patches Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hi, I have been visiting this site quite often in the last few weeks & it has been extremely helpful. On February 23rd I had a chest x-ray due to bronchitis. On March 1st my Doctor called to say the radiologist found a spot on my left lung. On March 2nd I had a CT scan on my lungs which confirmed a suspicious mass on my left lung. March 3rd I saw a surgeon; he said no need to do any furher tests or needle biopsy, he said either way it had to come out. He said he would not know for sure if it was cancer until he did a wedge resection and had the patholgist look at it while I was on the table, if it came back cancer he would take out the upper lobe of my left lung. It was cancer and he did remove the upper left lobe. When I woke up the first thing I wanted to know is if it was cancer or not; my family told me it was cancer and that I was lucky it was found so early. I was told it was NSCLC stage 1A. My surgeon said I would probably have chemo but it was up to the onc. When I saw the onc he said no chemo. He did a PET scan in April the area of surgery showed up hot, he said because of surgery. I'm scheduled for another PET in August. All of this is new to me as no one in my family has ever had cancer of any type. I am 47 years old, I did smoke for many years and quit two weeks before the x-ray. I was tired of getting bronchitis all the time. I know I will NEVER smoke again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ztweb Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Patches, Welcome to the boards. I am so sorry that you have to be here in the first place, but am glad you found us regardless! Please know you have our prayers and our concern. Keep us informed and keep your positive attitude! God bless, jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsC1210 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hello Patches and welcome. I am sorry you have need to be here but am very glad you have joined us. This is the most wonderful site, full of great people who can and will answer your questions and sometimes even more importantly, we are here to help you and support you in this battle. Congrats on quitting smoking! I personally know how difficult that is. Let us know how we can help you and keep us posted. Sending loads of positive thoughts your way, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Welcome~ You are very lucky your cancer was found early and that surgery was possible. I am glad you joined in and introduced yourself. Rochelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connie B Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hi my Minnesota Friend! You found a great place to learn and get wonderful support here. I also will mention, being I don't know where you live, that we have an IN-PERSON lung cancer support group at Regions Hospital that meets twice a month. Please feel free to PM if you want more information on that group. We're a wonderful group of people, and we're of all ages, plus some of us were smokers and some of us were not. It's really not just a smokers disease. I would wait and see about the PET scan, and then if it lights up and if it were me, I would do the chemo. Better to be safe then sorry. I would want to be very aggressive right up front if that was my lung. Holler if your in need of a phone buddy. Hope you stay with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadstimeon Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Welcome Patches and glad you were able to have surgery. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marym Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Welcome. It's good to here the staging - allowed you to have the removal. Some recommend chemo under these cicumstances. You might want to get a second opinion and ask both onc why they would or would not offer the chemo. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Welcome! Glad to hear you were able to have surgery and remove the cancer. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma's kid Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Welcome Patches! Libby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrell Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Welcome!! Glad you caught it early and can have surgery! That's a good thing!! Keep us posted! Darrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyoung20 Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Welcome to our family and so glad you found us! GOD BLESS!!! Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welthy Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Welcome to you Patches, Sorry you had to find us, but glad you caught it in the early stages! Hope your recovery goes smoothly and those PETS stay clear! Welthy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryanne Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 You are extremely lucky that it was caught early and that you wee able to have an operation. Only one in 4 can have the operation. Stage 1A does not require chemo. You are very lucky lady. Good luck, I hope you stay on here to support others who will need it. Congratulations on giving up those nasty cigaretts. Maryanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don M Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Hi Patches, welcome. I think most oncs would not recommend chemo for stage 1A. If your tumor was kind of big, I would consider doing it anayway. I think the cutoff point is 3 cm and bigger is stage 1b. If you had say, a 2cm tumor, you might want to do chemo anyway. Go to a comprehensive cancer center and see what they say. I see it has been somewhat over 2 months since your surgery. I hope you are mending well. If you get to much longer than 2 months past surgery, I don't think an oncologist would recommend chemo. You are probably ok anyway. Don M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna G Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 I also want to welcome you Patches to this website. This is a very difficult time for you , I know been there, done that! Glad you found us. Like Connie I would also welcome you to our face to face group in St. Paul if you live in the twin cities area ( Go Twins !) Keep us posted. Donna G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrell Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Hi Patches! Welcome! Sounds like you have a fighting spirit although you are most certainly scared. You've been through alot already and we all understand how you feel. Please let us know how your're doing. Darrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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