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[cjdurrant]

Hello all,

My Dad, after feeling discomfort on the right side of his chest, had a chest x-ray on 1/29/10 which showed a mass in his upper lobe. A few days later he was diagnosed with lung cancer and on 3/18/10, had his upper right lobe removed. Removal of the 4.7 cm mass went well and 19 lymph nodes were also removed with 9 abnormal. His recovery from surgery has been steady and after 4 weeks he is able to take four mile walks without much difficulty. He is having a terrible time sleeping at night as he tries to digest what has happened to him. In three days he is starting chemo and is terrified not knowing if the 12 week session will help improve his odds of survival. He is staged as 2b and a pre surgery PET scan showed that the cancer was isolated. Not sure how to help him or my Mom with their stress levels or my own for that matter but we are buckled up and going for the ride toghether. i am blessed to have found a site like this and I am now going to spend some time reading navigating around.

Jim

[beatlemike]

Hi Jim and welcome. Sorry to hear about your father. I also was stage 2b and had my right lung removed in Aug.2005. I followed that up with 4 rounds of chemo which they gave me as a highly reccommended option. The chemo does have some side effects and people will vary alot. I have no regrets and would do it again.I hope your father stays ahead of the constipation. I dont really remember much warning of that from the side effects of pain meds and chemo. I never knew constipation could be so painful. I also started lexapro (antidepressant/antianxiety med) about a year after treatment. I pray the very best for and your dad.

[RandyW]

Jim we have quite a few members who are in your dads situation! They have had great results with surgery and follow up chemo and are busy Living life to the max now! the follow up chemo is not going to be easy but the results will pay off wonderfully! After chemo he can get back to his old self quickly! The follow up chemo is the insurance policy to make sure all the bad stuff is gone!!

It's normal to be scared right now because You don't know what to expect. for a while its not going to be easy but it will get better after the chemo! Once he starts chemo I think it might level off knowing that the cancer cells are being killed !!

[ts]

Jim,

This all takes time, for all involved. Your family will be well served to just believe that the chemo is worth it and later, deal with any contrary evidence. It is really all we can do. I had 4 cycles of cisplatin/gemzar. On the day I received both, going home was all I wanted - long day with hydration and boredom, lots of anti-nausea drugs. On gemzar only days, we would go out for lunch afterwards.

Be sure to get good directions for how to use the anti-nausea drugs - the first cycle I resisted, where the instructions said, "as needed". It's worth staying ahead of it. They may have him on steroids for a few days - many of us found the day or two after those ended were our least favorite days.

You might let him know that I ate Chinese, Indian, BBQ and ice cream right on through chemo. Maybe not as much, but I never got the problem some have with off putting smells. Keeping some food in my system all the time was key - a few almonds, fruity yogurt, and toast were my standards.

Meditation cd's? Walking and other light exercise, talking, plenty of rest, and laughter. Spring. These are good things to combat stress.

Best to you all.

[Bruce u]

Hi Jim

Sorry you had to be here. I was stage 1B and had my upper left lobe removed. I also had 4 rounds of adjuvant chemotherapy after. My combination was Cisplatin/Vinerolbine. Cisplatin is known for causing ringing in the ears and hearing loss so that may be something your Dad can watch for. Also I found that the Decadron really affected my personality and made me very agitated. but you Dad is in a good position that it was discovered early enough for surgery. Take care.

[Joppette]

Hi Jim,

I'll add to the rest of our peanut gallery here. Much beloved peanut gallery! I was stage 2. Had left upper lobe removed. Chemo stunk, but am glad I did it, for today 3 years later, I am cancer free.

I had Carboplatin and Taxol for chemo. It caused much pain, and nausea. I took nausea meds up front and it helped. Doc prescribed pain medications for the muscle pain that the chemo caused. It helped a lot. I did rest a lot. Chemo day I was a bit manic due to the steroids they gave me, but I learned to take an anti-anxiety medication on chemo day. Xanax. It helped a lot.

3 to 4 days after chemo was when I felt the worst. But I took pain meds and got through it. Dad can too.

The good news with lung cancer, is when it is operable. That means they can take it out of the body. That is a good thing.

Hope this helps!

Judy in MI

[jaminkw]

Welcome Jim. Glad you found us, sorry you need to. I can't add much except that chemo side-effects vary greatly according to what chem or combo of chemos your Dad gets. Use the info from our members here as a guide. If it says constipation is usually a significant side effect, listen to Mike. I agree that I didn't know it could be so painful and I suffered (so I thought) from it for years. If nausea is an issue, hopefully they will give you pre-chemo meds. And yes, stay on top of it. Sometimes a follow-up pill is prescribed and don't wait too long to take them. Xanax is one script that helps with Decadron agitation and sleeplessness. Ativan which I take is another. You see where I'm going with this. Finding out which chemo and it's particular side-effects is key.

