Addie

Dean...you are the E.F. Hutton of this place! When you talk.....people listen! It's good to hear from you....and while I'm sorry you've not been feeling spunkier...I have great faith in your ability to wring the most good out of every day, every moment! There is nothing to fault in the way you view and approach Life....and you do now, and will always stand as an inspiration to the rest of us. Thank you.....just for being you! Best to you and Gay.

All good thoughts headed your way, Phyllis! Hoping that the chemo does the job and that you're soon pain free and feeling better.

Jen and I stay in touch....as we were dx'd about the same time, with similar situations. She's had a pretty rough time with side effects. She's doing radiation right now along with chemo....so I'm hoping when rad. is over that she'll be suffering the side effects a lot less! Her last email she said she wasn't sick from chemo...but was tired and headachy. Jen....if you're lurking at all...we miss you and hope you're feeling better each day! Sending you a big hug!

This calls for a celebration! Congrats!!

Happiness is..........a warm puppy AND clean scans! Congrats on both counts. The pupper is adorable!!

Lucie...you rock!!!! New clothes AND a two year renewal on subscriptions. What could be more optimistic than that? You inspire us all... And Don....I trust you encouraged the shopping spree. I mean, after all...Lucie's gonna need something new to wear to that two year celebration, isn't she? Keep on rocking on, Lucie!!

Awww....what a great update, Sharon!! You and Daddy keep on dancing....as that image brings lots of smiles! So glad you are feeling better and that Dad has his spunk and fighting spirit back too! It sounds like his doc is optimistic too! BTW...were you dancing to "Margaritaville?" That's my fav Buffet tune!

My diagnosis is sclc-limited, too. After doing a little research on the internet, I figured the best I could hope for was remission...and maybe a few good years, if I was lucky. My husband and I met with the oncologist for the first time several days after my dx, and within about 5 minutes the doctor said to me...."You know this is curable!?" I almost fell off my chair...as did my hubby, so I asked the doc to repeat what he'd said....and he did! I don't believe my onc would have said this is curable if it isn't!! So I have locked myself mentally on that prospect...that possibility that this IS curable. Unless and until someone tells me absolutely that I'm NOT curable anymore....I will continue to believe that I am!! Of course the doc told me there were "no guarantees"....but none of us have any guarantees anyway.....do we? The fact is, it's very important to have and maintain a positive attitude....and that is NOT so easy when you have a doctor who is old "doom and gloom" and who thinks he knows just how long a patient has left to live! I'd ditch this guy and find an oncologist who is more optimistic and more willing to join your mother's team in her fight to beat this thing! From the day I was diagnosed, until I started chemo....18 days elapsed. During that time, I had all the CTs, a brain MRI and bone marrow test to make sure I was limited stage. Stay positive and encourage your mom to do the same. Make sure you surround yourselves with others who are optimistic and positive....especially in terms of your medical team! There are plenty of people here who have already beaten the odds or outlived the statistics and are doing fine....so don't let yourselves get pulled down by Dr. Dismal or lousy stats, ok! Best wishes to you and your mom! (P.S. Excuse my "chemo brain"...but some of this is repeat info, as I replied in another post of yours. Sorry to be repeating myself...but memory these days is iffy! )

Have fun!! Any vacation on a beach is a GOOD vacation, if you ask me. Some sun, some fun, some R & R, some seafood.....and hey, do you guys play golf? Come back all refreshed and tell us all about it!

Wow...what a great trip! And you'll LOVE the Riverwalk....it's a fabulous and unique part of the city! The shrimp in LA doesn't sound too bad either~! Have a great time. If Ry hadn't given you a hall pass, I would have put on my Ry disguise and given it to you myself, for a road trip like this! Enjoy. We'll expect a full report when you return!

Prayers and strength headed Katie's and your way, Shelly. Sounds like Katie's doctor is being careful yet prudent about anything too radical, due to her age. A balancing act....for sure...but he sounds caring and trustworthy. Let's hope this takes care of things for Katie....and meanwhile, you be careful mixing your "sleep remedies".....eh? That's the "mom" in me talkin'.....and trust me...you don't want to get me started! My kids will tell you that when something worries me....I'm like a dog with a bone nagging at them! You don't want me nagging at you, do you Shel?

