Addie

Sending you prayers and all positive thoughts, Nancy!

John....a question or two re: staging. Everything I've found says that sclc is staged differently....either limited or extensive only. Yet sometimes here, and in this post of yours....it appears that sclc is staged like nsclc. Can you explain this to me? This is all very new to me, obviously....but I keep reading to learn and to have intelligent questions to ask my doctors. As for surgery, my oncologist said that was not an option for me...yet I am limited stage with a 1.5 cm infiltrate and lymph enlargement in the mediastinum. I think the largest lymph node was 3 cm but it was termed "mild to moderate lymphadenopathy". The finer points of distinction in some of this escape me yet. Can you help clear a few points up for me? Thanks in advance!!

I think Dave and Don said it all. When my family moved across the country in 1983...about a month later my widowed mother called to say she had "a little tumor in her colon that had to come out". No big deal, right? It was malignant, of course, and mets were already in her liver and lymph system....and I'm now 3,000 miles away. My mother was 72 at the time...and her two older sisters lived in town, plus one of my older sisters who did not drive and had myriad health problems of her own. Long story short....when Mom needed me...I flew across the country to do what I could for her....allowing her to remain for as long as possible IN her own home and with her independence and dignity intact. I'd come to realize how important this was to her over the years of her widowhood. She managed just fine and it mattered to her to remain in her home where all the memories of life with my father comforted her! I flew back and forth about 9-10 times in 2 years. The last trip out...I brought my then 6 year old with me, leaving my 11 year old, my hubby and my two dogs behind.....and my little guy and I stayed with mom for three months. For two and a half of those months, my sister was also in the hospital....so I sorta did triple duty there for a while. Mom had just finished radiation for bone mets and was in pretty bad shape... At the end of those three months, I needed to get my own family back together...and Mom understood....although she didn't like the necessary results. We placed in her a very nice nursing home...but she just was not happy there. A month and a half later, when she went into the hospital for her 5 days of chemo....she slipped into a coma on the second day. I think she was determined NOT to die in a nursing home. I rushed back out West and got to see her again, even tho she was comatose. She picked her own moment, I believe, and let go and slipped away peacefully on Christmas Eve, l985. It never would have worked if, say, I'd insisted she move East to be with us. It sure would have been more convenient for ME....but SHE was the patient and it would have totally disrupted her life...plus meant she would have to start all over with doctors...and she trusted the ones she had. It's a hard call....but again, I think Dave and Don make the most valid point. The caregivers.....the family members....need to honor the patient's need to feel as much in control of their own life as possible. To keep one's independence and dignity....to feel one has SOME controls over their lives when this insidious d*mn disease strips a person of so much control.....becomes even more critical. Maybe if you step back from this a bit....your dad will work on your mom about it. Try not to get your feelings hurt in this....because it probably has little to do with you, compared to how much this has to do with how your parents feel THEIR lives have been disrupted. It's not always easy to prioritize. My hubby and I were supposed to move this Oct/Nov. Our home here was "supposed to be" on the market right now! All that has been put on hold....and we are building the new house in the southwest....so of course THAT part of the plan goes forward. Now we have to pay for the new house BEFORE we sell this one AND we've got mounting medical bills. Not to mention moving away from the medical team I've established here...which is also a concern. All we can do is take it as it comes. My health comes first. The rest will work itself out. Try to enjoy Dad's remission...and I pray it lasts a long time! Let him encourage Mom about a move....and you stay neutral and see if that helps lesson any "pressure" on them. Meanwhile, all you can do is continue to love them and help however you can. You sound like a loving daughter...and they are lucky to have you. I'm sending postive thoughts your way that all this works out so that everyone feels very comfortable!

Oh, boy...it doesn't sound like this trip could have been much better than it was!! I'm so glad you all had a wonderful time....and I love the idea of the 7 smooth stones. What a lovely and spiritual way to make the trip even more special!! I think it always feels great to get home...maybe that's the best part of a good trip, eh? That it makes us really appreciate home when we return...even IF it's with a big pile of laundry!! Welcome back Don and Lucie. I don't know you well yet....but I too am sorta disappointed that we won't get to see you in a kilt, Don! My daddy, BTW, was born in Glasgow! I spent a little time in Scotland myself in l969. Long time ago when I was young and energetic!! My hubby and I would love to go over someday to play the old course at St. Andrews....as we are both golf bums! If we ever make it....I sure hope we get the kind of weather YOU got!!

