Living with lung cancer - Introduce yourself & come say hi

Hi Vic:

Yes, I am using our office scheduling and prioritize action items for each day. It works out really well. The problem is the list keeps growing. I have to study for my drivers license renewal. I think this is going to be the last time I renew it. California has what started out to be a pamphlet drivers manual to well over 120 pages now. Why do things have to be so danged verbose? 🙂 Computer is supposed to save time, etc. and now it is the exact opposite. I am totally frustrated. I just can't seem to calm down my anxieties.

I have been on Plavix about 1-1/2 years now. It is definitely helping me. I feel so much better on it. Yes, I bleed easily, but that's the price. My arteries have
severe calcification.

I just want to get all this done and finally retire to my gardens. I love to garden. I did manage to get some tomatoes, peppers, onions planted and have seeds for much, much more.

My Cardiologist has called in another Loma Linda doctor, a Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery with Mayo Clinic background. I have yet to see him, but have an in-person appointment on August 16.

I don't know what to expect. I don't know this field at all so people talk to me using their vernacular and none of it makes sense to me. The young folks talk so darn fast, I can't understand them, so I miss a lot of what they are trying to say. I ask them to slow down and to speak clearly, and they get insulted. I can't win. I feel like people just want to get rid of us old folks.

I try to research on the net to find answers to some of my questions. There is one type of cancers therapy that seems to draw a lot of attention ... chemo. What is it? Why is it bad? Why should I avoid it at all costs?

Vic, are you a moderator? How are you feeling? How long since you've been diagnosed? What are your issues?

Thank you for spending time with me. I truly appreciate it.

Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth, glad to share my experience with you. It is easy to give advice and older people like to do it.... but given new challenges, I find the trick is to try to focus on what needs to get done first....I make myself long lists in a spreadsheet. It makes me feel more in control.
How long have you been on Plavix?

Good morning Elizabeth. No one can tell you a timeline for when things happen with cancer. As it has no bias it also doesn't give up the most important questions that we want to know. Pure GG is only a description of what the cells look like.
"Pure ground-glass nodules (pGGNs), which are defined by opposition to part-solid nodules by the absence of a solid component on CT. Some are benign or very slow growing. Partly solid GG indicates that there has been a change and more likely is cancerous.

Where do you stand now for treatment? Don't you have tests coming up?

I know how hard this is for you Elizabeth. I'm afraid that I can't help with your legal and financial dilemmas but I'm here for you to rant and help in any other way.

Thank you Vic! This is the kind of info I need right now. I don't know what to expect. I have appointments with my Cardiologist over the phone because of Covid. Now this surgeon wants to see me in person first for 15 minutes. It takes 3 hours to travel to Loma Linda and back total to do in-person appointments? Geesh and then I guess I will need to get more testing and Xrays. I also have CAD and am on Plavix, so I'll probably bleed for a week. My blood pressure has been Stage 3 and 4 since my husband died. I'm a mess. I want to get the Foundation set up before I join my husband. Everything is happening at once. How fast does Cancer take over before it takes a life? Sounds like I'm panicked, doesn't it. I am.

Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it.

Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth, life does throw us some stuff, that is for sure. To answer your question about being able to care of yourself, I had similar issues. I am 80, and also live alone. I had a CT-scan (it sounded like yours - only I had more stuff), followed by a PET-scan. I sent my scans to Mayo and Video Assisted Thoracic surgery was scheduled three weeks later. They planned to do a biopsy and then remove the mass given the high probability of cancer. That way one does not have to come back. They told me that 95% of the people go home after one night, but I stayed two nights and then went home. I was told not to drive for a week and not to vacuum for two weeks(no problem there). Regarding pain, I did not have a big problem. My side was sore, and my arm stayed attached to my side for a while! They want you to cough frequently, and that hurts in the beginning, but they give you medication, so it doesn't hurt. I was off all meds within 5 days. I went home on New Year's Eve and was afraid I might have to go to a Covid filled emergency room on a holiday, but all went well. I was not even seen by a doctor the first month after surgery given the risk of Covid and my vulnerability. I went for an x-ray 3 weeks later and all good. I did test positive for Covid a month after surgery, and that slowed my recovery as far as energy level I took an anti-viral which helped a lot. I have no idea where I got Covid as I am a fanatic and had self-isolated and only did curbside pickup. Hope this decreases some of your anxiety. P.S. At the same time as the lung mass, I discovered I needed a coronary stent. I had to wait for the stent because otherwise I could not do the surgery. I did the stent a couple of months later. In your case, I imagine you are well past the dual anti-platelet therapy so not an issue.

