Andrewsmom
Members-
Posts
39 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Profile Information
-
Interests
Watching my son play baseball and making swarovski crystal jewelry
-
Geri - I am right there with you and so happy to have you as an inspiration. I will hit my 5 year mark in January. I am thinking about throwing a big party - kinda a celebration of life party but I don't want people standing around talking about what it was like when I was sick and how scared everyone was. Will have to give some thought as to how to avoid that. Coincidentally, I will also turn 50 in 2007. I have just been put in contact with a newly diagnosed lung cancer patient. I am going to make sure he gets to this site and reads your great news! Thanks for sharing.
-
I was moved to tears by this beautiful and inspirational narrative. I intend to forward it to everyone I can think of. Thank you so much for posting it.
-
Don: I totally get what you are saying and I actually did think twice about posting because of the very factors you mentioned, I was limited stage and I was also relatively young at the time (44). I can only hope that we won't have to wait too long before medical research will discover a treatment that will enable people with extensive stage sclc to see similar survival times.
-
When I was diagnosed with limited stage sclc in January 2002, the one thing I wanted more than anything was to find a long term survivor. With that in mind, I just wanted to share my good news at reaching 4 years since my last chemo treatment for ls sclc. At my onc appointment this week the doc said only one more 4-month visit and then we can cut back to twice a year plus annual spiral CT scan. For those of you still fighting this battle, keep fighting - there are survivors and I believe they are growing in numbers.
-
I was so freaked out by the thought of it (I thought the mask made me look like Freddie Kruger) that I took an Ativan before my first treatment. I realized right then that taking the Ativan was overkill for 8 seconds in the mask. After the first treatment, I stopped taking the Ativan. It has been nearly 4 years since my PCI and I am now 48. Sometimes words don't come quite as quickly to me when I'm talking but that could just be distrations with work, kids, husband, etc.
-
I am so so sorry for yours and Richard's loss. Like everyone here, I met Jen on the board but it turned out that we had an instant connection other than SCLC. I have worked for the Customs Service for 17 years and know Richard from when we were both at HQ. My condolences to both of you. Jen was a fighter. I am deeply saddened by her passing.
-
Jen Ackerman? I haven't seen her post in quite awhile and I recently lost all of my personal e-mail addresses so I haven't been able to send her a message?
-
My onc office just called and the spiral CT I had yesterday came back clear. Thanks for all of your prayers and good thoughts. I'm sure they contributed to this positive result.
-
Tomorrow I will be having a spiral CT of my chest. There is no reason to believe there is anything there - it's just something my onc thinks I should do. I am 2 weeks away from my 4 year anniversary since dx. Please send good thoughts for a clean scan. My appointment is at 11:30 EST.
-
If my onc recommends it when I see him next Wednesday, I'll have the test...but I won't like it. Thanks for all the advice and support. I am looking forward to celebrating year 4 since dx on January 22.
-
OK, I know this is silly but my onc mentioned at my appointment 4 mos. ago that he wanted to send me for a spiral CT after my next visit. He said that he sent two other long term survivors with no symptoms and the scans found SCLC growths in both. I will reach my 4 years since dx next month. I've had no recurrences and feel great. So, now it is time to go back for my quarterly appointment with my onc next week and I am scared to death that he is going to remember to send me for the scan. I don't think I want to know if there is anything there. I know this is ridiculous because the whole point of the Spiral CT is to catch the cancer early enough to have a chance at successful treatment. So, why am I such a coward? Thanks for letting me vent. My friends and family just don't understand how I could feel this way.
-
I think this is pretty much the standard first line treatment for SCLC. I was on it and it, along with the radiation reduced my tumor by 100%. That was nearly 4 years ago and I've never had a reoccurence (knock wood). My doctor did mention, however, that Comptazar (spelling?) has replaced Carboplatin as the first line of defense. I had that as a follow-up. My doctor believed that you don't wait for it to come back, you just keep hitting it with everything in the arsenol even when all indications are that it is gone. I lost my hair and was queasy for a few days after the treatment but ativan (my drug of choice)knocked me out enough so that I could sleep through it until I felt better.
-
Jen: First of all, good for your onc. He should be your advocate with respect to other medical personnel. Re the Glevac, I have not been on it but everything I've read says that it has alot of promise for Non-small cell. We can only hope that those promises hold true for small cell as well. Thinking of you every day.
-
Pull up the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission web site. There is some information that may be helpful to you if you choose to pursue your complaint.
-
I've found that it gets easier as more time goes by but I doubt it ever goes away completely. I am nearly four years out and I only start to think about the possibility that the cancer may have in the 3 days between my x-ray and when I get the results. Hang in there.