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Just scared: Cancer and scared leaving my daughter behind
My name is Heather, I am 38 years old. I had surgery/diagnosed on 10/9/24 with NSCLC adenoidcarcinoma EGFR 19. Non smoker. I have had multiple lung nodules for 15 years. We followed them for a few years, but due to how young I was and no smoking history, I was told they were benign, and follow up was stopped, unless I started having symptoms. I had bad chest pain before my surgery, which is how we found the cancer. During my surgery my largest nodule was 2.3cm with Visceral Pleural Invasion. I also had 3 tiny tumors around it, but all considered primary tumors. Therefore stage2b multifocal, I did not have lymph node involvement, no lymphovascular invasion, or airspace invasion. They believe the other nodules that have been stable for 15years are atypical adenomatous Hyperplasia. I am scared beyond belief. I have a 8year old daughter who is beautiful and she is autistic that I am scared of leaving behind. Chemo was not recommended. I went straight to Tagrisso. I don’t know what I am looking for my writing this.
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Hi Heather, @hnreinhart12, I'm sorry that you are facing this disease. Cancer isn't fair, and I especially feel for young mothers and their children. I'm glad that you've reached out to your care team and asked for help. You may want to inquire about a group for parents with cancer in your area too. Sometimes an in-person group can be helpful too. For your daughter, depending on her level of understanding, I have heard great things about Pickels Group (https://www.picklesgroup.org/news).
It sounds like you are stable now and settling in with Tagrisso post-surgery. There is real science-based hope for lung cancer now more than ever. There are new advancements being studied and rolled out as each year passes. I was diagnosed (ALK positive, at 49 years old) five years ago, and there are treatments available today that weren't even thought of five years ago. I know of many people that didn't think they would see their kids grow up, and they are attending graduation ceremonies and even weddings. Try to focus on one day at a time and what's right in front of you. Pile that daughter of yours with love and relish in the love that she gives back. Hugs.
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6 ReactionsThank you! It’s the constant fear it will come back. Mentally I am a mess, they have put me on something for that I will see psych in a couple weeks! I appreciate your words!
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6 ReactionsHi Heather, I’m sorry you’re feeling scared, it’s perfectly understandable when dealing with cancer, young or old we are all struggling with fear. It’s sounds like you’re well under way with treatments and that’s good, now you can get back to living your best life with obvious changes inside especially mental health, the fear will eventually calm down as your life gets back to its normal routine. It might help you to look for support and talking to people with similar needs, the Mayo connection is a good start where you will get advice from people like yourself and good tips on what they tried, everyone is different in how they cope but you will know what works best for you. There’s lots of great advice out there and I find that the more you learn the better you will understand what you’re going through, ask questions when in doubt about your health. One thing that helped me was researching lung cancer and learning about new treatments that showed great results, people are living longer now due to earlier detection plus more options for us, some people here are still alive after more than twenty years after diagnosis so this will give you more hope for longevity. I hope that you will get all the help you need and help you to move forward with your life, best wishes.
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