Poll for Stage IIIA, IIIb and IV NSCLC and Ext SCLC

[Elaine]

Thanks all for responding to the other polls. I have a few more. Thanks in advance.

If your cough does not fit into one of the categories, pls explain it.

You will remain annonymous.

[Donna G]

NO cough, only pain

[karenl]

Elaine

My Mum had no symptoms whatsoever. Tumour picked up in annual chest x-ray; unfortunately it was missed in the previous x-ray, at which time she may have been a surgical candidate! We are very mad at the radiologist!

Karen

[SBeth]

Elaine,

My husband experienced some unproductive cough during the day, maybe once or twice a day for a few moments; however, when he laid down in bed at night, he had some long coughing spells which were never productive. All of this was pre-diagnosis, since his lung surgery, radiation and chemotherapy he has had ZERO coughing with the exception of a week or so immediately following the lung resection. Hope this helps.

[Bill]

karenl Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:16 pm Post subject:

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Elaine

My Mum had no symptoms whatsoever. Tumour picked up in annual chest x-ray; unfortunately it was missed in the previous x-ray, at which time she may have been a surgical candidate! We are very mad at the radiologist!

Karen

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My wife has stage 4 NSCLC with mets everywhere ! She had no respiratory symptoms whatsoever before diagnosis. Since diagnosis she developed only two respiratory symptoms : blood-tinged sputum and involuntary ' gasping '. The blood-tinged sputum has stopped and the involuntary ' gasping ' occurs only ocassionally now. She has never complained of pain in her upper body. All of this while it looks like her lung cancer has WORSENED based on the CT scans ! So much for respiratory symptoms as a reliable indicator.

[Elaine]

Exactly, Bill. This is one of the points I hope to make in the article--that sometimes there aren't readily indentifiable resp symptoms and sometimes none at all.

Trying to break some stereotypes

[Hebbie]

No cough whatsoever. I had actually been working out on the treadmill 45 minutes every day when I was diagnosed. I had a chance x-ray that picked up a "shadow" in my lung.

[Elaine]

Heather--

I think that is one thing that most people don't know--the cough thing. In my other poll nearly half of lateish and late stage had NO cough. Often this is because the tumor is in the periphery of the lung--but not always.

I have a central mass--and had very little cough. I know non-smokers who cough more than I do --daily.

Oh well. lots of sterotypes to dispel. I think even some Drs hold those stereotypes.

elaine

[carrie]

No cough, only back pain, it was a pain/burning sensation for about 4 weeks.

Carrie

[angelb]

No Cough, no real pain to speak of (Thank you, God) only his migraine like headaches tipped the doctors off that SOMETHING WAS WRONG, not even all the tests implied anything - untill he had a PET, then he lit up like New York City.

I miss him so much.

[marion]

HAVE HAD A COUGH MY WHOLE LIFE. SOME DAYS MORE THAN OTHERS FROM CHRONIC BRONCHIAL PROBLEMS. BUT IN THINKING BACK I CAN REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS DIFFERENT AND I THOUGHT ABOUT IT AT THE TIME BUT IT ACTUALLY DIDN'T SOUND AS BAD AS MY USUAL COUGH. I THINK IT WAS A SHORT DRY COUGH. I GUESS THAT WAS THE REASON I NOTICED IT FOR MY OTHER COUGH IS A DEEP COUGH. SOUNDS REAL BAD BUT IT WAS SOMETHING I HAD LEARN TO LIVE WITH. MARION

[David P]

Hi Elaine.

I imagine productive coughing is when something is coughed up. If that is so, I had productive coughing day and night a week before my surgery that produced blood in the product of my productive coughing. But as they didn't seem to have classifications figured out way back when, I don't know what type of cancer I had -- all I know is I had a carcinoid polyp. Take care.

David P.

[karenl]

Obviously one of the problems with detecting lung cancer is that it has often already metastasised by the time it is diagnosed. I know that people talk all the time about improving techniques for early detection and of course there are many people who do have some symptomatology which is indicative of lung cancer and warrants follow-up. Unfortunately there will always be people like my Mum and Bill's wife who are stage IV at diagnosis. Not sure how you get around that one!

Karen

[Elaine]

No early screening will ever be 100 per cent able get a cancer that is curable. However, if you looked at one of the other polls, you will see that over half of PCP did not order ANY yearly tests of their smoking patients. Some studies say that the deaths from lung cancer could be drastically cut per year by early screening.

Survival time also increases. Japan does screening. Look at their LC stats.

This coupled with regulating nicotine and other known lc carcinogens could go a long way. telling young people not to smoke, is not enough. Too many will go ahead and do it anyway. Too many rebels, I guess or some would say self-destructive people or addictive personalities.

Oh well, SOMETHING has to be done, and we all agree on that.

love and fortitude

elaine

[karenl]

Hi Elaine

I hope I didn't come across sounding defeatist, or as though I don't think this type of research is important!! On the contrary, I sincerely hope that the powers that be are able to come up with some sort of screening test that will limit the devastation of this disease.

I guess that I am just all too aware of the fact that there will always be some people who slip through the cracks. As I have mentioned, Mum was having annual chest x-rays due to the fact that she had throat cancer in 1986 (she quit smoking in the late '70s). Her radiologist missed a spot on her lung in an x-ray in 2001, so even if you are being vigilant, there are no guarantees.

I think that what you are doing is GREAT - I just wish that Mum had been lucky enough to have had her cancer detected at an early stage!!

All the best

Karen

[Elaine]

I wasn't offended. I am kind of being in my overly direct mode of communication tonight, lol. I wish that for all of us, too. I really do. I also think that the technology is available to do a great deal RIGHT NOW. I think a lot of the money that goes into research might be better spent on doing some screening. That may not be a popular opinion but I think it might be money more better spent than coming up with more toxic drugs that don't really offer cure.

Some of the research is good. --Vaccines and other genetic stuf. But I don't think a drug is going to cure late stage cancer, ever.

elaine

[Hebbie]

You know what I just thought of tonight? While I never had a cough to speak of when exercising, or exerting myself or anything that made me think I was sick with a cold or needed to go to the doctor.....I DID have what I dubbed my "cheese cough" for a few years prior to diagnoses. EVERY TIME I ate any kind of cheese, I would end up with a gross mucus-ey cough -- just one big one, and once the mucus was cleared, I was fine. I used to laugh about it. Now I often wonder. Did the cheese CAUSE mucus in my lungs, that allowed pollutants to get trapped in there and cause cancer to grow......OR.......was the cancer growing in there the CAUSE of the cough!!!

[stand4hope]

Elaine,

My husband had no cough and still has no cough. I believe his tumor would be considered peripheral, as you described above. He does have a moderate pericardial effusion and small pleural effusion, but even with that, no cough and no shortness of breath.

Love,

Peggy

[tnmynatt]

Elaine,

He may have coughed very infrequently. Not enough to even take notice.

[luvmydog2]

I coughed all the time. was worse at night when lieing down. Also bad if I got hot. Sometimes I would be cool as as can be then all at once get hot and start coughing. I remember 15 years ago I was doing an interview for college tuition grant, I got to coughing so bad I had to be excused to get a drink. Gee, I wonder if my NSCLC went back that far? I know NSCLC is slow but don't know if it is that slow.

[dadstimeon]

Hi Elaine,

Had no cough.

Rich

[Melinda]

Elaine--

I just double-checked with Geoff's dad.

Geoff's mom had almost constant bouts of violent, productive coughs for months proir to her dx.

Thanks.

Melinda