Living with lung cancer - Introduce yourself & come say hi

Hi Jackie. I have non-small cell lung cancer. The treatments that I received was radiation, chemo therapy, currently I a being treated with an immuno therapy drug tagrisso and there is also targeted therapy. Immuno therapy can be used in conjunction with chemo or by itself.

@nev355 Thank you for joining connect and answering me. My friend is still in shock with his diagnosis. If you don't mind me asking a few more questions for him? How long have you been living with this disease?
Were the treatments easy to handle? He is having an issue right now with his lungs collapsing. The Dr's can't start any treatments till they get that under control. Is that common to happen with this disease?
Well thank you again,
Jackie

Jackie,

I was diagnosed with lung cancer in December of 2016 so its going on two now. When first diagnosed I was in shock, confused and angry so I understand how he feels. How an individual handles the treatments is dependent on what chemo drugs are used and the general health of the patient. The radiation treatments I received in 2017 were not difficult but chemo therapy made me nauseous form 7 to 9 days after each treatment (I had 30 rounds of radiation and 4 chemo treatments). The cancer returned this year in my right humerus which caused a lot of pain, when I returned to Mayo I got 5 rounds of radiation and I am currently on immuno therapy. Being that the cancer was now in my shoulder I was given higher amounts of radiation than I did when it was in my lung where there was a concern for my heart. This made me slightly nauseous maybe 3 times but not nearly as bad as with the chemo and the feeling did not last long. One of my close friends from college also had lung cancer, he lost one of his lungs and is doing very well ( its been 5 years for him so he is in remission).

The size of his tumor could be the reason for his collapsing lung, my tumor was an inch long so I did not experience any affects to my lung. My friends tumor was the size of a baseball so he had issues and had to remove the lung.

Hi @shirl3924, just checking in. I know you saw the oncologist earlier this month. How is your husband doing? How are you?

Jackie- I just got back from my 1st 3 month check up at Mayo, with a good report, so first tell him that you're at the right place to quell fears! I think what stage he is at is key. Mine was small enough to where they did a " segmental resection" surgery this April that included removing the lymph nodes and following up with 4 rounds of chemo during the summer. The most traumatic part was the lung biopsy at the hospital near home that diagnosed it and resulted in a partial lung collapse.
The American Cancer Society had the most helpful website. But, talking to doctors will get him info specific to his situation. And, don't hesitate to get a 2nd opinion. (At home they wanted to remove more than what the surgeon at Mayo felt was prudent.) I now am back to where I was on exercise or a bit better and feel better than ever even though I know I still have moderate COPD.

Mother having severe pain on her back and arms
Any suggestions how to ease her pain

Hi @samanthaezu and welcome to Connect. You'll notice that I moved your message to the main thread of the Lung Cancer group so you can meet others who are living with lung cancer or caring for someone with lung cancer.

You mention that your mom has severe pain on her back and arms, and that you are looking for ways to ease her pain.

It is so hard to see a loved one in pain. I'm going to tag others who may have some thoughts. Please meet fellow caregivers: @burrkay and @cindylb as well as members living with lung cancer such as @merilee @bluelagoon @merpreb and @llwortman

Samantha, can you tell us a bit more about your mom's cancer? What type and stage of lung cancer does she have? What has her cancer care team prescribed or recommended to help manage the pain?

Stage 2

@samanthaezu, what treatments has she had or is having?

She hasn't gone for any surgeries or chemotherapy
We are giving her herbal medicine name Oncotame and as the pain was severe we are giving her painkillers as prescribed by doctor