1. < Lung Cancer

Small Cell Lung Cancer: Let's connect

Posted by Merry, Alumni Mentor @merpreb, Jan 12, 2019

Most of the discussions about lung cancer has been about Non-small cell lung cancers. There are many sub-types of this that are included. But there is another type of lung cancer that needs to be discussed and that is Small Cell Lung Cancer. This aggressive form of lung cancer most commonly occurs in smokers. It usually starts in the breathing tubes (bronchi) and grows very quickly, creating large tumors and spreading (metastasizing) throughout the body.
Symptoms include bloody phlegm, cough, chest pain, and shortness of breath.
Treatment includes surgery (for small tumors) as well as chemotherapy, sometimes in combination with radiation therapy.
Lung cancers cells are sometimes classified by where they tend to grow.
There have been huge breakthroughs in lung cancer research of late.
Please join @margot69 and I in this new disussion.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lung Cancer Support Group.

B &PopKorhn | @popkorhn | Jan 23, 2020

I am good .we both play pickleball together 5 days a week. Hopefully this treatment will work for him. So far so good. We just want another option, should this treatment not be successful to hold this aggressive cancer at bay. Hopefully all will go well .

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1 reply
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Jan 22, 2020
In reply to @popkorhn "After his first round of Chemo for 3 days, there has been no side effects at..." + (show)
@popkorhn

After his first round of Chemo for 3 days, there has been no side effects at all. He had an anti nausea medication drip with his first treatment. He still has a Great Appetite and he exercises 5 days a week , playing pickleball or golfing. We are waiting for the fatigue to appear but so far so good. Three more rounds of treatment to see where we are. If the treatment is not working, then we will seek a second opinion. We are just seeking Out any other Small cell lung cancer treatment alternatives at this point. I have not seen any alternatives thus far.

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@popkorhn- I hear you, I really do. Small cell cancers are very potent and are difficult to treat. I am happy to hear that Pop is still this active! Wow! He's feisty! This is a great great sign for a positive outlook on life. All engines at full blast! Please, please be careful about seeking an alternative treatments outside of conventional medicine. I agree that a second opinion would be the next step- but aside from that I completely understand. I also love my husband enough that if he were ill would try to go the ends of the earth to maybe find a cure. I hope that you are getting enough good sleep. How are you holding up?

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B &PopKorhn | @popkorhn | Jan 22, 2020
In reply to @merpreb "@popkorhn- I am sorry that I have been away. I had a scary bout of very..." + (show)
@merpreb

@popkorhn- I am sorry that I have been away. I had a scary bout of very bad vertigo. I'm much better now but waiting to see a specialist for this. Now that the room has stopped twirling I can type!
Fatigue is a BIG problem and side effect of many cancer treatments and I know that you know this. It must be great that he has no other side effects, so far as this writing.
It might be a great idea to get him outside and walk for a bit- or until he wants to rest. How is his appetite?

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After his first round of Chemo for 3 days, there has been no side effects at all. He had an anti nausea medication drip with his first treatment. He still has a Great Appetite and he exercises 5 days a week , playing pickleball or golfing. We are waiting for the fatigue to appear but so far so good. Three more rounds of treatment to see where we are. If the treatment is not working, then we will seek a second opinion. We are just seeking Out any other Small cell lung cancer treatment alternatives at this point. I have not seen any alternatives thus far.

REPLY
1 reply
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Jan 21, 2020
In reply to @popkorhn "Margo, my husband was just diagnosed with small cell lung cancer which has spread to his..." + (show)
@popkorhn

Margo, my husband was just diagnosed with small cell lung cancer which has spread to his liver and bladder. The diagnosis is poor, yet with new treatments, keeping it at bay and living with it is increasingly possible. They found his secondary tumor in the liver before Christmas and the primary lung mass on January 6th. Luckily we live in Tampa Florida and He decided to be treated at Moffitt by a small cell Thoracic specialist, Dr Alberto Chiappori who is doing a clinical trial For small cell endocrine Lung cancer study . He saw my husband and started him on a 3 cocktail Chemo and immunotherapy treatment immediately. Pop had his first treatment January 15th,16th and 17th. So far he has had NO side effects, yet fatigue often happens this second week.
We have been told that This type of cancer is very effective when treated with Chemo. I have posted the 3 drugs he is receiving, should you want to read that post as well. Happy to speak with you if you like.

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@popkorhn- I am sorry that I have been away. I had a scary bout of very bad vertigo. I'm much better now but waiting to see a specialist for this. Now that the room has stopped twirling I can type!
Fatigue is a BIG problem and side effect of many cancer treatments and I know that you know this. It must be great that he has no other side effects, so far as this writing.
It might be a great idea to get him outside and walk for a bit- or until he wants to rest. How is his appetite?

