LiveWithCancer

Thanks for sharing your doggie pictures, a pair of real charmers.

Hello, thanks so much for the support including today's post regarding work. Such a large hole there right now and I'm so often torn stay in touch don't stay in touch. drives me crazy not to know whats going on with whom but just as crazy if not more so to know. This week heard of so many changes as I have been out since July. Then I feel I'm only told what they think wont upset me which is worse cause don't want to feel like need shielded and feel like another choice taken out of my hands. Should be at my own risk what I expose myself to and whom but finding this not the case. Not even sure if this makes sense as brain feels so off these days. 3 more chemo's wonder what brain will be then. Anyway thank you for understanding. Again need to remind myself what is really important and that is being here for those kids. Hope you are having a good day.

hi live with cancer all done with all my trements I feeling good how have u been

glad to hear the fever is resolving. Hopefully whatever it is/was was a great defense mechanism at work and kicked butt. Hopefully will not return. Negative blood cultures too I hope.

I was told to use plastic utensils and not eat anything that comes in a can. I also have compazine/Zofran, and I had to take it regularly for awhile. Your situation is a little different than mine. I also drank flavored water, as I couldn't stand the taste of regular. I hope these suggestions help a bit. Food and water still don't taste quite right, but are getting better. Hang in there.

Hello. Thanks for your post. Sounds like you have a lot to bear. It's hard to think that others are worse off when you're struggling just to get through the day. My thoughts and prayers are with you. I'll throw in a few hugs, too! Please let me know how you're doing.

Is that a Sheltie with you? Looks like mine.

Thanks for the help. Port surgeon's office kind of stumbled so I am getting the chemo in a vein and will get port after. I do not want to delay treatment a single day.

Thank you for your post. What is involved with the immunotherapy? Had just started reading up on that. I'm
Not good with realizing even "iron" mom needs a break. Thanks know will have good days and bad.

Hi. After reading your very fine post to Jalemans, I now realize you are also stage 4. Prayers and hope for a long life filled with all the things you like to do.

Could I get you to drop in on this new member and offer some encouragement?

@melissa65

i am so afraid and don't know what to do. any advice would be welcome.

Thanks for getting back to me.
I looked at UT Southwestern's website WOW! at a time like this what I wouldn't give to have access to those resources.
Yes, my surgery has already been done and other than the 2 nodes presenting positive I would have just called it a day. I found another Oncologist here locally this morning and when I meet with my Surgeon tomorrow I am going to ask him for a referral.
You know if they had told me this was inoperable, as you were told, I don't know what I would have done! heck even though everything went exceptionally well so far I still get really scared and depressed. I really am happy to hear you found an Immunotherapy regimen which is helping. but still you must be a pretty strong woman, this stuff is no joke.
Hope your day is going well.
J

Thanks for your warm welcome.
I am in Monroe, La. not far from you. I am kind of lost here trying to get the navigation of the site down ( i'm pretty sure I am following your posts...Twice! oops)
I will be so happy when I get to a point of just knowing what questions I have, let alone searching for answers.
My discovery, diagnosis, biopsy, surgery. have all gone well,Quick and Painless.
I went to see the oncologist and felt like I was being hustled to buy a used car. I have to admit to a bias against the Dr. first based on an 80 yr old friends experience with this Dr.s treatment and (horrible) death of his wife of over 50 yrs. and the second flag went up when based solely on a referral from the thoracic surgeon I received a 1/2" thick packet of paperwork most seemingly concerned with "So...how and who is paying for this"
The Onc. just came across as cheesy and money grubbing on my first visit I had to do "Lab work" at HIS lab. for an initial consult which feels a lot like stacking the billing to medicare. Heck! I could be way off base but I declined his offer to poison me.
Any information or insight you might be able to share about Chemo/Radiation or what I guess they call adjunct treatment would be greatly appreciated.
My pathology report said the actual "Mass" on my lung was well defined and the margins were clear but 2 out of 8 lymph nodes showed as positive for metastatic activity. Whatever that means?

Thank you so much for sharing today. Your information truly helps.

I am curious, what clinical trial are you participating in? There are so many it makes my head spin! I am currently waiting to see what next. Finished chemo, and now ???? thanks!

Hi ! I haven't been on in a few days. . .just read your story. You seemed to put yourself in a very positive frame of mind after getting over the initial news. Inspiring to read that you took a trip in between chemo infusions. I'm glad you have had a loving supportive family by your side and of course the poochies ! ! ! Karen : )

Your "WhatNexter of The Week" post is up on the blog at the link below. You can share it on any of your social pages that are listed below the post just by clicking that little share button. If you want you can also copy and paste this link. Thanks for submitting, and thanks for your help with everything on the site! Hope you are doing well!

https://www.whatnext.com/blog/posts/it-s-about-the-journey-livewithcancer-s-journey-with-lung-cancer

Your dog is gorgeous!

I just wanted to say thank you for reaching out to others on the site and helping them! A small thing like saying welcome and how can I help you means a lot during these times.

