Geri

You are truly one amazing young woman, I'm proud to know you and so pleased for you that you're back in school. Geri

Yes, I could and to a degree still can smell dirty hair at a hundred paces. While I have never enoyed the smell of unwashed hair it became wildly exaggerated during my first chemo. I have changed direction in stores because I could smell someones hair, unwashed bodies and dirty clothes had the same effect. I have just realised that I'm typing this with a grimace on my face even though I'm alone and my hair is clean! Yuck Geri

What a great celebration for your family, welcome Joel. 5 Years is such a landmark number. Wishing you many more anniversaries ahead. Geri

43 and raining.........a miserable Boston day, it's noon and the lights need to be on. I think I'll go back to bed.

Does limited small cell count as 'early stage'? What the hell, I'm jumping on this band wagon as a long time survivor, November 2001 seems a long time ago, a heartbeat in one way a lifetime in another. Breast cancer more recent but still 2 1/2 years since dx, and NED for that one too. I'm an early stager for both - thanks to luck the first time and my bathroom mirror the second time. I'm also paranoid about "symptoms" that appear from nowhere and disappear the same way Geri

You have opened my favorite can of worms. It gets opened every October and drives me to distraction. For years I said that if I ever got breast cancer I'd be very thankful to Susan G Komen and her friends for all the time and effort they put into breast cancer but I was sick of PINK. I've been known to leave a store because of PINK displaysl, I've questioned how much money goes to the cause when I see PINK Tic-Tacs for example. Well I got breast cancer and I'm still sick of PINK. A friend knowing how I feel about it all sent me this link which I hope will work for you guys. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magaz ... paign=8315 Don't think I did that right but if it won't work it was in the Boston Globe Magazine on Oct 4. This article was written about a bunch of breast cancer survivors who feel the same way we all do - not for the same reasons (lack of lc coverage) but just because they're sick of pink. My daughter gave me a really cute pink baseball cap with her company logo on it when I lost my hair, I wore it without thinking and got horribly teased when the people I'd been railing to about pink ribbons saw it! I was dx with sclc in 2001 and bc in 2007 the lc cause gets my support, there are more than enough people and corporations rallying around the PINK they don't need my two cents so Debi I'm with you - not in my lifetime..........I'm a bc survivor but I don't support PINK I'll proudly walk for lung cancer on November 7th but I'm not buying anything PINK in October. End of rant Geri

Shameless you may be but the walk group and I are very proud to know you and Fred - rest assured you will be missed but everyone will understand why you're walking for us sooooo much closer to home. Your big loss will be that you'll miss my speech! Yes I fianlly caved in and decided to bare my soul in the hope of giving a few people the drive to go on, just as you did when you spoke so eloquently for us. Our "out of towners" dinners on Friday and Saturday will be sadly lacking but I'll make sure we raise a glass or two to our favorite "out of towners". You're special friends who have made such a huge impression on everyone involved, your dedication has been outstanding and we'll surely miss you both next month. Enjoy your walk, we'll be thinking of you Geri

While I'm not in a position to understand the greiving process I have followed your progress for so many years that I feel I know you. Lily, my take on all of this is go for it girl. Enjoy whatever becomes of this friendship, you have the chance of happiness and companionship and I say take it! I'm always amazed at the number of people on this board who will reply to a thread while not knowing the answer, today I have become one of those people with no personal experience but with an opinion. My feelings are that our loved ones would not want to see us alone and unloved after they pass and it sounds to me that your neighbor has become an important part of your life. Not a replacement of Johnny but a new beginning, some fun and support and the younger part sounds liike a bonus! So that's my inexperience speaking, go forward with whatever makes you happy..........you've earned it. Wishing you all good things Geri

Carrot Cake, Anyone want to hang out?

I'm on fluid restrictions but my beer of the moment - a six-pack will last for weeks - is Bud light with lime. Takes me back to my youth when a lager and lime was very avante garde..............along with a cigarette of course I'm on vacation so I think I'll have a beer right now. Sunshine, Cape Hatteras and a beer, what more could I ask for. Geri

I'm so glad you're still around, my favorite old broad! I'm saying happy anniversary (I celebrate my dx and all the other cancer beating dates) This is certainly a time to give thanks, my thanks to you for putting up with me and all my trials too. I've enjoyed your love and support for what seems forever and know that our friendship will go on. You've it beat kiddo, now go snuggle with my favorite old broad's wonderful man. Love you both Geri

Georgia on my mind Grease

So sorry to hear about your Dad. My husband was dx three and a half years ago at age 63, he had a laproscopic prostatectomy straight away and has been cancer free ever since. He had also been good about his PSA test so like your Dad it was early days. At the time we also remembered all the reports of men who had prostate cancer at autopsy but had died of something else - usually old age!! I shall keep you all in my thoughts and hope for the best outcome. Geri