Hey Jen....I'm a newbie too. And I just started chemo yesterday and had the second dose today. My doctor gives some Decadron and Zofran by IV before they drip the chemo drugs...and I have had NO nausea at all. They also sent me home with some meds to take later...and a schedule for them...and that included some Ativan in case I had trouble sleeping...which I did last night. I think the anti nausea drugs can sort of wire you up a bit. I think, for me, the anticipation has been worse than anything. Not knowing makes you nervous. But now that things have started...I feel like something TANGIBLE is being done to fight the cancer...so it's making me feel really good, really positive! I refuse to "borrow trouble" and I'm keeping as positive an attitude as I can. I think it really helps. When I get a bit nervous, I close my eyes and try to do some regular, deep breathing...and I also do postive imagery. I imagine my body healing...the cancer leaving. My symbol is a yellow hard hat and I picture little miniature hard hats running around in my blood vessels kicking the cr*p out of the cancer!! Try your best NOT to be nervous. Take some notes of the questions you have and ask. I found the oncology nurses to be SO sweet and so willing to answer questions...so ask away. Knowledge is power...and having a strong, positive attitude might just help you NOT suffer many side effects. I will have radiation with my next round of chemo...so realistically, I figure I might not feel as good as I do this go round. But I will continue to practice the breathing, the positive imagery AND getting as many good laughs in each day as I can....even IF that means watching reruns of The Nanny or Seinfeld!! Hang in there...don't hesitate to ask questions here or at your doctors...but I'm sending out a prayer that you do as well as I've done on this first go around of chemo. Truly...even my appetite is better now that chemo is underway. I think that Decadron has something to do with that....but food is tasting better and I'm keeping my weight up...which is important too! Good luck. Let us know how you do...but I'm betting you do just great!

Oh, I absolutely agree. I have a friend who had a mole on her leg. One day her dog came up to her after she was just out of the shower and started to try to BITE at the mole. It caused her to go see her doctor about the mole....and you guessed it....it was a melanoma! There are some dogs that can actually be trained to sniff out cancer in people. If I ever come across a good article about this, I'll post the link. Can't recall at the moment where I first read about it. While dogs don't have the same emotional capacity as humans...(it's just that we humans want to THINK that our dogs poop on the rug out of spite~! They don't. They poop because they have to go and maybe no one is there to let them outside!)...they are very sensitive to human emotions....and things on a level that we humans cannot really understand. I mean, how does one ASK the dog what he's thinking? But it's easy to see sometimes, how they react to OUR moods or emotions...and of course their noses are much more finely tuned as is their hearing. I just thought it was interesting that Mattie sniffed RIGHT at the spot where the catheter had been in my hand...and then she wanted to lick it. I didn't let her...I mean, I'm sure there was no residual chemo left there...but it made me nervous anyway. So....I let her lick my cheek instead and that made her happy!

Such wisdom! I hope you'll often share these "random thoughts" with us Dean, because they are wonderful, thought provoking and wise! Thank you. And Bean....God is there....maybe not beside you holding your hand, but maybe He's holding you in His hands right now. Breathe, dear....you're not alone.

Best therapy in the world......dog kisses! I have to put a picture of mine in my avatar. I've got two....a chocolate male and a vanilla female!! Two mutts rescued from the pound. Maybe it was time you cried. It IS a release and sometimes we need that. The only way to get beyond such emotion is to move THROUGH it....not try to suppress it OR move around it.....but THROUGH it. Feel it fully....so that you can then move forward. I hope your tears washed away some of the frustration and fear and got you back on track and in fighting form. You're smart...you're in charge of your own health, involved....not just a passive participant. So...now you've got new information and you've cleared your head a bit, cried a few tears, gotten a wonderful face wash and it's time to go back on the attack again....advocating for yourself, asking the right questions....working towards kicking this nasty thing to the curb....right? And as for dogs licking tears......hey, they lick a LOT of other places that make a tearful face sound gourmet....but we won't go there, ok? Last night, in bed...my female was sniffing my hand where the chemo line had been....and then she very gently started licking my hand. You cannot convince me that our dogs don't sense, smell, KNOW what is going on. Even my male, who is sort of grumpy....the Walter Matthau of Lab/beagle mixes....has been especially "nice" to me lately! Grab that little cutie of yours and use the snuggles for the great therapy they are!!

