Marcia,
I am a Marcia also, and this is my first time visiting here. I also have non-small cell carcinoma, and was diagnosed with it more than four years ago; they estimated I had had the tumor for at least five years, and I had actually been ill for six years, but no one ever did an X-Ray. My life was in turmoil during that time, I moved to a different part of the country, and had never been ill before. I was a smoker, however.
I opted for chemo and then radiation in addition, because the tumor was very resistant to shrinkage, and surgery was planned, but my body became too weak to withstand the surgery before the tumor shrank enough.
I have a very strong faith to sustain me, but I also believe that, with much prayer, I am guided by the Lord, and He must have more for me to do, because despite all the problems I've had and my body's weakness, I am still here. There are new options becoming available, even in chemotherapy, and when my cancer became very active early this year, they used something called Alimta. It is a "target" chemo, meaning it is targeted for a specific thing, and does not affect your entire body as older ones do. The results are very mixed with this, however, and my oncologist had not had good responses from the two patients who used it. For me, however, it worked better. My tumor had grown to fist-size in a 3 mo. period, and it reduced it by 50 percent in a few months, but then stopped working, so I'm off it right now, as they are concerned about cumulative side effects.
With the Lord's help I had a very good tolerance of all my chemo except for one, and after examining deep inside myself, felt clearly that the Lord wanted me to avail myself of it.
I had only one friend, and one relative, who opted for treatment like yours. My friend had small cell lung cancer, and she died within two years. My relative, my cousin's husband, had colon cancer, and he died September 20 of this year, and felt he'd chosen wrongly, after it was too late.
I understand that each of us has to make our own decision as to what type, and how much treatment we have. My God is guiding my choices, and I am so very thankful to still be here to get such sweet pleasure from this world He's created, to be with my children and grandchildren, and my loving husband. I will take every day that I can get! So, I guess you could say that I'm opting for "quantity" of life over "quality" of life.
My doctor impressed on me how important it was to have a much higher amount of protein (than normal) in my diet to withstand infections and other problems that the attacks on my immune system made it impossible for my body to handle. I eat much more nutritious food than before, drink more liquid, take more vitamins and my body is responding to all that.
Above all, I maintain a very close relationship with my God, and try to follow where He leads me.
I would just ask that you think of this from all sides before making any final decisions about refusing treatment, or maintaining your present diet.
California Girl (Marcie F.)