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[KarenG]

Hi, My name is Karen. My dad was just diagnosed with small-cell cancer last friday. It is is his lungs, liver and adrenal glands. He just finished his first 3 day treatment on sunday. It made him very sick. He is still in the hospital due to low sodium levels. I am feeling hopeless. I am very sad and cant stop crying. I need some glimmer of hope, if there is any. I cant seem to find info I want on the web so I thought I would come here and ask those who are/have been there. I just want to know abt how much longer I can expect him to live and how likely it is that chemo will ever help him

Any help you could affer would be wonderful.

Thanks for listening.

karen

[KarenG]

Thanks Katie, but my hopes now gone. I hate to say that. He is here with us now and I will treasure every moment, altho I live 8 hours away I will be making the drive quite often. I am trying to come to terms with the fact that he probably wont be here next year at this time. I have searched this and other sites for cases where people survivd SCLC for more than a year and I dont see anyone. I would loVe to hear of any thart did.

This is all from the evil nicotine. I am sure that crap was broUgnt here by the devil himsELf.

Thanks again for your support

karen

[Don Wood]

I like the line in Lord of the Rings. Fellowship of the Rings, where Frodo the Hobbit is bewailing his fate. The wizard Gandolph says to him, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." In other words, we can't control what happens, but we can make decisions of how to live through it. Good luck. Don

[KarenG]

Thanks very much Don. I havent seem those movies, but I love the line. I am going to use in my signature on outgoing emails from now on. I am feeling a bit better today as a few doctors have given us some hope. I do not want to live with false hope, but living without hope is no way to live either. My dad is still here, I can call him anytime I want to. That is what I am thankful for today.

Thanks again

karen

[norme]

Karen,

I know there is a difference between sclc and nsclc however, my husband is stage IV nsclc. I too was like you. I thought he would be gone within 10 months to one year. I had been through this many times with mom, dad, brother and three dear friends. None went past 12 months that I can recall. My husband is now in his 14th month and seems to be holding his own as for as cancer goes. There is no one out there that can tell you if your father will live 1 month or 5 yrs. No one knows how any of the treatments will work on an individual body. We can only hope that our loved one will have more time with us and also be feeling okay. We take one day at a time and have since the beginning. I do not worry about tomorrow but only today. Who knows, I could die of a heart attack or be killed in a car accident just as easy as he could go with cancer. It is not worth the horrible worry of tomorrow, it only gives out depression and I sure don't need that problem. So hang in there and just love each day you spend with your father and appreciate each one too.

[Cindy RN]

Karen, I too have extensive sclc and was diagnosed in Feb of 2001. I am still here-almost 3 yrs. I have been in remission 1 yr the first time and now going on 2-3 mos. There is always hope. I am thinking about going back to work very soon. I work in an ER dept. and they have let me work 4-6-8 hr shifts as long as I up to it. SO please do not believe all you read about this disease. They write it but we live it

[Donna D]

Karen,

It is too soon to give up, Mom had SCLC, extensive, she went thru chemo and radiation and the tumor was gone. She was able to play golf, go shopping, enjoy her grandkids for a few months. Yes she did pass away after 9 mts, but we never gave up hope. We enjoyed each and every moment we could together. Like the others have said, each person reacts differently and hope is the mainstay of moving on with this thing. Hang in there and keep the faith.

Dona