It's not just weird...it's way beyond my ability to interpret! Like I said, I'm sorta new at this and I'm not dumb...but sometimes technical language seems MEANT to confuse, doesn't it? I recently floated a question to a friend who's a med student, regarding doppler ultrasound. She sent back an explanation in HER words and then one straight out of the textbook. The latter....well, it may as well have been instructions for rocket science for all the good it did me. I wrote her back and said I didn't understand doppler U/S any better than I do the weather!! As has been said around here on numerous occasion, Cat....don't get TOO crazy reading stuff on the net! Or at the very least, if something captures your attention...print it out and ask a medical professional about it before you put stock in it...ok? Kermix the Dancing Sausage....eh? That one, for some reason, reminds me of some of the spam IM's and emails I've been getting lately Cripes, even the Muppets aren't sacred anymore....huh?

Okay...this is just a fork in the road. Admittedly a lousy dang misdiagnosis fork....but it's not insurmountable. Breathe....focus....and just go after this with the same positive conviction that you intend to exercise your options and go after the beast! I know this must have just rattled you bigtime. I think it would any of us....but do NOT let it damage your positive intentions nor your hope! Those are two of the strongest weapons any of us have....altho I gotta say, having the right diagnosis helps too, eh? Hang in there....we're here for you....breathe....and let us know what the revised game plan is...ok? I'll be thinking of you....sending positive vibes and prayers.

Oh, Beth....sending my best prayers hubby's way and yours. I am really new to this whole thing myself...but I just want to say, you're wise to stop reading too much on the net. I think a lot of the info out there is dated and dismal and far too lacking in hope, which is one of the intangible miracles with a diagnosis like this! Keep your hopes up! Stay as positive and as informed as you can...but don't rely on what you read on the net. Every time I could feel my blood pressure rising (just after my dx when I was searching out everything on the internet)....I just closed the window and stopped reading. It was getting to be too much....and I found I got a lot more hopeful info right HERE and from my own medical team. (My internist has been a brick....even let me call him at home whenever I needed to! ) Hang in there...BREATHE deeply to calm yourself....and know our prayers are coming your way.

Thanks Angie, for updating us. I'm pretty new here....but not so new that I cannot add my prayers for Shelley and her dad. I've been thinking of her too, ever since she posted about this latest struggle of Dad's. Shelley...holding a prayer for you and for Dad and hoping you'll soon have some positive news to share. Hope you are taking care of yourself too and getting some rest, if possible.

Well, I made it thru the first session. Took about 4.5 hours there....but I brought a good book! Got both drugs today....the carboplatin and VP-16. And instead of having to wait till Tuesday for the next round....they have me set up to just go to the oncology unit of the hospital tomorrow and Sunday for rounds 2 and 3. The next two days will be VP-16 only. So far so good. I had sort of a bland dinner, but am armed with Zofran and Compazine for nausea and Ativan if I can't sleep. I figure I'll take something for the nausea on the schedule they gave me...in hopes that it won't kick in. She said getting both drugs today might make me more apt to be nauseated than the next two days will. Sheesh...some of the possible side effect to the anti nausea drugs sound almost worse than nausea!! I appreciate everyone's prayers and "cheerleading"....and you've got my prayers in return! My visualization symbol is little yellow hard hats!! Lots of them, coursing around in my body and keeping the cancer contained right where it is until the chemo eradicates it! The day I first met with the oncologist....I swear....on the way to his office we pulled up to a stoplight and in front of us was a yellow VW beetle that looked JUST like a hard hat on wheels! It had a sticker on the back with a name that is one of my hubby's nicknames! Now you tell ME that wasn't some sort of sign...eh? Hard hats, it is! And they're working for me even as I type!!

