Living with lung cancer - Introduce yourself & come say hi

Hi Nancy @shortshot80, welcome back to Mayo Clinic Connect. It is so good to hear from you again. I'm sure Teresa @hopeful33250 will be equally delighted to get an update from you and hear what has been going on the past 6 months.

How are you doing?

@shortshot80 Hello Nancy, It is so good to hear from you! I hope you are feeling better now. I look forward to your update of the last 6 months.

Just wondering, how is your book coming along?

I was diagnosed with stage 1A lung cancer. They followed the nodule for 15 months and when there was change I had VAT surgery. I have had (1) 4-month scan with no change and my next scan is in April. I am 79 but find I can not make any long term commitments for business or personal matters as I don't know what to expect from scan to scan. I have not required further treatment at this point. I started at Mayo Rochester but had my surgery at Rush in Chicago near my family. Both hospitals and staff are excellent. I am thankful for this time but wish there was some medical professional who could render advice about possible reoccurrence and available treatments.

@shortshot80- Good morning Nancy. I remember when I became a mentor for the lung cancer group that you were just leaving for your surgeries. And I have read your occasional posts. I'm so glad that the surgeries are behind you and that you back!
I realize that you feel especially close to Colleen and Teresa. They are so warm and understanding. Since you have left I have become the mentor for Lung Cancer. I have multifocal adenocarcinoma of the lung. I have this type of cancer for 12+ years and another 10 years before that.
Through Colleen's unique ability to bring more mentors into Connect we can now share more mentoring and let her have more time for admin work and making sure that we are all doing what needs to be doing. lol We find that the more people who share their stories and experiences actually help others. We are quite a community here!
I hope that you will feel safe amongst those of us who have had similar cancers to share your story. I'm sure that it will help all of us!

Goodmorning @woodedareas and welcome to Mayo Connect. I feel your frustration with not being able to see into the future and making plans. My first cancer was exactly like yours and mine (1B) never came back after surgery. I wondered the same things that you are now. I just couldn't believe that I didn't need chemo or something else like radiation. I actually wrote a blog post about my frustrations with it. I know that it sounds crazy but in 1997 I thought that everyone had to have these two things! https://my20yearscancer.com/lung-cancer-survivor/
I wish that I could wave a magic wand and let us all know what the future holds for all of us who have had cancer. There are so many treatment options available now. But, as you know, no one can tell us about recurrences. My second cancer, a multifocal adenocarcinoma was 10 years after my first. I needed radiation and that put a huge kibosh on any future plans, as you can well imagine.
I had a trip to Israel planned about 2+ years ago. But I needed an SBRT (a type of radiation) to kill a new lesion. My radiologist put a stop on the trip. We had taken out travel insurance and I got every cent back.
I have also been very honest with people about my having cancer when making plans for the future. I can't tell you how many dinners that I have canceled, or other social plans. I don't know how you will deal with business plans. I really do suggest being open and honest about it, if you haven't already.
My suggestion is to make plans. Live your life the way you want and work it around what your main priority is now, taking care of yourself. As you get further and further from your surgery you will see that even if your life has changed the future is still there to be grabbed!
Merry

@armstg- Good morning. I haven't heard from you in a while. How is your winter going? How are you feeling?

@woodedareas- Good morning. I hope that I didn't scare you away. How are you?

) Hi Colleen, Nancy (short shot) I've been on here several times in the past couple weeks. I have a cardiologist appt tomorrow and I will be having my left lung drained on Monday 24th of Feb. 2020. I also had radiation on Jan 22. Now my friend a PT stopped b
yesterday and noticed me still limping around and in visiting he told me to get checked by my primary doc as he thought maybe the urinary infection that I had so long may have settled into my hip/leg bone. So I have a appt netxt Tuesday to visit with my doc on all the stuff I have been going through. Now will you tell me where to go in here where I would be on the pages for 2020. All I seem to find is 2017... Am lost.... Nancy

Hi Nancy @shortshot80, my goodness you have a lot going on. I'm glad that your friend was alerted to a possible urinary infection and that you're getting that looked at as well. Did you experience any side effects with the radiation in January?

Some discussions started in 2017 and continue to be active today, like this one. Here's how to see the most recent discussions and posts:
1. Go to the Lung Cancer group https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/lung-cancer/
Discussions at the top are the most recently active, i.e., had a new post added. The rest are listed in reverse chronological order.
2. Click a discussion that interests you.
3. Now you can read the discussion from beginning to end or you can choose to view "Newest to Oldest" and see the recent posts.

You can learn more about this functionality here:
- [TIP] Customize the Order You View Posts - See New Posts First https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/new-customize-the-order-you-view-posts-see-new-posts-first/

Does that make sense?

@shortshot80 Hi Nancy,

I'm sorry to hear of your continued problems but glad to hear that a friend with a medical background alerted you to the urinary tract problem. I do hope that all goes well for you on Monday when you have your left lung drained.

Have you had your lung drained previously, or is this the first time?