Cindy... Sending you all my best "Tom healing, daughter coping, job getting vibes! So far, so good...eh? Hope all the remaining tests come back with positive news and that things otherwise settle in for all of you, including you knocking their socks off in your interview! We will await your next good report!!

Odd are in your favor, Donna. Interesting article...thanks for sharing it! FWIW, two very small nodules in my lower left lung from July 2003 (2 mm. each) were unchanged when they found my l.c. in May 2004 I'm saying a prayer your nodules follow suit...and are benign little "nothings"! My doc said he sees these "nothing little nodules" all the time!

I have to figure if the puppy was female, you'd have named her....Mustang Sally....right? Mary, I haven't been here that long...so didn't "know" your David well...but boy, a few things were very obvious: He had great humor, was well loved around here, had a "thing" for the Pistons and his "stang"...and mostly, he loved his family a ton!! I'm so glad you added Harley to your family and I betcha David is up there right now applauding the addition too....and the name! I hope you'll come around and keep us posted on how you and the boys are doing...and also regale us with a few puppy tales. You and Snowflake might want to compare notes on puppy antics! So...what breed/breeds is Harley? As you might be able to tell from my avatar pic...my two are mutts...pound puppies. Black one is male, the "blonde" is female. Dogs are wonderful "therapy"....full of love and affection. Enjoy the new pupper....and it's real good to hear from you.

My sympathies on the loss of your dear step-dad. I hope, in time, warm memories will bring comfort and the pain of loss will subside. I'm so sorry.........

Believe me...there are others of us here with sclc who are really delighted to hear such a good report on your mom! Actually, most everyone here loves good news....but those of us with sclc constitute the minority group....and with such an aggressive cancer, a report as positive as your mom's is MOST hopeful and inspiring!! Give that woman a cake and tell her to celebrate!! (This sort of achievement deserves more than just a cookie!!) Your mom looks like a character with a good sense of humor. Anyone who collects furbies past adolescence can't be all bad! (Teddy bears are my thing! ) And I'll wager her general attitude has gone a long way towards how she's endured treatment with so few ill effects. After today, I have one cycle of chemo left. Radiation is over...but I will have PCI probably in October. I've had very few ill effects from treatment myself and consider myself extremely lucky. Tell your mom I will remember her experience and use it as inspiration! I'm so glad you shared this with us. As for you....I can imagine the scare you must have felt with your own lung issues. I'm so glad everything was benign...but think it's very wise to follow up with scans just to be sure and to ease your mind. Keep us posted on both mom and you...and thanks again for such an uplifting and great report on mom!

I'm so sorry about your friend, Ginny. This really has been an awful week and let's just hope with the dispatching of the ants...that the "good news only" rule will apply now. Hmmmmm, let me see...what can I add? Well...although we had to put our plans to move to AZ on hold till next spring....we think we have a buyer already! Friends of friends who REALLY wants to live in this neighborhood. So...it would mean no R.E. commission which in turn means MORE NEW FURNITURE once we make the move! That might not thrill anyone else, but it sure puts a smile on my face! Better than shopping for shoes...is a furniture spree! Be kind and gentle with yourself Ginny...as you've been thru a lot. And I hope it provides a few wee smiles to you to know how much you are cared for and admired here! Jackie Kennedy had nothing on you when JFK died....as you've shown as much grace under pressure as she did....and that is saying a lot. Sending a warm hug your way.

How wonderful for Austin and for your whole family! I've seen some info about these implants on....was it 60 minutes? One of the newsmagazines, anyway...and they are truly amazing!! All the best to your little grandson....and the new hearing adventures that await him! This is just wonderful!! (I do hope, for your sake, that he decides he doesn't like rap music though!! Unless, of course, YOU like it! )