Omigod....this post made me smile...and remember when my oldest came home from the last day of school in 1st grade, having "volunteered" to take the class tadpoles! What an experience. Being a kid, he fed the poor things as if they were full grown sharks....and of course they died of an overdose of brine shrimp, causing a major trauma. So off we went to the pet store to get him a fish as a replacement pet....and we ended up with Leroy Betta who, from the get-go, was fed more appropriately Then we decided Leroy was lonely....so we went back to the pet shop to get him a wife....and came home with Loretta. Now we've got Leroy and Loretta Betta, the Country Fish! Nobody told us not to put a female Betta in with a male...and hey, we're talking a "married couple" here....so Loretta went right into Leroy's bowl on the kitchen table. I'm not sure how long it took before I noticed that Leroy was looking a little scroungy around the gills! Apparently, Loretta was attacking him....but she was clever enough NEVER to do it when we were looking! (I decided that Loretta was something of a fish b**ch!! ) A little help and advice from the pet store, PLUS the purchase of a separate bowl for Loretta solved the problem.....and Leroy and Loretta spent the rest of their time in a "legal separation"....the marriage having proved to be detrimental to Leroy's health. When we moved cross country some months later....Leroy and Loretta were rehomed with one of the movers. We had two dogs to bring with us and I wasn't quite sure how to manage two fish on a 3,000 mile journey! I was always REALLY grateful that neither of my sons brought home spiders or snakes they wanted to keep as pets. Over the years I've stuck with dogs....but thinking of Leroy and Loretta Betta still brings back some really fond memories and smiles!! Hope your pollywog experience does the same for you, Becky!

Today was an ultrasound of the ovarian "lesion" picked up by the abdominal CT last Friday. Good news....there are NO blood vessels in whatever it is....cyst or perhaps adhesions. I'll need to follow up with another U/S next month, but it's nothing that will alter the plan to start chemo, so I'll get my first dose tomorrow. The second and third doses in this cycle will be on Tuesday and Wednesday, due to the weekend and holiday. A bit unconventional, perhaps, to have one dose with three days between that and the next dose...but I'm just glad to get the ball rolling. It's been 17 days since the diagnosis, and while all my tests were clean of mets......for how long could I *count* on them staying that way? I guess if this were swimming lessons...this is the point at which I'd be jumping in with both feet.....huh?

All the best, Sandy.....prayers, thoughts, vibes and wishes for another clean report! Know the waiting is hard...but keep busy, stay positive and LET US KNOW soon as you hear the good news!

Being newly diagnosed and also new to this forum, I am learning fast that it's more than just the stigma of "Oh well, she smoked. What did she expect?" Worse, it's the lack of funding and research to seek a cure or at least more effective treatments for lung cancer. Before my diagnosis, my internist suspected lymphoma. I can remember thinking to myself...."ANYTHING but lung cancer...because I don't want or need the additional burden of knowing what some others will think!" Well...it is lung cancer. I quit the day of my biopsy, May 6th. Quite honestly, quitting was easier than I thought....but then wanting to survive and wanting treatment to work as well as possible.....have been powerful motivators for me. I've yet to need gum or the patch..but will use them if I need to. And you know....I DID have to apologize to my husband and my sons and my best friend, who is my "sister of the heart". All of them told me not to....to forget about guilt and to concentrate on getting well. But I needed to tell them I am sorry....so that I COULD focus on the battle...because addicted or not....I knew better. I never even really tried to quit before. Guess I thought I was better than I am at dodging bullets. I refuse to apologize to anyone else. There aren't that many people yet who even know....simply because I don't want to have to deal with the head shaking, the "I told her so" stuff or even any pitying looks.....you know? But I'm starting to get angry too....at what I'm reading here....from those of you who've been fighting this whole thing for a while and who KNOW far better than I do yet....that there IS a sort of apathy out there about funding, research and a cure....simply because of a stigma or two that are NOT based in actual fact......ie: that lung cancer is a disease of smokers only AND that the smoker is the ONLY one responsible for why they continued to smoke. Every time I read here of someone being given a diagnosis and then a time frame by their medical professional....it makes me mad on their behalf, too. Without hope.....what is there to hang onto? The dismal statistics, the apathy and the "I told you so's"? Bah on that! Perhaps there are stigmas attached to other illnesses....and other forms of cancer. But nothing quite like those attached to lung cancer. And as others have already said, NOBODY deserves this disease.....in any form. Life ain't fair. What goes around DOESN'T always come around....much as we might like to think it does. Bad guys win and good guys lose and maybe we aren't meant to understand it all anyway. But we can continue to support one another and make noise about the truth of this disease and hope it does some good. Whether we smoked or not....we can hold our heads high and fight and surround ourselves with those people - medical or otherwise - who won't judge us more than they will support and help us. The best way to fight a stigma is with truth!

