Update on my husband

[beachnut]

We had our visit with the surgeon as followup to the bronchoscopy and mediastinoscopy. Final report - lymphs clean and bronchial passages clean.

Made final decision not to attempt surgery as surgeon would have to remove entire upper lobe of left lung. Already had upper lobe of right lung removed 2 years ago. Because of other health issues he would be left a pulmonary cripple if we did the surgery. My husband would not be happy like that. Have chosen the radiation route.

Have first appt. scheduled with oncologist on 8/13. He will then schedule CT guided needle biopsy to determine type of cancer before radiaition begins.

Am curious about the CT guided needle biopsy. How is it done and is it very painful?

Praying that the radiation will have effect and put tumor in remission.

Thank you all for the wonderful support and concern.

You are all such very special angels.

Shirley

[Judy-OK]

Shirley I and many others have had the needle guided biopsy and it is not painful and is over quickly. I don't think they knocked me completely out but I was close enough I did not know what was going on. They did collapse my lung, but I have always done things the hard way, so instead of an out patient I ended up in the hospital for 5 days. I am sure your dad will take the easy route and come through with flying colors. Have a blessed day.

[Bev'sSister]

Shirley I will pray that the radiation puts your Dad into remission. What would we do if we couldn't pray to give us all hope? Take care of yourself and stay positive. Keep us posted!

Love,

Bobby

[Carleen]

Hi Shirley,

I will keep your husband in my prayers, and ask God to direct those radiation rays right to the cancer's vulnerable spots and knock them right out.

My husband never had the needle guided biopsy, but when he went in for his port I talked to a patient in the next bed who was having it done. They gave him what they called a twighlight sedation. He is still conscious, but it should have somewhat of an amnesia effect. He shouldn't feel anything. They use the CT scanner to give a 3D image of the lung and the tumor so they don't have to poke and fish around. They go right to the spot, take a sample and come right out. He was out of the procedure rather quickly, was up and alert, walking around and discharged before my husband and I left.

I know everyone is different and there is the risk of the lung collapsing during any of these procedures. But, I will pray it goes smoothly as well.

God Bless,

Carleen

[Don M]

Hi Shirley:

My third cancer is in the upper right lobe of my remaining lung. I could not have surgery and did not want it because I would also be a pulmonary cripple. My tumor was deep in the lobe so a wedge resection would not work. I had image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) with the intent to kill the tumor followed by radiation. I finished that course of treatment in August of last year. I tried to get cyberknife, but the docs at that time thought that the tumor would be too hard to reach to get the fiducials in and there was a risk of pneumothorax killing me since I have only one lung. They told me that the IGRT would still kill the tumor, but that it would take more treatments and that the collateral damage would be a little higher. There would be no need for fiducials. Unfortunately, that treatment did not work for me. But I still think that your husband should ask for a targeted radiation therapy with the intent to kill the tumor and spare adjacent healthy tissue. I think my situation was an exception.

So, this past June, I finished cyberknife (CK) treatment to control the tumor. They thought it was too big to deliver a killing dose and still protect my adjacent healthy tissue. They may finish it off in a year or so if I get a good response, where the tumor shrinks up a lot. There was a new interventional pulmonologist there who said he could insert the fiducials and he did it. One big advantage of CK over IGRT is that you have to have only 3 to 5 treatments instead of 33. Most insurance companies will cover IGRT with no questions asked. You may have a hard time getting the insurance to go along with CK. CK is the most accurate and most intense form of targeted radiation therapy you can get. It is accurate in the sub millimeter range. IGRT is accurate within a few millimeters. I was told that 2 to 3 millimeters of collateral damage in the lung does not make that much difference.

The main reason I did CK the second time is that I could not have conventional radiation on my tumor again. I could have CK.

Don M