Thanks for the response. She is having chemo only. Surgery was not an option due to it being in the lung fluid. She has had two chemo sessions- three weeks apart. She will have one more and then be scanned to see if the treatment needs to change. So far the worst thing that has happened was some hair falling out. She has a great support system of friends and family. I am retired so I take her to all appointments. She is so positive and so are we. We even gave her a surprise bd party!! Any advise you can give is most welcome! Have a great day.

Thank you for the response to my question. My sister is young (53) like you. Any advise is welcome. She has had two chemo treatments so far. Hope you are doing good!

Hi LiveWithCancer! The appt went well and I was happy with the responses the doctor gave my brother, which were meant to educate not geared toward change my brother's stubborn opinions about his condition. He ordered 4 vials of blood for labs, will take charge keeping an eye on his progress every few weeks as nothing will deter Kurt from doing whatever invasive procedure necessary to remove the left nephrostomy bag. The main risks, obviously, would be infection, possible left kidney damage/failure/surgery to remove kidney. I'm also concerned they are messing around in the same area that still has inoperable moderately metabolic tumors. Is it a myth or can cancer spread if tumors are disturbed surgically? Thank you for your concern I'm a basket case today.

I see you're right outside of Dallas. . .we used to have an office there on the LBJ Freeway adjacent to the Hilton. . .now we're at Tollway Plaza. I have family further south in Dawson, closest town is Corsicania. Yes, you do get some HOT summertime temps ! ! ! ! Good luck staying cool : )

Good Morning! I think my husband's oncologist has been a bit surprised by Phil. His strength, will to live, desire to LIVE as normal a life as possible. As a matter of fact, after 20 years of marriage, I have to say he's surprised even me. Never really knew of the depth of his inner strength, or how much he truly loves us to go through all this; what a wonderful gift to our two boys!! Does your clinical trial drug have a name? I don't even know how those things work. Happy Monday!!! ~Kim

Hello LiveWithCancer. I understand you are in clinical trials for an immunotherapy treatment. My husband's oncologist has indicated that since we're dealing with metastasis to the brain, we wouldn't be in the running for a clinical trial. But my husband is healthy, brain mets shrunk by 50% after whole brain radiation and I'm hoping the lung tumors to respond to chemo as yours had. The last of the chemo 7/1/14, had a PET scan last Wednesday, which we will review results with oncologist on 8/5/14. I'm interested in any additional therapies available to keep tumors stable. Have you heard of erlotinib? It may be that you were the Next'er I heard it from :-) Here's some of the white paper about erlotinib.

Recently, newer drugs that can more specifically target lung cancer cells have been developed and have been shown to benefit some patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. In general, these drugs have more tolerable side-effects than standard chemotherapy since they are more specifically aimed at the cancer cells. Erlotinib is one such drug that has been approved for use in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Erlotinib is a pill that can result in tumor shrinkage and improvement in duration of survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer that has recurred after initial treatment with standard chemotherapy (25). To date, specific studies of erlotinib in elderly patients have not been reported, and the drug does have potential side-effects, such as diarrhea, that may be particularly problematic in the elderly population. Thus far, we know that women, non-smokers, people of East Asian heritage, and those with adenocarcinoma seem to benefit the most from treatment with erlotinib - See more at: http://www.cancernews.com/data/Article/273.asp#sthash.z15c2LtA.QELkxfyK.dpuf

I successfully quit with hypnosis.

You are lucky to have a supportive husband like you do. I am wishing you all the best for a complete recovery. I know what you mean about stats....same is with pancreatic cancer but my husband says I'm being negative when I talk about plans for my death or I am trying to be realistic. Like you, I would love to live a lot longer, but I guess only God knows what will be.

hi thanks for the support its nice to be abie to chat with some one . now it sound like chemo and radiation. is it ever going to stop hope so thanks again .

Only one oops, I have nsclc, like you. And, initially the weight gain was intentional, but now I am at my target weight and growing. It may well be that I just enjoy eating more. Often, my son will come home looking for some snack that we bought, and I'll have to tell him , oops, I ate it already. On a more serious note, I find outr outlook to be very similar. I feel that living thru this has given me such a profound appreciation for all the goodness there is in this world. All the good people who reach out to us. Every day I review all the things I have to be grateful for. And, you are right again, when I look at my children I think it is harder on our loved ones because they so much want to make it better. Keep strong and God bless.

I read your comment on immunotherapy. We seem to be on a similar journey. I had stage 4 sclc which had metastasized . I was diagnosed in 12/12 and went thru traditional chemo for 7 months. In july2013 I was started on immunotherapy every 2 weeks, with results like yours. Funny you should mention the weight gain, because I notice I'm much rounder than I was before, my nickname for myself is tubby. But, as you said I feel so well overall it's ok by me. I'm so hopeful that this becomes the standard of care so that others have the option of choosing it over traditional chemo. Keep strong and be well.