I kinda did as DaveC did....I quit the day of my biopsy...simply because I figured it was cancer....altho my doc was leaning towards lymphoma. Still...I had wanted to quit anyway...just never had worked very hard at it because I LIKED to smoke! I'd dodged a bullet the year before when I had a CT scan and two little nodules were picked up in one lung. My doc said they were "nothing"...and he was right...because 8 mos. later a rescan showed those two nodules unchanged....AND there was a new, 1.5 cm. patchy area and enlarged lymph nodes which were NOT nothing...but which turned out to be sclc!! Effectively, I went cold turkey the day of my biopsy. For four days prior, I'd cut down. I went from 2.5 packs on Sunday...to a pack on Monday, 15 cigs on Tues, 13 on Wed. and just 2 on Thursday....the last one at noon. I had my biopsy that evening about 6:30. I have to tell you.....it's been a lot easier than I thought! And like Bets said.....there still are times I sort of crave a smoke...or even go to reach for my pack (which, BTW, is not there anymore!!) But then I tell myself, treatment works better if I DON'T smoke. My onc told me that and common sense confirms it....or vice versa~! Whatever it takes. Take every cigarette you've got and put them out in your car....so if you want a smoke, you have to walk out to the garage to get it. Only bring one in the house to smoke. Or hide them out in the yard...or up in the attic. ANYWHERE other than in your pocket or on the table beside you. Decide you WON'T smoke in certain places....like in your car. If you spend much time in your car...this will help a lot. And when you go to reach for a smoke....tell yourself, "I'll wait a half hour"....or an hour....or even 10 minutes if that's all you can do. Or only smoke out on the porch...not in the house! Make it HARD to smoke...instead of easy. You have to sort of play tricks on your addicted self to cut down or get away from them altogether. Believe me...I smoked for 40 years. The longest I ever quit....totally quit.....was for 10 days. I only did it once and was such a raving maniac my hubby literally BEGGED me to either divorce him or just freakin' light up again. I lit up. Even from his perspective, that was cheaper than a divorce! It's one of the hardest habits to kick...as addictive as heroin, they say. I guess for me, the true motivator this time was fear. I want to stick around to see my kids marry and have kids of their own. I've got piles of yarn that need to be knit into something and an equally large stack of books I want to read before I die. I've got friends I want to spend more time with. We're building a house in Arizona and it is our plan to move out there and enjoy our golden years in the sunshine, the pool and playing golf. That's a plan I'd like to carry out!!! And I'd like to be around long enough to enjoy it for more than a couple of months! To me, kicking the cigarette habit seemed as important as keeping a positive attitude, taking chemo and radiation and yet to come, the PCI....and otherwise doing the things that will give me the best shot at beating the beast and keeping my health long enough to REALLY start collecting some wrinkles on my face! Do whatever it takes, Rich...and keep trying. I think there are several here who still smoke...who've had an equally hard time kicking it. But I bet most of them would say they wish they could quit. Believe me...as addicted as I was, I always used to joke and say, "I'd have to be in a coma for three months to quit"....but let me tell you, having to find it in myself to quit because I now have lung cancer...ain't my recommended way to quit either! Still...I did quit. I miss it...but again, like Betty....I know if I ever pick one up again and light it....I'm hooked. I could never be one of those people who only smoked three a day....after meals. Wish I could...but I know it's not me. I wish you luck with your efforts...and just keep trying. My hubby, who has quit I cannot COUNT how many times.....could NOT kick the habit this time. He was under so much stress with my diagnosis...that although he cut back a little bit...he still was smoking at least a pack a day IN THE HOUSE...and wasn't cutting down from that. So....I had to be harridan. One day I asked him to pass me a cigarette. He looked at me in shock. And I said, "Well, I gave them up so that I've got the best shot at getting well...and yet every day I'm inhaling YOUR smoke....so I might as well just smoke myself!!!" That was 11:30 in the morning....and the cigarette he stubbed out in the ashtray when I said this....was his last one. He's chewing the gum, and just got some of the patches...doing anything and everything to cope. He's having a tough time. I never so much as chewed a piece of the gum and I'm telling you...I was MUCH more addicted than he was! Well, enough of my rambling reply...but again...best of luck in beating the smokes AND the cancer. Look at it as a proactive thing to do for yourself....and keep trying! If I could quit...I swear, anyone can!

I wouldn't want to have to be in charge of the "bookkeeping" that goes on for all the prayers than emanate from this site! But I'm so glad that God has it all in hand for us. Please know I'm adding my prayer, Elaine...and hoping that there will be some good news soon about your/our friend!

