Kathleen Dodge

I must have read two or three posts that first day that I found lungevity and mixed up the diagnosis with your travelling treatments. Thank you for getting back to me. I have never posted or read much on any site of any kind anywhere so I guess I need some education. For example, how can I get a lesson on how to search for posts about my diagnosis? How do I respond to a post? I guess I'll just have to explore the site. What I have found so far seems very helpful! I am glad that you and so many others are out there. I have never known anyone before who had any kind of lung cancer. Now I am finding how many kinds there are, also finding how many of my friends and their families have had some kind of cancer!!!! It is like entering a new and very heavily populated country!

After 4 xrays, 3 CT scans and 3 bronchoscopies since Sept 2011, I was finally diagnosed with mucinous adenocarcinoma / bronchial alveolar ca of the lung . The lower right lobe of the lung was removed on March 5 and was was completely engulfed in CA 2 N1 nodes out of 12 were positive for metastatic CA, one N2 Node was examined and found negative. Stage IIIA AJCC pT3.pN1. On March 16 I went to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, bringing my CT scans, pathology report and slides. As I reread the report, I see that the immunohistochemical stains are to be performed to further characterize and classify this tumor and ALK and EGFR will also be ordered and an addendum will follow. I saw Charles Williams, MD at Moffitt....based on what he had seen, her recommended a standard therapy cisplatnum and Alimta every 21 days for 4 sessions and said that I could have this therapy at the Cancer Specialists in Bradenton, Fl near where I live. I couldn't start until I had healed, 4 to six weeks. I am wondering if I should push for the results of the immunohistochemical stains and the ALK and EGFR before proceeding with the therapy, if I should ask the surgeon and the Bradenton medical oncologist,Dr Whorf here in Bradenton, if they would want those results before proceeding. I guess I can contact Dr Williams again to see. Earlier, I read somewhere on this site about a woman from Key west(people told me it was Judy) who had a cancer very similar to mine (from what I saw online earlier) who got a treatment protocol from an oncologist at MD Anderson in Orlando and then she travelled all over and got her treatments at Cancer Centers along her route. I might like to do something like that, if my treatment is a standard one as we had planned to go out West this summer in our motor home. I wondered if Judy was able to drive on her trips while still having chemo. I am 70 years old in good condition with no other health problems. Of course we could always make a late summer trip if treatments continued until late June, early July. Luckily, I don't have to do anything on any schedule since I am joyfully retired,but would like to make that summer trip if possible since my husband is almost 80 and funny thing, not getting any younger. If Judy is out there, let me know how you did your thing back 7 years ago! or tell me how to find her earlier posts!