Dawn1964

Hi, Dawn. How are you feeling lately? I'm sure it must have been hard to move in with your mom, but I'm glad she is there for you. My mom passed away from breast cancer when I was 22. I have been on both sides of the fence...as the child of the cancer patient and as the cancer patient. Neither one is a very good place to be. But I've learned so much from it as a patient, so I'm trying to stay positive.

I'm getting Carboplatin and Avastin. The Carbo is beating the daylights out of me...but it's beating cancer even more, so, bring it on! I get it again this Friday. Trying to work through it is hard. I'll probably take a few days off next week to "recover".

Anyway, know that I am thinking of you, and keeping you in prayer. God bless you!

Linda

Dawn, you have been in my heart and in my prayers ever since I read your post. You are precious, you are special. I know that just by wishes and hope that we cannot all bring each other to health. But you touched my heart. And I will continue to pray for you. I've had a tough week, suffering from "chemo week". My spirits sink somewhat when I don't feel well. But we are there for each other, we care. We are strangers, and then we are not; we are drawn together because we share in a fight none of us asked for, the fight for our lives. But there is love; so much love!

Thank you for your fight, for your post, for your inspiration! God bless you, Dawn!

Linda, your new friend

Dawn,
I am an oncology nurse and I would be interested in knowing what chemotherapy regimen you were on as well as when you last had radiation and what kind. Best of luck to you, Carm RN.

Hi Dawn1964,
I was just wondering how you are doing? Are you done with chemo/radiation now? Hope you are feeling better.
--Journey

Hi Dawn,
I am glad you are feeling better. My chemo was Cisplatin monthly and Navelbine weekly. It was a pretty rough road with the nausea, low blood counts, and exhaustion; but if I was told I needed to do it all again, I would. I still feel this lung cancer is a bad nightmare and will go away when I wake up. I still have some troubles breathing at times. If I bend down to pick up something or tie my shoes something inside (probably my other organs) flops into my lungs and I get dizzy and short of breath. My doctor told me that our body does not like empty spaces and will fill the area where my lower lobe was removed. The fluid in there will get more jello like in time. I thought that was interesting. Our bodies are pretty amazing to do what they do. I go for walks everyday to get stronger and I sometimes find I get short of breath coming up the hill. I try to walk about 2 miles everyday now. I am getting a little stronger all the time. I have and oximeter to see what my oxygen level is, and most of the time it is 98%-100% even without my lower lobe. My pulmonalogist was surprised and said some people's bodies make up for that on their own. I can not go above 6,000 feet elevation or I might have trouble breathing. So hiking in the mountains will be limited.

I have been also trying to gain weight. I started out with my cancer diagnoses weighing 82 pounds. With chemo, I lost 5 pounds each week I had Cisplatin, and then tried very hard the next 3 weeks with Navelbine to gain the 5 pounds back. I held my own during chemo and once I was done with the Cisplatin I continued to gain weight. I weigh 100 pounds now and am 5'3" tall. It was pretty scarey to be so low in weight and having to go through chemo. It is good to have a little reserve for an emergency like cancer.

I wish you well, and good luck with your Zometa infusion next week!
--Journey

Hi Dawn1964
I saw your answer to samshope's question and noticed that you are taking Zometa. I too have NSCLC with bone met and took Zometa infusions. Do you know about Xgeva for bone met. Xgeva is a shot in the back of your arm, once a month, not an infusion. I found it easier than the infusion since I had finished my chemo infusions. I was on either Zometa or Xgeva for 2 years, every month; and was diagnosed 3 years ago, with stage IV, but now in remission. How are you doing? Let me know if I can help you in any way. Best wishes.
--Journey

Hi Dawn1964,
Have you been on Zometa or Xgeva for your bone met? I also have bone met and that is what they gave me - 2 yrs of it, once every month. So far everything has been OK. I did get a broken rib during my lung surgery, but that is understandable.
--Journey

See post waaaaay at the bottom. Not sure why it went where it did. How are you doing? Beth

Hi Dawn1964
I have non-small cell lung cancer also, diagnosed 3 years ago. I am fairly new at WhatNext, but I think you will find a lot of caring people here. Welcome.
--Journey

Will be by your side in prayer,every step of the way.
rm88

Hello and welcome, we are glad you found us.Please feel free to join in the conversations. Here is a link to our cancer dx page for your type of cancer. Take a look at it to get you started on some information. You will notice at the bottom of that page 4 of our active users who have had that journey already, you may wish to contact them for their experience and wisdom. Also, I encourage you to go to the questions page now by clicking on the questions tab at the top of the page and post what is the most pressing issue you have right now. This will introduce you to the community and get you started on the help you need right now.

https://www.whatnext.com/conditions/cancer/lung-cancer

There are also subtypes listed on this page to narrow down the type of cancer to match your dx.

You may also find our "Beginner's Guide To Cancer" page helpful Click Here for that=> http://bit.ly/10BQKCi

Also, if you can take a few minutes and fill in some details of your journey so far, it will help others as they try to answer questions for you, it also helps others as they search through the data base to find someone like themselves. Confirming your email will allow you to receive updates and notices from the site when someone answers your questions or writes on your wall.

Thanks for being with us and let me know if I can help you find any information on the site. After you have an opportunity to look the site over and see what great things there are here, we encourage you to invite your friends, family or anyone you know that may be helped by the connections on WhatNext to join the site also. Just click this link to invite them to join. http://www.whatnext.com/recruit-a-friend

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GregP
3X Survivor
Team WhatNext Community Mgr.

Good morning. My name is Beth and I too have sclc stage IV. I was diagnosed in February of this year. I am completing my carboplatin etopiside chemo this week hopefully. I am having a CT scan done this afternoon to see if this cancer has spread despite the chemo. It is in my lungs lymph nodes around my aorta liver and bones specifically my collar bone and rib cage.

Welcome to the WhatNext family! The WhatNext family is made up of people like you who are looking for help or looking to help others. To help you along your journey the WhatNext family has put together a Beginner's Guide to Cancer that I highly recommend you check-out here: http://bit.ly/10BQKCi. Also, please do not hesitate to reach out to others or ask for help.

Wishing you the best.

David
Founder, WhatNexter