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New Member Just Joined Hello! Seeking Help Re: Biopsy


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Hello Community!

We have been distressed to find our Mother has lung cancer.She has already been to the Hospital in Montreal, and just yesterday had her Biopsy.

We are anxiously awaiting the result of this.

We wonder if initially we might ask a question of everyone?

Mom is very anxious, in pain, and generally freaking out about all this. We are seeking any info on post-procedure symptoms for a lymph node biopsy in non-small cell cancer. We have only been able to find information regarding biopsies done under local anesthetic, but nothing under general anasthetic to biopsy the carina nodes.

Thank everyone so much! We hope we posted this in the right forum, being new here there seem to be alot of forums, and also ALOT of support! If we should post this in another forum here, thank you in advance for your direction.

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Hi there. I have had several exploratory surgical procedures including lymph node biopsy. Your mom will be in pain for sure and they will give her pain medication. Make sure she takes it on time and watch out for constipation from pain meds. It actually took me some time to recover from exploratory surgery, couldn't drive etc. But, they will find out exactly what is going on so you can move on with treatment. This is a very scary time in the journey. But it does get better..hang in there.

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Welcome! I've never had a biopsy, but it seems to me that she should have some pain meds. Be sure she takes them as prescribed. Don't let her wait until the pain gets too bad.

This is a scary journey and the beginning of it is especially frightening as you don't know what's going to happen next. Keep in touch with us. Ask questions. Keep in mind that we have lots of long-term survivors.

Do let us know how she is doing.

Muriel

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Monique-

Welcome!! So sorry you found the need to be here but there are a lot of caring people here who can give you so much information.

I did not have the procedure your mom had so I cannot speak to that. However, I would like you to know that you and your mom will be in our thoughts and prayers.

If your mom's pain continues, please call her doctor. They might be able to put her on something else that will help. Many docs also order anti-anxiety drugs, like Lexapro or Xanax(sp) upon diagnosis to help with the stress. You might want to ask about that.

The beginning of this journey is so scary. Once you have a treatment plan in place, it does get better. You will know exactly what you are up against. Ask the doc lots of questions, write everything down. DO NOT listen to statistics and be prepared to fight like you and your mom never have before.

Your mom is lucky to have you by her side. Keep us posted on her progress.

Hugs - Patti B.

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Hi, sorry you need to be here, but you are in the right place for answers, and if no one here can give them to you there is a site called www.onctalk.com that has lots of info on lung cancer and a wonderful doctor who will try and answer your questions. Hope this helps. I have had 2 biopsies and the first was not a problem, the second was so different, lots of pain for a few days which makes us worry even more. Hope mom gets to feeling better soon she is so very lucky to have you.

Barb

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Hi, welcome to the group! Don't be too concerned about whether you're posting in the right forum. I think most of us who are inclined to write a lot of responses tend to use the "View posts since last visit" feature and will see them regardless of what forum they're in. If something is obviously misplaced (like a good news item in the Grieving forum), then a moderator will simply move it without making an issue of it. We try to be supportive, informative, and nonjudgmental -- and we definitely don't "sweat the small stuff."

Best wishes and Aloha to you and your mom,

Ned

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Welcome to the site! I know that you will find a lot of the answers you need here as well as a lot of hope and support.

I did not have a lymph node biopsy - I did have a biopsy of the lung under general anesthesia. Like the others have said - just be sure she takes the pain meds as prescribed - before the pain gets bad. As far as the anxiety - I often wonder how I got through the first week or two of diagnosis without losing my mind - and I honestly have to say I couldn't have done it without the help of the Ativan. I also think that the more anxious you are - the more the pain will bother you - so consider Ativan, or some other anti anxiety meds.

I am saying a prayer for you all.

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Thanks everyone for making us feel so welcome. Wanted to say Mom is now popping Ativan, as a direct response to all of your responses. Also, we have copied and pasted some of the inspirational thoughts from here and sent them to her, and it has really helped both her and us.

It must be a drain at times, we see we are amongst not a few members here, to support and respond to the sheer volume of new people and questions, so again we thank you all

:)

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"ThisIsMonique" ...It must be a drain at times, we see we are amongst not a few members here, to support and respond to the sheer volume of new people and questions...

