Living with lung cancer - Introduce yourself & come say hi

For what it's worth, my mother was in the hospital and dying. A priest had said last rites, my brother and I were allowed to visit to sat good-bye (minor children weren't allowed otherwise at the time) and I was too young to really understand what was happening. My mother begged my father to go to the cheap burger hole-in-the-wall near our marina and buy a bagful of burgers with tons of fried onions. She hadn't been able to keep any food down for over a week and he was afraid to do this. But the other relatives said that, well, it's her dying wish and phooey on what the doctors would think.

My dad sneaked the 'sliders' past the nursing station under his coat. My mom ate one, ate another a half hour later, ate the rest of the fried onions before the night nurse came on duty.

My mom was released from the hospital a few weeks later and lived another 30+ years. She was a doctor and figured her body might be craving that meal for a reason.

She later suspected that maybe the sulfur from the onions, sugar in the ketchup and salt and oil some rehydrated her or kicked some imbalance back into stasis.

In my family, paying attention to what the body is trying to tell us became a mantra. I don't always pay attention but pay a price when I don't. And my mom's not exactly 'last meal' would never have been medical protocol. But it worked!

@callalloo- Good morning, it's nice to meet you. What a wonderful story. It gave me goosebumps! The doctors must have done some research after your mom proved them wrong!

Thank you for sharing this story and for visiting the Lung Cancer group. And your story was worth a million smiles! Don't you?

I'm not certain that anyone told the doctors about the forbidden food sneaked into her hospital room :-). My mother had a professor in med school that stressed never underestimating the body's ability to heal if given the right environment. I think that that made her take the craving for a food that she ordinarily disliked seriously.

Hi Colleen. Diagnosed with a 3.2 CM adenocarcinoma of the right lung. MRI also shows a 9mm nodule on the brain. PET scan show vertebra L8 cancerous, left rib is cancerous, esophagus has cancer, and nasal cavity as well. I’m in MT and tried to sign up for a Mayo appointment but haven’t heard back from them. Not hopeful anyone can stop this freight train given the spread. But, let’s see. Thanks

Hi Colleen, God love you! Don't give up and don't give up on the Mayo Clinic. They are phenomenal!!! They are nothing like you've ever seen. Call them. They should get you an appointment as soon as they possibly can. I am praying for you and hope to hear positive updates from you. God speed.

Oh, I'm sorry, I just realized that Colleen is the moderator. (new to this!) I responded to Colleen but mean to respond kamoto.

Hi kamato, just wanted you to know you are not alone. Mayo found two large tumors in my right lung and another butting up against my heart. Like almost everyone else, I thought this was fatal.

But it's not. We are all similar but we are also all different. Each patient has a very specific program for their specific need. Your treatment will be different than mine, for sure.

I think the biggest complaint from patients is the long time it takes for treatment. I know that was my case and the same with @rlogan. For me, it was diagnosis in July, surgery in November, finally began chemo and radiation in January. I felt that every day delayed was only helping these tumors to grow larger.

You have an awesome support group here. I read these comments every morning and they do help to give me strength. Mayo has outstanding videos for cancer that I highly recommend. The one for lung cancer covers virtually everything a patient needs to know, from treatment to social assistance. Please feel free to post all your questions here. I guarantee that you will get a prompt response.

@kamoto, I hope you have heard from Mayo Clinic since you last posted. If not, I encourage to contact them to find out the status of your request for an appointment.

How are you doing?

Thanks all. Talked to Mayo last week, they downloaded the records, and I'm now in analysis by the Oncology team where they will assign me to the right Doctor. Was hoping to get that assignment Friday, but nothing yet. Saw a Merck trial in the news today, where 100% of participants had their tumors melt away. 1st time ever they said.

Hi,
I have stage 1 lung cancer, lobectomy of lower left lobe in March. Had pluerul effusion and pneumonia following surgery and a chest tube for two weeks. Other than that have recovered well but can't help thinking about the possibility of recurrence. The thought of recurrence to liver, brain or bones is frightening. I am 62 years old and feel fortunate that it was caught early however everything I read points to 30% recurrence rate. Any of you 5 year survivors without recurrence. I wish everyone the very best with their own situations.