Minnie... I have no experience with WBR or Temodar (but I do face some PCI in a couple of months). Mostly I just wanted to pop in to say, that I hope being able to express your feelings here and find support for them...will be of some help to you. I know how hard it is to watch your mother suffer...change from the mom you've always counted on and WANT to remain the same forever. But deep in all of us, we know things cannot remain the same forever....and when our parents are taken ill...it's SO hard to watch...so devastating to have to deal with all the changes. The one comment that MJ made that really hit home for me, is that radiation causes fatigue....and radiation to the brain, from what I understand, causes the most severe fatigue. The amount your mother is sleeping may well be how her body NEEDS to cope for a while...but once radiation is over....she should (slowly, perhaps) regain some of her energy. I wish I could wave a magic wand for you and make it all go away. It's not easy being distant either...and believe me, I can relate. When my mother was battling colon cancer for 2+ years....I lived 3,000 miles away from her! I made nine trips out to see her in that time, and stayed for 3 months one time!! Just keep letting your mom know what she means to you. Cherish those 10 minute talks.....and when she needs to sleep, be assured she is taking care of her body's needs by resting or sleeping. She needs to devote her energies to fighting this beast AND to helping her body recover from the effects of treatment. I have to say...thus far, I've tolerated chemo and radiation very well...with some mild fatigue and only a wee bit of nausea. But both my sons have told me they don't want me worrying about ANYTHING but getting well. They've told me to be selfish and focus on myself! In other words, if they get a check for their birthdays, in a card....that's fine. I don't need to feel I have to go out and shop as I've done in the past. Encourage your mom to take care of herself too. And just keep loving her, and doing what you can do to make yourself feel better too! The photos on your fridge were a great idea! I pulled out old photos of my mom as a little girl and framed them. Those made me feel better, when I couldn't be with her. Or...I found photos of the two of us together before she got sick and put those out. This is doubly hard for you, in that you're dealing with your dad's emotions too....but it's important that he have an outlet. Perhaps, though, if you want to talk to your mom more openly about death...your dad might encourage mom to do that! Possible? I know with my mom, she sort of had her head in the sand for a while...so I had to wait her out. She finally came to realistic grips with her situation...and from that point on, we had some wonderful talks....where some of that "tough stuff" was discussed. You might try to open a dialogue with your mom...and see if she'll pick up on your lead. If she does not...she may not quite be ready to discuss her death with her child...and you might have to wait a bit longer. But again, maybe your dad can talk to her and make her see that it's a conversation that might be beneficial to both of you. Wishing you the best. Come here and vent any time you want...this is a great place for it. Will be keeping you and your family in my prayers...hoping things improve for your mom when treatment ends. Do keep us posted....ok?

You've got an awful lot going on right now, Char...and I hope and pray the radiation helps take care of Rich's pain. I'm sorry the news wasn't better...but will hope for improvement with treatment.

Denise... Thoughts and prayers with you and your family, during this most difficult time.

Sharon....I can only imagine the gamut of feelings you are experiencing...and I'm so sorry to hear this news. Sending you vibes of strength....and putting up prayers for dad and for all of you. Please keep us posted when time allows...and know we are thinking of you and sending all positive thoughts your way.

Just to back up what Becky said.....I'll repeat it: You did NOT do this to yourself!!! So put that thought out of your head...as it will do you NO good if this does turn out to be cancer. I smoked for 40 years. My hubby smoked longer than that and he smoked MORE than I did. I've got cancer and he doesn't! Every single person in my immediate family, including aunts and uncles, smoked....and I'm the only one to get small cell l.c.! And as Becky said, there are plenty of people out there who NEVER smoked and got lung cancer....so IF this is cancer....playing the blame game on yourself is pointless. The bottom line is....NOBODY deserves this disease! Blame has no place in any of this...and blaming yourself is non-productive. Try to believe that the fear or not knowing is worse than knowing exactly what it is you are facing, because it's the truth. Once you know what this is...then you can plan for how to treat it. To do nothing...to let yourself be paralyzed by the fear....can have tragic consequences...so please, tell your doctor everything and get things rolling towards a diagnosis. We do understand the fear..and I hope that by getting some of your feelings out here...among others who understand your feelings...that it will help you find the courage to push to find answers. Trust me, you'll be better off knowing and setting up a plan to treat whatever this is...than you'll be to let yourself stay paralyzed and fearful. We're here to support you....so find a wee kernel of courage and run with it. We'll help....ok?