My Small Cell Lung Cancer

[amber70]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share my story with everyone.  Hoping to get some support and support others.  I was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer 2/1/2021.  I have a large mass in my right lung and some lymph nodes involved.  I started chemo immediately in the hospital and just finished my 2nd round this week.  So far I am showing a good response however, I am scared because they say it comes back and the life span is short.  I am taking some supplements now to help with the side effects of chemo and they have helped a lot.  I am less fatigued and have more of an appetite.  I haven't started radiation yet because they want to reduce the size of the tumor in my lung first.

[LexieCat]

Hi, Amber, and welcome.

Sorry about your diagnosis--we have a few folks here with Small Cell and it's a tough diagnosis to deal with. Still, there are many recent advances in treatment. Have your doctors discussed immunotherapy with you? Some folks are doing quite well with that. Meantime, glad to hear the chemo has been tolerable and that you're getting that good initial response.

You might also want to check out/post in our SCLC forum, here: https://forums.lungevity.org/forum/5-sclc-group/. That's where you're likely to find more patients/survivors and caregivers dealing with Small Cell.

Glad you found us--this is a great place for information and support.

[Tom Galli]

Welcome Amber,

As Lexie said, small cell can be a slug. Hopefully your first line treatment will knock it down and keep it down. Radiation can be very effective. 

Here is information about small cell that might prove helpful. 

Stay the course.

Tom

[Enjoylife]

H I Ember. What kind of supplement you take to improve your appetite?

[Jesse L.]

Hey Amber... so glad you found the forums! We may not be medical professionals, but with all the people on this website, you're bound to find comrades in arms against whatever cancer you're fighting.

No doubt about it SCLC is a particularly tough opponent, but it's a fight you can win. If anything else at the very least you will live a longer life. You'll note they started treatment right away which is par for the course with SCLC. Then they have a plan after chemotherapy with the radiation too. And then who knows after that; perhaps your cancer will be all but gone after that's all done. And then there's the new immunotherapies for SCLC...

The point of the above is that you just don't know how it's going to turn out ahead of time and speculation is a futile effort at best. All I can state is be positive, stay strong, ask questions of everyone, and learn all you can so you can become knowledgeable enough to be your own best advocate. 

As for myself, I'm on chemotherapy now just trying to get over the "bad days" from my second round in a scheduled four rounds each set 21 days apart. For me it's the nausea, stomach issues, and fatigue that sets me back, but fortunately that only lasts for the the first seven days after the infusion. Currently I'm on my fifth day after infusion and it's a toss up between upset stomach and a horrible case of constipation. I eat crackers (soda, snack, animal, oyster, etc.) to try to quell the heartburn, but then too much of that causes constipation. And you damn sure don't want that! As to the fatigue factor, I was told by my medical team to try to move as much as I feel able, but then to take breaks and or a nap when necessary too. In essence it's all a trade off on how you feel and since chemotherapy affects everyone differently, your side effects may be different than mine.

Whatever you do stay in touch, keep us updated, and we'll try to provide as many answers as we can and support throughout...