopsy the two spots. He said today that he want say for sure if they are cancer until then. He said we should consider ourselves lucky so I think that's positive but I am so scared....I haven't been able to do anything but cry since I talked to my mom. Any information would be a great help. I am sorry I'm rambling.

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