I appreciate your thoughts, which I haven't seen put quite that way before. When I first joined the LCSC in September 2006, I was amazed at the speed and quantity of responses to my very first post and the warm feelings they conveyed. I thought these must be some of the finest, most understanding, most selfless people on the planet! Of course I was right, but there's more to the story.

As I read posts from other new members, though I was still a cancer novice myself, I occasionally found something to contribute other than my standard "welcome to the group" -- and the response I sometimes received in turn gave me an incredibly good feeling, actually made my day. The more I did that, the more I moved beyond my own problems to connect with a group that has something very powerful in common. You can't get much more "real deal" than lung cancer.

So it's not a drain -- quite the contrary. In a sense, reaching out to others is as helpful to the "reacher" as it is to the "reachee." You might find that true for yourself, sooner than you would ever expect. Aloha,

Ned

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It must be a drain at times, we see we are amongst not a few members here, to support and respond to the sheer volume of new people and questions, so again we thank you all

I am amazed at the warm and truly caring response that is poured upon new members. I am new here and just beginning to learn. It was really hard to see outside of our situation until I came here and saw so many other people experiencing so much. I really hope that as time moves on that I will be able to provide some of that much needed support and advice to the newcomers. Right now, I may not have the answers, but I can be here for support. This is an unfortunate bond to have with people, but nevertheless it exists and in my short time here I have seen that it is a strong bond. I certainly see what Ned means when he says that these are some of the most understand and most selfless people on the planet. That said, I just want to say welcome to you.

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Again, thanks ALL for your kind and welcome words and continued support.

OK today is the day, 1030 AM ,Mom meets the Dr in Montreal to find out the results of her Biopsy, and for us all to find out her diagnosis and prognosis.

We already know she HAS lung cancer, but they biopsied the Lymph nodes around the area, and the actual cancer, so today we find out the stage, grade, and future.

Wondering aloud, we are in the states, and Mom lives in Montreal, and doesn't as yet have a lot of support up there, is anyone familiar with anyone in the same boat as it were in the Montreal area, or local support networks in that area? The letters everyone here have written have REALLY helped both MOM and my Wife ( We are a married couple, MOM is actually her MOM, but for writing purposes we just call her ma.

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Hello Community.

We have been posting in the NEW thread, and wonder where this post should go so we will try here.

Mom just minutes ago got her results of her biopsy. My Wife is very pessimistic about the outcome, I am optimistic about the results. We wonder if we could get some honest feedback about what the results so far indicate. Not pie in the sky blind optimism, but an honest and accurate sense of what the results really indicate.

My wife is of the mind that this diagnosis means Mom has 30% chance to live. I reject all interpretations of " percentages" as I am 21 years sober, and was always told addicts have a 1 % chance of staying clean and " making it"

Ok the doctors said....

The tumour in the lung has now been identified: it is an adenocarcinoma. It is "bien différencé" which means that it is contained and can be identified, according to Mom via her Dr.

The Dr biopsied the nodes and also removed several of them as they were all enlarged (the size of kidneybeans). All the nodes are attacked (have tumours).

Mom says she is an "A 3" Please we do not know what that means help!

My Mom continues to say "

Her ( The DR.) opinion at this point is that: even though surgery could be performed, combined with radio and chemo, she would have to remove the entire lung (the big one), leaving only 40% respiratory capacity, and scrape various other areas down. She does see this as a viable solution because of its effect on quality of life.

She says the treatment they propose is "à visée curative, et non à visée palliative" - this means that they feel they can "get it all" and although one doesn't refer to a cure in the case of cancer, they still call it a curative, not simply palliative.

The Dr tells her that her particular type of cancer is not one that progresses quickly.She will be referred to an oncologist and a radiotherapist in about 2 weeks to plan a radio/chemo program adapted to her condition. This delay will not compromise her in any way says the Dr.

So dear community, we wonder aloud, can anyone identify with all this? has anyone experienced this? What is " A 3" Would you consider this a dire diagnosis, or a garden variety as it were this is NOT a death sentence diagnosis?

Thank you so MUCH for reading my long screed, we are a bot discombobulated as you might guess so mea G-ulpa for it now being very grammatically structured and for being a bit rambling

:)

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