On 5/24/2009
Denise1156 wrote:
Thisis what I know now. A friend and neighbor called to tell me that she was diagnosed with Lung Cancer. She was very upset so I really didnt get the full extent of whats going on.Thisis what I do know and I would really appreciate anyone who may be able to fill in some of the blanks.
Right now she is going to have some fluid removed form the lung on Tues. She was already in the hospiytal where they trerated her with antibiotocs for what they thought was pnuemonia(please excuse the spell)Sems like they drained the lung once before and she felt better but now it has to be drained again. They also told her she has to start chemo in a couple of weeks. She told me they said the cancer was inoperable because it was little cells and not just one or two tumors. I knliw I will find our more eventually but I was wondering if anyone can tel me what they think about this situation and what may be the prognosis Oh and her PET scan came back inconclusive?? Does that mean they dont really see any of these cancer cells anywhere else at this time? I would appreciate any info because I am very worried for her. Thanks in advance to you wonderful people. My husband just passed the 5 year Mark for nasophyrangyl cancer and is now considered cured. Luckily it was locolized and they used the IMRT Radiation and just pulvalrized the tumor. I know what you caregivers are going thorugh because I walked in your shoes. Anyway God Bless you all.
Denise
Isn't the cancer diagnosis just the most debilitating thing? You are in a fog. Thankfully, my family was strong enough to work at getting me to a major cancer center right away, where they have encologists who specialize in just lung cancer and they have clinical trials to use and they know the very latest. A general encologist or dr. cannot know what they know or have the facilities they have. Metastacized lung cancer is one thing to battle strongly right from the start. You don't fool around. I had Stage IV lung cancer when diagnosed. It has spread from lungs to back bones. They put me on a pill called Tarceva that reduced the size of my tumors to almost nothing and had few wide effects for me. They will not operate on Stage IV lung cancer because those nasty little cells are all over the body and they can't cut them out. I asked and asked. Cutting them out seemed like a good thing to me. My quality of life has been like I wasn't even sick. They emphasize keeping quality of life good. I would go to a major cancer center for 2nd opinion. If you contact one like SCCA (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance) or Cancer Centers of Amercia, they will answer you. It is important to start out with good care, not to let someone else mess you up first. Her PET scan came back inconclusive, but her cancer is not just one or 2 tumors. Doesn't make sense to me. She might have just Stage I. That is a lot easier to treat. She could be just fine with the right treatment.