TERRIFIC news! Keep up the good fight, Mary....this is the kind of news we all love to hear!

Two thumbs up on such a good report from the doctor!! Hoping Dad continues to improve and you keep coming back with more good news!!

Sending prayers for Mom and kudos for her courage! Hoping this is wildly successful for her and will be looking forward to the updates.

Congrats!! Hope this is just the second of many, many more such anniversaries! Goes to prove the power of hope and positive thoughts AND the fact that we aren't just statistics to be fit into little preplanned slots, huh? Keep on proving 'em wrong, Dave!! And do something really fun or special to celebrate!

Shelley....I'm so sorry. Know that you're wrapped in strength and love and prayers, to help you through.

Thanks for the input on this one. It seems easy enough to KNOW that stress adds to all these "symptoms"....yet under the circumstances, one can't help but think it's "something else" causing them. Met with the radiation oncologist and oncologist yesterday. Before we start chemo, the oncologist wants an ovarian cyst picked up by the abdominal CT, checked out more thoroughly....to be sure it's not another primary. I've seen the films...and even the radiation oncologist is sure it's a cyst....but I'm scheduled for an ultrasound this Thursday....and then likely chemo will start on - he said Monday, but Monday is a holiday so - probably Tuesday. Radiation will begin with the second cycle of chemo. I am beginning to sleep a little better and my appetite is a bit improved. I'm also not quite so fatigued as I was over last weekend....so I'm pretty sure all of that WAS just the emotional release and relief to find this is limited stage. That feels like good news in an otherwise "not very good news" month! Guess I'll be getting carboplatin and etoposide...rather than cisplatin. My onc says cisplatin tends to be a little harder on the kidneys and I have a kidney condition he doesn't want to aggravate. Also, the radiation is done just once daily...but the rad. onc says they give a slightly higher dose for the 30 days and have found this to be very effective....as effective as 2X daily radiation, but without the more severe side effects. I'm really happy with the whole medical team so far. They all have been quite willing to take as much time as we need to get our questions answered and they are positive and informative. The nursing staff too, is wonderful....so while I can't really say I'm "looking forward" to the coming months....I can say I feel like I'm in good hands, all considered....and am ready to fight this!

A day late, but no less sincere! Happy, happy birthday Mo....and may we all say that to you many, many more times!!

This past week was emotionally draining....so I'm sure the stress is a large part of why I feel so tired now. Lots of tests done....and waiting for results is never easy. On Friday night, my internist called after talking to the radiologist following my abdominal CT, the last test. He left a message as I was out for a bit....so I came home to the message that aside from three cyst-like lesions (on ovary, kidney and adrenal gland) that will require follow up ultrasound....the radiologist is convinced that there is NO evidence of metastatic disease! All my tests have been clean, and my internist confirms that I am limited stage. The relief opened up the flood gates. I cried more Friday night than I have since all of this started. And then yesterday around 2:00 I told my hubby I was going to lie down and nap. I literally never got up after that! Spent the whole afternoon and evening on the bed, napping, dozing, reading a little and then napping some more. DH brought me dinner on a tray. I just felt completely wiped out! I'm still tired today. I know a lot of it has to just be that emotional release of pent up anticipation over test results....plus the apprehension that remains for what is to come. It doesn't help either that I have chronic fatigue and am hypothroid, I'm sure. But has anyone else felt this overwhelming tiredness even BEFORE they started treatment? I so want to have a little reserve of energy heading into treatment....but cannot imagine how to acquire it. I do move around during the day...except for yesterday! But I feel so drained of energy already and even Ambien isn't giving me any more than about 4 hours of decent sleep at night. Any suggestions out there? Or am I doomed to drag my way thru treatment?