@pattymac, I know others have said NO ONE can say how another can deal with cancer .. BUT I will tell you how my husband and I HAVE deal with cancer VERY effectively!!
1. Have an attitude of gratitude for what we DO have .. get OVER ONLY looking at what we DO NOT HAVE .. IE "a life without the cloud of cancer hanging over out heads!"
2. A BIG THING .. deciding to ONLY deal with an issue if it was "IN our face" .. meaning an immediate issue/decision/choice/option .. otherwise we live our lives in DENIAL!! Big time! If it is NOT in front of our face .. it does NOT exist!! We go on with our lives as if it did NOT exist!
3. We "PUT OUR ENERGY INTO WHAT WE CAN CONTROL .. LET GO OF WHAT WE CANNOT CONTROL"

As a grandmother of 10 .. if I am frank with you .. what I see you doing is putting ALL KINDS of WASTED energy into things you CANNOT CONTROL! "Putting the Cart before the Horse!"

1. You are NOT a doctor .. LET GO of "I am wanting to know what the protocol is for finding out and then treating lung cancer?" WHEN you know your options .. AFTER discussing this with your doctors .. THEN you deal with your treatment options.
2. Same answer for "How many tests do we need to go through and how do we know which treatments to accept as the answer? " You CANNOT know until you KNOW. LET GO!

WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL AND COULD PUT YOUR ENERGY INTO RIGHT NOW .. IN MY OPINION:
1. Calling JNH and getting an appointment
2. Gathering together the maximum number of records/doctor notes/tests you possibly can so they do not have to be repeated. You could post to @tdrell .. terri .. she did a good job of that
3. If you get to JNH .. in my opinion you do not need .. "When do I know when a second opinion is needed' Luckily Terri gave you the answer to "I could go to Mayo if I were wealthy but am not. "
4. Now in my opinion the MOST important thing is to focus on serenity .. there is SUCH a mind/body connection .. you MUST take care of your body with serenity as well as seeking proper medical care. All this panicky stress is VERY damaging to the body .. it will NOT promote healing. So even if you only go to youtube and google meditation exercises .. that would be a start. Be kind to that sweet body of yours .. be kind to yourself. Know that we are all here for you .. but ultimately YOU must be there for YOURSELF! Be kind to you. Sending you many Hugs from a Mom .. a Grammy and a Connect Friend! Katherine

Thank you! Received dx a week ago of husband’s IPF and thru many discussions, have decided to purposefully go this exact route you so wonderfully explained.  Totally appreciate you sharing your attitude/experience, and I’m sure we’ll be re-reading your post often.Kathy&nbsp

Hi Kathy. Thank you for putting everything into perspective. I'm new to this site and was checking emails this morning when I found myself reading various random posts. For some reason, yours caught my eye. I read it with tears in my eyes. I have a chronic autoimmune condition that been making me wonder about my future with my 3-month old grandson and the rest of my family. Your words of advice slapped me back into the present and was exactly what I needed to read. Although you wrote your piece to another reader for a completely different disease, I know that I was led to your piece for a purpose this morning. Thank you! You really have no idea how you have affected me, my family, and my health. I wish you all the joy, peace, and happiness that comes your way.