We were camping on Cape Hatteras, NC. A beautiful sunny day on the Outer Banks, I had turned the TV off about 8.40 and gotten dressed for the day, something made me turn the TV back on in time to see the towers fall. What an unbelievable sight, (my husband went to NY regularly and the Twin Towers were often visited). The most impressive part of it all was that within what seemed minutes US flags appeared all over the campground along with"united we stand" written on RV windows. Our drive back to VT was full of apprehension as we drove the bridge/tunnel system around Norfolk, VA and then on the other side of the river from Manhatten. It was worse for our families in England who knew we were away but weren't sure where we were. A date never to be forgotten. Geri

I started using Lovenox in May 2002, after lc chemo and high D-Dimmer (coagulation) #'s have kept me on it since. It was thought that my port was giving off small clots to begin with but the normal range 0-500 was always way off mine (my highest reading was 2300). This week my D-Dimmer was 586 which is the lowest ever and I'm still giving myself those daily shots. During the time I've been on Lovenox I've had 3 surgeries (shots were stopped beforehand) and chemo for my breast cancer. When I developed clots during my congestive heart failure last year my Lovenox dose was doubled. The clots in my jugular vein and arm were disolved with no problem and I went back to my normal dose - 60ml. As long as drs and dentists know you're taking it Lovenox doesn't seem to hamper anything........except getting used to the needle in the belly and the price! Hope all works out well Geri

Good day today, just got home from seeing my lung onc with another clean bill of health. Eight and a half years, yeah! My xray was "if anything was better than last year's" and a CT that I had with my breast onc last month was clean too. All in all this was worth the 4 hour round trip to New Hampshire. So the elephant is no longer in the middle of the room...........until this time next year that is Now, I think I'll have a drink to celebrate - will you join me? Geri

I had Procrit several times during my chemo for lc and had no ill effects. The difference was that I felt better, I had a little more energy. The alternative I believe is a blood transfusion but as my insurance paid every time it wasn't an issue for me. I don't know what food or suplement would help instead. Geri

Most of you don't know me anymore, lots of things kept me busy for a while and now my knowledge of sclc is out of date - a wonderful problem to have I might add. I'm 62 and have been lc free for 7 years, my tx for small cell was very successful and Richard (my husband of 39 years) and I were just starting to get everything lined up for his retirement when I was dx with breast cancer at age 60. Surgery was successful but unfortunately the chemo did a number on my heart and left me with a leaky valve which caused congestive heart failure. Here we are just over a year later (and 40lbs of water lighter) and I'm finally getting back to a fairly normal life. Since my lc dx I've travelled some more, my daughter got married, Rich(Dadstimeon) and I started the Boston lc walk which has raised almost $400K for LUNGevity, but the crowning glory of the whole 7 years is the birth of my grandson 4 months ago. Lots of things to celebrate that some people doubted I'd ever do or see....but I'm still on the green side of the sod , which is where I intend to stay! Too many more things to see and do yet, my bucket list is by no means covered. We now live 30 minutes west of Boston and literally one minute away from our daughter and her family. It's not as warm here as was going to be when we went back to Texas but we're where we need to be right now and life is just about as good as it can get. My breast onc has just given me another clean bill of health, only my lc onc and cardiologist to go!! That's the Readers Digest version of my life, I've been blessed with a family and friends that have been more supportive that I could ever have believed possible. Life is good. Geri

I had a reaction to Carboplatin, flushed skin which was recognized so soon (by me) that the Benedryl was in my IV before I knew it. I slept for a couple of hours and felt fine. It was then changed to Cisplatin and VP16 (the VP16 was not changed) which took longer to infuse but I don't remember any side effects that I wasn't already dealing with during this awful time. Hope this helps. Geri

Wow, what an exciting summer you've got to look forward to. This brand new Debi sure has a lot going for her, the sky's the limit but be sure and check in from time to time so that we can travel vicariously with you. Take care and enjoy your freedom. Geri

Jamie I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that you've gotten your old life back. I had an "oh no" moment when I first read the topic of your thread but had a grin after I read the first sentence, I've followed your progress since you joined the board and have been so impressed with your grit and determination. I shall be rooting for you Monday and look forward to hearing your start date. Good luck and take care Geri

Congratulations for doing one of the hardest things in the world of addictions. I'm very proud of us all that kicked the habit, eight and half years for me. Still can't believe I'm totally smoke free - can you? Take care Geri

Oh Fred, as if we didn't know who you are! Wonderful news, NED is still in residence.....YEAH. love you both Geri

Congratulations, time does fly when you're having this much fun! Wow seven years, feels good to prove the drs wrong..............keep it up. Take care my friend Geri

Randy I come from Bristol and my sister still lives there. She has told many stories like this including her friend being refused a new chemo for brain cancer because she lived on the WRONG SIDE OF THE STREET.....had she lived across the road it would apparently have been available to her (a different branch of the NHS that could afford to pay for it)! Her friend died a few months later because her husband couldn't afford to pay for the drug himself. Go figure, Geri