LanaD

[LanaD]

I am new to this site hope I am doing this right.  I am a lung cancer survivor.  Never smoked.  Due to the efforts of my doctor daughter she got me to the right doctors after months of running around.  4 different doctors with frankly no clue.  She got me to a pulmonologist who did a lung biopsy and it was discovered that I had Stage 4 lung adenocarcinoma with an activating EGFR mutation at exon 19 with a small lesion on my spine and In my brain)  She literally saved my life.  Did 30 rounds of radiation as this cancer is not operable.  Manifests itself like birdseed throughout the lungs, finally clustering in my right lung.  My daughter got the pulmonologist to do a special biopsy, hence  finding the EGFR mutation and being placed on Tarceva, as well as blood thinners.  This cancer also causes blood clots and I had difficulty breathing.  Results: one year later, no need for oxygen and I am trying to resume as normal a life as possible, going to the gym, and dealing with the side effects of Tarceva which in my case were minimal.  One added unexpected result- I have the longest eyelashes in town.

[Donna G]

Welcome  LanaD

Glad you found us.  You must not only so happy that your daughter was so persistant  but also that she worked so hard and became a Doctor.

When you have that mutation it is great that they did test for it and now you have a good treatment plan.  Please keep us posted on how you are doing.

 

Donna G

 

[Tom Galli]

Lana,

What a great story and outcome!  Headline: "Daughter doctor rescues mom and Tarceva works as advertised".  

You are doing fine on this site and most importantly are telling a story that brings hope to the newly diagnosed.  So many of us at stage 4 have difficulty understanding that treatment success is possible with late stage diagnosed adenocarcinoma.  There are even immunotherapy advances for stage 4 Squamous cell.

I assume you are still taking Tarceva. You might want to tell us your strategies for living with its side effects, be they minimal.

Stay the course.

Tom 

[LaurenH]

Hi, Lana,

Welcome to LCSC! Thank you for sharing your story. I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but it sounds like your daughter has been an incredible caregiver/advocate!

Please continue to share updates so we know how you're doing. And please feel free to join in any of the conversations on the discussion boards or explore the member blogs and photo galleries. LCSC is a very large community of people living with lung cancer or whose lives have been impacted by lung cancer, so I hope that you will make many meaningful connections on this site!

Let us know if you have any questions!

Lauren
--
Digital Community Manager
LUNGevity Foundation