Here's hoping your Dad, who sounds very fit, sails through this. One thing I've known people to do is print and/or read encouraging posts from here to their loved one. Keep us posted on his progress.

Judy in KW

[eric byrne]

Hi Jim,

Welcome to LCSC,the buddies here will certainly lift your spirits,and even more so as you get to know them.Your mail casts my mind back to Oct 2008,and brings back to me vividly all the difficulties that me and my family encountered.Your dads situation,including dx,treatments and emotions just about mirrors my own experience.The psychological effects of cancer is the most difficult to face,its effect on me was disturbed sleeping patterns,anxiety and depression,it is a wretched time for your dad and the family,facing an uncertain future.

Now take that first paragraph and kick it into touch,because your dad has believe it or not,moved into paragraph two.This paragraph is altogether much brighter than the last one.First you concentrate on the living and not the dying,and remember the old saying cancer is a word and not a sentence.Iam a 18 month survivor,which is chicken feed to the other buddies on this site.Spend some time reading the other buddies survivor stories,stagings and treatments,they are just amazing,and you will begin to realize that your dad and I are relatively "Lucky".

I have been back at work now for over a year,my anxieties and depression are gone.I am the same person I was before my dx.I am full of life,health,energy,optomism and last but not least-full of fun.Please pass on to your Dad, my good wishes, and my hope he can come on line, and meet his fellow buddies.

[recce101]

Hi, Jim, welcome to the group. I can well understand the stress your family is going through right now, and the word "fortunate" is probably the last thing that comes to mind when you think of your dad and his cancer. But as you read more of the stories here, I think the fortunate part will start to seep into the picture.

Stage 2b is an early stage, and the probability of a cure is very real. There's a good chance your dad is already cured, and the chemo will be like an insurance policy. Your dad is fortunate (there's that word again) that he felt symptoms early in the process and had them checked out. Many who benefit from an early diagnosis "luck into" one because some unrelated condition or an injury led to their getting an x-ray or CT scan. But most have no symptoms (or any other reason to get a scan) until their cancer has advanced to the inoperable and incurable stage. Even then, all is not lost, because in an increasing number of cases their cancer can be managed/treated much like some other chronic condition.

I'd like to add one more voice to the constipation subject. Your dad will need to ramp up his countermeasures BEFORE the constipation sets in. A good place to start is with a regular program of stool softeners and senna tablets (WalMart generics of Colace and Senokot are fine). That's usually sufficient for me, EXCEPT the day after chemo. On that day, if nothing has happened by lunchtime, I'll drink a bottle of magnesium citrate (also available at WalMart for close to a dollar), which clears the logjam and gets everything working and allows the Colace and Senokot clones to do their job for the rest of the cycle. My motto is, "Better a little loose than all plugged up!"

Best wishes and Aloha,

Ned

[Bud Baker]

Welcome, Jim! I also had stage 2 and had an upper left lobectomy. I resumed my long distance bicycle riding and am now an over two year survivor. Best wishes for your dad; keep us updated.

[jstdzy]

Hi Jim,

I had upper left lobectomey followed by chemo. Chemo and cancer are just weird. Some people just breeze through everything, others have a really difficult time, it just depends. Sounds like your Dad is going to be a "breezer"! During chemo I ate every couple of hours that helped, stay on top of the nausea meds, things your Dad used to love to eat, he might hate. Things he used to hate to eat, he might love! My chemo fav was watermelon! Good luck, welcome and keep posting!

Dana

[Patti B]

Welcome Jim-

So sorry you had the need to find us. The others are right - your dads cancer was caught early and there is a good chance for a cure. I was unfortunately not diagnosed until I was Stage 4; told I would be here for a year; just passed my 3 1/2 year mark and feeling great.

Chemos differ with different people. Yesterday was my 70th chemo and I have NEVER thrown up. I only get Kytril in my IV, nothing additional. I have recently developed some constipation and I like to take senna tea. You can find it at Health food stores. One warning - experiment with it - never start out with a tea bag and the recommended steeping time - I did that and found it to be the gift that kept on giving!!! Don't you just love a web site where people talk about bowel habits??? Or their log jams as Ned said!!!

As others have said, once your dad starts on chemo and hopefully gets over the fears of it, he will start to feel better. My first chemo, my girlfriend told me I looked like a deer caught in the headlights. And guess what, he is ALLOWED to be nervous and scared - this is big time stuff.

Let us know how he does. Your dad is lucky to have you by his side

Hugs - Patti B