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Living with lung cancer - Introduce yourself & come say hi
Lung Cancer | Last Active: Mar 28 9:04am | Replies (1142)Comment receiving replies
@blinken, This is hard news to handle, but it's good that you saw a change in your husband and were able to get him into a doctor. It sounds like his medical team is jumping right into action. The appointment with the oncologist will help you to understand what may be next. A biopsy is helpful to identify the type of cancer, which can be matched to specific treatments. The MRI and PET scans will show where the cancer has spread.
Lung cancer treatments have improved in recent years. All treatments come with challenges, some more than others. Many of us with metastatic lung cancer are living longer 'normal' lives. There are many types of lung cancer, and even more treatments or combinations of treatments.
Try to take one day at a time and try not to get ahead things. Focus on what you know, not what might be. Do you have others that may be able to help with the longer drives? You may want to mention the help that you may need with the oncologist's office too. They may have support resources that they can offer.
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@lls8000 Hello Lisa, has been about 2 months since I wrote about my husband's newly diagnosed lung cancer. There was confusion as to the type of cancer it was, due to the liver biopsy which didn't show what was expected if lung cancer was the primary. After waiting weeks for Tempus results, he developed kidney failure and sepsis and passed away January 31.
The testing has indicated that it was cholangiocarcinoma which is a rare and very aggressive cancer of the bile ducts. It is often found to have metastasized before being detected. That is what happened to my husband. The symptoms were there, but were mild and could have been caused by many other conditions. Apparently this is typical of this type of cancer. He became very weak and was on palliative care for the week that he was in the hospital. It was shocking how fast and how brutal this was.
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@lls8000
Hello Lisa, thank you for your thoughtful words. I am sure you know how hard it is to wait for tests to be done and results to be read and interpreted. I was a lab tech/medical assistant for most of my adult life so at least I have background in procedure and how things work in the medical world. Things have changed in that regard from how it was in the beginning of my career and it has been many years since I retired. I am 83 and fortunately I can still drive but hesitate now to tackle the freeway. My husband has Macular Degeneration so he no longer drives. His daughter has a summer home not far from us and is there for Christmas so will take us for the biopsy, some 60 miles away. The rest of the tests are much closer and I can manage those. My daughter lives about 40 miles away and will arrange to help us with any other distant travel that we might need. The oncologist we will be seeing tomorrow, Christmas Eve, for the initial visit is close and I hope that any treatment he advises can be done at that site. Again thanks for your concern. I will update as things go on.