My mom was diagnosed, looking for some support here. Thanks!

[simone22]

Hello all of you lovely warriors!

My name is Simone and I'm so excited to find this great forum! I'd love to connect with anyone who went through this bad part of life and hopefully, share some experience.

I am 22y old and my mom was diagnosed with cancer that has pretty much spread throughout her entire body.

Have you ever had one of those bad dreams where it feels like you are trying to wake yourself up? Sure you did. That's how I feel right now. Like I'm drowning. All of this feels surreal, I'm still pretty much in shock I guess. But at the same time I've never been so scared in my entire life.

They started chemo right away and she has already lost her thick long locks of hair. Ugh.
But, the hope remains, I think. As long as she's alive, we're gonna fight this thing to the end.

I'm exploring natural solutions, testing them with my mom and we've already found some pretty interesting stuff, so fingers crossed. I'll share my findings and updates here, and hopefully someone will benefit from my findings.

If anyone here feels compelled to talk to me, please do. I'd love to chat with you.

Take care and never, ever lose hope!

Yours truly

[Susan Cornett]

Simone,

So glad you found us.  This forum has been the best lifeline for me.  I was diagnosed with stage IV NSCLC almost two years ago.  I have gained so much from the members here.  If you have any questions about any part of this - diagnosis, treatment, yelling/cursing/crying, let us know.  We're here for you and your mom.

[Steff]

Hi Simone,

I too am a caregiver for my mom who is battling a recurrence of NSCLC, I think no matter what your age, a cancer diagnosis of a loved one is heartbreaking.  I'm 40, have been dealing with my mom's recurrence since July and am still a hot mess at times.  I fight as hard as she does in order to support her through all of this and show her that her life is worth fighting for.

My mom went through chemo and radiation in 2015 after a lobectomy.  She lost her hair as well, it wasn't a big deal for her.  And she is so happy now, because it came back wavy and she always wanted wavy hair!!  The only thing that really bothered her is when her eyelashes fell out - not that they fell out, but when they fell out - just before a Billy Joel concert!  We laugh about it now, but she wasn't too happy about it then!! 

With this round of cancer, she is taking immunotherapy and so far, so good.  90% of her cancer cells carry the PD-L1 mutation, which makes her an excellent candidate for Keytruda.  We have not considered any natural remedies at this point, so I'm not much of a help there.  I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone.  We all have felt as though we are drowning, some of us multiple different times.  But we all just keep moving forward because that's the only thing we can do.  Please feel free to reach out anytime to vent, we are here for you.

Take Care,

Steff

[LoriMcC]

My mom started Keytruda in December and so far is doing very well with very few side effects. Good luck!