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My mom just diagnosed and in stage IV...


ggabrielides

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Hi everyone,

My 71 year old mom (a non-smoker) went into the emergency room 3 weeks ago with abdominal pain, and what she thought might be some sort of bronchial infection. Thanks to an astute attending physician, xrays were ordered, and a mass (7cm) was found in her left lung. She was having pain in various other sites, which were originally thought to be swollen lymph glands, but turned out to be metastethes (sp?) of the cancer pressing on various nerves. Cancer has been found in her bones, and we are awaiting results of her brain MRI. She has been diagnosed as stage IV.

My family (dad, sister and I) are still reeling from the news, and my mom is handling this diagnosis with grace and optimism. It is shocking to go into the emergency room, thinking you are probably going to be treated with antibiotics and sent home, but then being taken to the oncology floor with a completely "out of the blue" diagnosis. She and my dad had their physicals in June and were given a clean bill of health!

Her medical team (Drs. O'Reilly & Shirazi of Palos Community Hospital, and various other mds and nurses, who seem wonderful from every account by my mom) are treating her aggressively, with daily radiation and chemo scheduled every 3 weeks.

From everything I have read, the prognosis for this stage is not great. I am scared for her, for my dad, and my sister and me. I am here to connect with a community that can offer support through her journey. And I will support others in any way I can.

Thanks for reading,

Gina

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Please go and take a look in our Good news and also Our inspiration Forums when You can! Things change a lot in this area and there are so many advances and discoveries coming out now! We have many great people battling Lung Cancer now and doing well! Your mom sounds like a true fighter in every sense of the word so.. Welcome to the place no one wants to be but is glad they are!

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Dear Gina, Have faith and stay strong and optimistic. There are plenty of cancer survivors on this site and others who were diagnosed as stage IV. There are so many treatment options available today so there's every reason to have all the hope in the world.

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Gina, I'm 3b and advanced is advance. I'm past 4 yrs and still doing well tho still in treatment. It is a devastating experience. I had a clean bill of health with a June physical and cancer found the following Sep. No accounting for it. Thank goodness they found it now while she is still strong with a positive attitude.

Keep us posted. We care.

Judy in KW

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Thanks for your support everyone. This whole thing is still fresh, and almost doesn't seem real yet. I got online right after the diagnosis, and the statistics for 5 year survival freaked me out a bit (I mean, a lot). Thanks to your notes, I do have more hope. My mom still feels good (the chemo and radiology have not yet "kicked in") and has an optimistic attitude. We'll keep on trekking, and I'll stay involved with Lungevity (what a great organization!).

--Gina

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I hear you on the 5 year outlook. That is simply a reference that's been in place for a long time to develop statistics. My advice is to ignore that system. It doesn't pertain to your mom's prognosis at all. On the other side of that chart are many longtime survivors, a bunch right here. I'm a stage IV survivor at almost 3 years and counting. All you can do is stay in the fight.

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