Good Morning Merry. Thank you for your reply.

Regarding moving, our situation is different here in the desert. I live in the Joshua Tree Monument National Park area. Investors from Beverly Hills have decided that the desert is the perfect place for them to make money. Residents are NOT happy about it. It will ruin our eco-system. We are being inundated with Air BNBs. I constantly have realtors trying to get me to sell my home. Sounds like I could make a profit? Yes, indeed. However they won't pay me for the land, just the house. So ... why should I give them $4-8 million and I get $500,000? Not very good business. Many people have sold. The people that live in these communities are not rich ... mainly elderly. So, if I sold the house, where would I move to? Prices for homes are outrageous. And I would have to pay much higher property taxes.

My task is going to be finding a reliable (that isn't ADHD)) driver who doesn't charge a fortune.

I am 79 years old August 8. If I have no treatment at all and just let things go and pray for the best, how rapid does cancer spread? It probably depends on a lot of factors I'm sure. Which is worse pain pain?

I have so much legal work to do before I go to meet God and my husband. I still have things to sell and give away. I still have all the taxes to do, patient's charts to purge, and a corporation to close out. I have wall to wall boxes in my home from our now closed office that need attention. It will take me at least a year or two to complete all this paperwork. If I go through this medical process will I be able to take care of business?

I want to set up a Foundation in my husband's name for kids to go to college. I would use the proceeds of the sale of the house (after I am gone) to start it. But ... in the meantime I want to live in this house. This will take a while to set up. So, I am looking for legal input on how to do all this. In the meantime, I am living off Social Security. It all can be done, but do I have enough time? Or do I have to come up with plan B to get these kids who live here a college education.

In addition, moving would still entail everything already on my plate plus moving to another house that would cost all my proceeds from the sale of this house and I wouldn't be able to set up the Foundation.

I know pure gg stands for pure ground glass, of which I have in my right lung. What is it and what does it mean? Is it dangerous?

Thank you again Merry for being kind. I truly appreciate it and will include you in my prayers.

Elizabeth

@ranc- I am late coming into your conversation, I'm sorry. I also haven't seen a reply to Colleen's questions. If you are this ill and your doctor isn't acting well towards you, you do need to go to the hospital. I am wondering if you have?

Yeah for you!! I have to have a PET and lung function test because of one of two lesions found in my middle right lung. This will take place late August probably. Oye, another one!

Hello Elizabeth- Good morning. I know that it would be very difficult to move from the home that you and your husband built. I was throwing it out as an option only. After my husband retired we thought about moving, even to France, but decided that living only an hour from Mass General, my hospital, was far enough. So we stayed in RI. Now I'm dealing with a house remodel and a new lesion and a husband who has Parkinson's. It is indeed too much and overwhelming and all horrible but I go on because there really isn't any other option for me. And I bet for every other person in this group, no matter our silent thoughts. We just go on.

Saying one foot in front of the other, one step at a time is so accurate. Crying, screaming, and asking why, well they are all things that help us mourn our lives as they were before cancer. That's how to cope. That's part of how I have coped. I've hidden in my bed and flown to Europe. I've walked in local races and talked in front of the US reps and senate and helped kill a cigarette bill in RI.
https://my20yearscancer.com/
I have written a blog and I am part of the Connect and Mayo Community. This is how I cope outside of my loving family.

It's early yet for you to have mourned all that you have lost and move on. I've had years to do this. Be kind to yourself. Get your lab to hug you when you need it and cry your heart out. Nap when you are tired and eat cleanly.

I am here for anything I can help you with. You will find your way, Elizabeth. Given time you will discover where and how to move forward based on how you've done it in the past.

I would have made that mistake when my doctors thought at one point I might be developing it. LOL- I thought that he was being redundant.