REPLY
1 reply
B &PopKorhn | @popkorhn | Jan 20, 2020
In reply to @margot69 "Thank you for starting this discussion, Merry. I was just diagnosed with SCLC. A PET scan..." + (show)
@margot69

Thank you for starting this discussion, Merry. I was just diagnosed with SCLC. A PET scan showed a spot in my left lung, nodes and 3 spots on my liver. A liver biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. If you smoke or not, if you ever smoked, if you worked in an industry tgat coukd cause lung issues, if you are over a certain age, insist on at least a low dose CT!! I had a cough for months doctors just attributed to smoking. This was not a smoker's cough. My doctors were unfamiliar with LDCT and none available in my area. I knew of this because my cousin's doctor, in NC, has had her do them for 3 years. I kept after my Pulmonologist who would just respond to quit smoking. Finally, he says, "I will order a CT, if it will make you feel better, but it probably won't show anything." Had the test and get a call to call his office ASAP! By now, this had been going on for about 4 months! So, now I am in the nightmare of urgency. He tells me to start treatment or I am going to die. I can't even get into see an Oncologist here until next week. I called Stanford and will get a call back in 2-4 days. I would like to know if anyone has been treated at Stanford. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

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Margo, my husband was just diagnosed with small cell lung cancer which has spread to his liver and bladder. The diagnosis is poor, yet with new treatments, keeping it at bay and living with it is increasingly possible. They found his secondary tumor in the liver before Christmas and the primary lung mass on January 6th. Luckily we live in Tampa Florida and He decided to be treated at Moffitt by a small cell Thoracic specialist, Dr Alberto Chiappori who is doing a clinical trial For small cell endocrine Lung cancer study . He saw my husband and started him on a 3 cocktail Chemo and immunotherapy treatment immediately. Pop had his first treatment January 15th,16th and 17th. So far he has had NO side effects, yet fatigue often happens this second week.
We have been told that This type of cancer is very effective when treated with Chemo. I have posted the 3 drugs he is receiving, should you want to read that post as well. Happy to speak with you if you like.

REPLY
2 replies
joangma | @joangma | Jan 17, 2020
In reply to @colleenyoung "Hi @joangma, I'm glad that you are very satisfied with the care you received for non-small..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

Hi @joangma, I'm glad that you are very satisfied with the care you received for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Let's return this discussion back to talking about small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and to support @popkorhn and her husband.

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u.w. Madison, wi has one of the best cancer hospitals in the country. get to this place earlier the better. the doctor i had was ANDREW BASCHNAGEL 608-263-8500. FAX-608-262-9167. GLAD TO HELP.

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B &PopKorhn | @popkorhn | Jan 16, 2020
In reply to @margot69 "Happy you have joined, lady. I am Stage IV now with nodes and spots on my..." + (show)
@margot69

Happy you have joined, lady. I am Stage IV now with nodes and spots on my liver. Brain MRI was clear, so far. If the doctors had listened to me for months, maybe this would have been caught sooner. I haven't even seen an Oncologist yet! Praying we can all beat it. Were you sick from the treatments and where were you treated? Since this is a Mayo discussion board, I assume there.

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Hi Margot, My husband just started his Chemo therapy for metastasized Small Cell Lung Cancer which is very aggressive and non curable but treatable. Is your cancer small cell? I would like to find out what successes which others may have.

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B &PopKorhn | @popkorhn | Jan 14, 2020

Thank you so so much Merry. Pop and I are here at Moffitt, waiting for a Brain scan ,then off again tomorrow for his first Chemo treatment. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

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Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Jan 14, 2020

@popkorhn- I wish you both the best of success with chemo. It sounds like Popkorkn is has been very active and and that will do him well in the coming days. Water is essential during chemo and I drank tons of it. I set the amt of time between each glass and stuck to it throughout my 4 months. Also walking is superb!
I wonder if the anti anxiety could be changed to something less "groggy producing". Also you might want to find out what other drugs are given like prednisone, anti-nausea and even anti-anxiety. What I did was call the infusion nurses ahead of time and ask all sorts of thing. You still have time.
I'll stay with you here during this trying time and I hope that you will continue to keep us updated. My best to you for a very successful chemo time. If you have any question please do not hesitate for one minute to ask- day or night.

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B &PopKorhn | @popkorhn | Jan 14, 2020

Thank you so much for asking. Busy busy! My husband and I played pickleball yesterday and got our 10,000 steps in. Our two children and families celebrated my birthday with us last night and we were both exhausted by 10 PM, our normal bedtime. Popkorhn is on anxiety medication which helps him sleep , yet I feel it contributes to his fatigue too. He is off to play golf this morning and did take, for the first time, water. I was surprised he actually listened to me. So yes, I agree that water is huge. I am off to take grandkids to school for my daughter in law ,who is a nurse and works two days a week, then off to pickleball before we go for a brain scan. While we will start Chemo on Wednesday, I am trying to schedule in at least a walk each day. Thank you for your support and reminding us that we need to put the right things in our bodies and exercise.

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