Living with lung cancer - Introduce yourself & come say hi

Mother having severe pain on her back and arms
Any suggestions how to ease her pain

Jackie- I just got back from my 1st 3 month check up at Mayo, with a good report, so first tell him that you're at the right place to quell fears! I think what stage he is at is key. Mine was small enough to where they did a " segmental resection" surgery this April that included removing the lymph nodes and following up with 4 rounds of chemo during the summer. The most traumatic part was the lung biopsy at the hospital near home that diagnosed it and resulted in a partial lung collapse.
The American Cancer Society had the most helpful website. But, talking to doctors will get him info specific to his situation. And, don't hesitate to get a 2nd opinion. (At home they wanted to remove more than what the surgeon at Mayo felt was prudent.) I now am back to where I was on exercise or a bit better and feel better than ever even though I know I still have moderate COPD.

Hi @shirl3924, just checking in. I know you saw the oncologist earlier this month. How is your husband doing? How are you?

Jackie,

I was diagnosed with lung cancer in December of 2016 so its going on two now. When first diagnosed I was in shock, confused and angry so I understand how he feels. How an individual handles the treatments is dependent on what chemo drugs are used and the general health of the patient. The radiation treatments I received in 2017 were not difficult but chemo therapy made me nauseous form 7 to 9 days after each treatment (I had 30 rounds of radiation and 4 chemo treatments). The cancer returned this year in my right humerus which caused a lot of pain, when I returned to Mayo I got 5 rounds of radiation and I am currently on immuno therapy. Being that the cancer was now in my shoulder I was given higher amounts of radiation than I did when it was in my lung where there was a concern for my heart. This made me slightly nauseous maybe 3 times but not nearly as bad as with the chemo and the feeling did not last long. One of my close friends from college also had lung cancer, he lost one of his lungs and is doing very well ( its been 5 years for him so he is in remission).

The size of his tumor could be the reason for his collapsing lung, my tumor was an inch long so I did not experience any affects to my lung. My friends tumor was the size of a baseball so he had issues and had to remove the lung.

@nev355 Thank you for joining connect and answering me. My friend is still in shock with his diagnosis. If you don't mind me asking a few more questions for him? How long have you been living with this disease?
Were the treatments easy to handle? He is having an issue right now with his lungs collapsing. The Dr's can't start any treatments till they get that under control. Is that common to happen with this disease?
Well thank you again,
Jackie

Hi Jackie. I have non-small cell lung cancer. The treatments that I received was radiation, chemo therapy, currently I a being treated with an immuno therapy drug tagrisso and there is also targeted therapy. Immuno therapy can be used in conjunction with chemo or by itself.

Does anyone have any knowledge about squamous non small cell lung cancer that has spread to nearby lymph nodes? I asking this for a friend of mine.Curious about treatment options for this type of cancer?
Thank you in advance
Jackie

Hello- You have your hands full!! I'm sorry for all your discomforts and challenges. Going from walker to cane is a big step so keep up the !! Stay strong!!

Hi@colleenyoung. He had three days of antibiotics in the hospital last week and has taken them orally since. WBC was down some when he had blood work this morning.He went for a bone marrow biopsy this morning. It went well and he ate a good breakfast after. He has been napping since we got home. We won’t see the oncologist again until October 1. He continues to run a low grade temperature and is in a lot of discomfort on the side where he had surgery. I am trying to get his mind off of what is in the future and get him to live today. I don’t want depression to get him down but he is giving in to it. We did go out on our pontoon boat and watch the sunset yesterday.

Hi @shirl3924, how are you and your husband doing today?
Did your husband start antibiotics already? Are they helping? I'm not a medical professional, but I assume they suspect infection somewhere if antibiotics were prescribed. Like @marylou705 said, it may be an infection elsewhere.

I know you are frightfully worried. But as @merpreb said, try to focus your worry into action. Your questions are good questions. When you see your husband's medical team this week as how all these tests are connected. Repeat back to them what you understood them to have said. This will help remember what they said and expose anything that you may have understood incorrectly or that they didn't explain thoroughly enough.

Have you been able to find a way to help your husband feel comfortable?