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MM

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I am so new. I was up in Michigan taking care of my twin sister who is dieing from breast cancer (she's been given two weeks to two months to live)when my husband called and said that his cat scan shows a large mass in his left lung and he has an appointment now at the cancer center in our town. Because of his job, he can't go to the center for another 13 days. We have to wait to till then to find out anything.

I flew home right away and now my emotions range from a positive "we're going to fight this" to a gut-wrenching fear.

He has had chronic bronchitis all his life, and other than that, there's been no symptoms at all.

Anyway, I found this forum and will be reading.

Just wanted to introduce myself, and thanks all for being there. My husband and I plan on being survivors. This is not "his" disease, it's "our" disease. We've been married just over 16 years now. I hope that feeling (of it being our disease) is right for him and I.

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Welcome MM. Firt let me say how very sorry I am about your sister. That is enough for you to be dealing with ~ bar any LC problems with you dear hubby.

I sure wish you didn't have to wait all those days for your appointment. It's a bit unclear, but hopefully you will be able to take some deep breaths and get through the wait time.

When you have some additional info, post a profile. That is what you see under all our names. It helps people know about your dx and tx and it saves you lots of time so you don't have to explain over and over and over.

You will find lots of support and information here. Take one step at a time and let us walk this walk with you. Many here are long term survivors. You guys will be too.

Kasey

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Thank you Kasey. I don't even know what Dx and Tx stands for. I just wish I didn't have to learn, but I do and will!

DH is with homeland security and he has to qualify on the pistol and rifle range once a year or he doesn't have a job! It just happens that next Wednesday he will be day firing and night firing the rifle. The qualifying dates can't be changed.

Sorry I wasn't clearer on this.

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DX is diagnosis and TX is treatment usually the Plan for this Fight.

Sorry you have to be here, but it is a great place to be under the circumstances. We ahve so many members leading normal productive long lives here.Don't let Lung cancer run your lives.. When you get a chance read throught the Good news and Inspiration Forums. THese will give you some willpower boost and help beat the Initial fears of this disease.

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Welcome MM

What devastating news for you coming at this time. While there is no 'good time' for cancer, this is especially tough right now and it is indeed your (plural) disease.

You have come to the right place for support, help and information. The folks here are all too willing to help and support you as you start this journey. Where do you live? Are you near a major cancer center?

Please let us see your hubby's profile when you get around to it, and continue to post and let us know how we can help you. Good Luck & God Bless

wendyr

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Dear MM~

I/We are so sorry to learn about your sister, wishing her comfort and peace. The next 13 days will pass fast, just enough time to get a note book, and begin to gather more strength. Knowledge is strength.

Dates, names , phone numbers, contatcs, us ( your password) keep them all in one place. Keep those questions commming, keep us posted. Mary

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Thank you all so very, very much for welcoming me and giving me the already needed support.

I spent (still haven't even unpacked from my Michigan trip) the morning discussing this with DH. He's going to go through every thing he needs to and I'm going to be doing all the research and making sure I'm with him through it all. It's "our" disease.

I've already called our insurance company to get the co-pay's and have them send out a new benefits book. I'm calling now to get our home (we have two homes...both small, one in Georgia and one in Ohio) in Ohio transferred in my name alone and one of our trucks (the one paid off) transferred in my name so if we are hit with unexpected finances we won't lose everything. This alone is making us feel a little safer.

I've also wrote on my grocery list "notebooks and file folders" so I can keep track of everything.

Now I just have to learn how to start adding to our profile. Thank you for letting me know what Dx and Tx are...I've a lot to learn.

Is it OK for me to be the one writing all of this? He won't even get on a computer.

The MM in our name is his initials.

Again, thank you all so much!

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Welcome -- your husband is very fortunate to have you as his advocate.

You asked about the profile. Yes, it's very appropriate for you to do the profile on behalf of your DH. In fact, as you look through the many posts on the site, I believe you'll find that family members posting messages and updating profiles for their loved ones considerably outnumber those of us with cancer doing our own posting and updating. I'm in the second group. And I don't mind being in the minority here as long as I'm on the minority side of the statistics charts as well! :)

Here's a step-by-step for doing the profile: Click on "My Profile" at the top of the screen, scroll down to "Signature," enter/update your information (if you want, you can use the same formatting codes as in the "Post a reply" window I'm using right now), scroll down further, ensure "Always attach my signature" is marked "Yes," and click "Submit" at the very bottom.

Best wishes and Aloha,

Ned

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Thanks so much Ned. I think I have a start on it. I'll know as soon as I see this reply. If not, I'll go back and do it.

I'm getting info and websites that help the cancer patient and patient's family keep detailed records with regard to treatments, med's, doctors, etc.

I'm so, so grateful I found this forum.

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Thank you. Thought I had added the [/size] at the end, guess not. Appreciate the help here!!

Ned, I just read through your signature line (first one I've read thus far) and I can't tell you how comforting it was.

If DH has any symptoms from meds and treatments, I'll come here and read the different signature lines and see what may match.

I feel so fortunate to have found this group!

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Well, In about 2 1/2 hours DH and I will leave for our first appointment at the cancer center.

For the last 2 weeks we've been able to put aside the fear of the possibility of hearing that he has lung cancer. We've concentrated on the possibility the x-ray and ct scan showed scar tissue rather than cancer. Perhaps today we'll find out if that really is a strong possibility....or not.

Today I'm scared.

The cancer center called and did a medical history over the phone. She asked me if we knew what to expect from the visit and I explained to her that we don't even know yet if DH has lung cancer, and no, we don't know what to expect.

She told me we'd be there between 2 to 3 hours, possibility longer. We'll see a number of doctors today...didn't sound to promising.

Just needed to write and say "I'm scared". Thanks for listening.

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