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Posted

Hi I am Karin, I am a NSCLC Stage IIa survivor. I was Diagnose last May, had all tests and scans and ultimately surgery in June followed by 4 cycles of chemo from July-September. I tolerated the treatments well and feel absolutely wonderful. I only am here because my sister was not as lucky as she was diagnosed way to late and ultimately passed away last April 5 month after being diagnosed. This made me go and have a scan even though I felt fine and had no symptoms. So basically my sister saved my live. I am a huge advocate for early diagnosis and still shocked how many people die of this horrific disease no it's not as "glamorous"as breast cancer which is a shame since it's cureable when found early. I do have a hard time with being a survivor. Some days are so overwhelming and I think that everybody is lying to me and that I still have cancer. I am still grieving for my sister and have a hard time with her not being here anymore. I work in the medical field which makes it very hard to cope some days. Thank you for being here

Posted

Hi Karin,

I'm so sorry about your sister. My sympathies to you and your family.

It's great to hear your cancer was caught early and you are doing so well! With the loss of your sister, it going to be confusing for you internally to celebrate your victory, but do try to. It is a horrific disease, made even more so for you by the loss of a loved one.

Take your time and allow yourself to grieve completely for your sister. Remember her with smiles and love. Then take care of you.

Blessings,
Michelle


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Posted

Hi Karen.  Glad you found us.  I am a retired RN.  I am also a Stage 3B lung cancer survivor of about 19 and1/2 yrs. 

Any Cancer is horrible.  Lung cancer however I believe needs a lot more attention for early detection , curative treatment, and a lot less

advertising of the BLAME GAME.   I lost my future father in law in January of the year I got married from lung cancer.

In 2013 I lost my husband to lung cancer.  My husband started with 2 tiny spots in a lobe but it was vicious and quickly spread.  I don't think I will ever get over

loosing him.

Over the years working in Hospitals I have seen many with lung cancer and have met many also as a member of lung cancer support groups .

I have read about dogs being very accurate smelling the breath of lung cancer patients.  I think it would be wonderful if they could make a

breath machine  to do detect the odor of lung cancer.  It would be a start. 

Donna G

 

 

Posted

Welcome Karin. I'm so sorry for the loss of your sister.

I too was diagnosed when I felt fine. I had a routine CT scan as a followup for an unrelated cancer, and a small slow-growing nodule was found. in my right lung.  I had surgery and it  was diagnosed as adenocarcinoma stage 1a. I didn't need chemo and I'm also feeling fine.

I know first-hand how difficult it can be to be a survivor. I've had 3 unrelated cancers, one of them  rare, stage 3 and aggressive. For several years after that, I was living day by day and being grateful for that, but not making any long term (or even medium term) plans, because I  didn't think I was going to live long. I was 5 years from the end of treatment on that one, NED, and finally getting to the point of (almost) not being anxious when I had my routine twice yearly CTs for surveilance and believing in my long (or at least medium) term survival, when this lung cancer appeared out of nowhere.

My perception of myself, life, and time is really different than it was pre-cancer. I've come to see cancer as an interesting journey. I've learned a lot, including about myself. I've heard people say they were grateful for having cancer because of what it taught them. I'm  definitely NOT one of those people. I'd give up all of what I've learned and all of these "interesting" experiences in exchange for not having had cancer. But, since that's not possible, I'm doing what I can with it (most days at least) and maintaining a sense of curiousity about it and also gratitude for each day and for my experiences. 

I'm now in Santa Fe, accompanying my spouse who's on business here. I'm ready to go out this morning and have some new experiences.

I'm hanging in there and you can, too.

Best wishes to you, Karin

 

Posted

Karen,

Welcome here.

You are so right about "unglamorous" and devastating lung cancer is.  Here is some sobering information.  Every time I look at this data, I realize how lucky we are to be blogging about our disease.  

Glad you've joined us and....

Stay the course.

Tom

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