Grandma of many

[Palmdalegirl]

Hi everyone, my name is Brenda. I am 61 years old, and I was diagnosed one year ago. I had a lobectomy and a wedge resection as my treatment. At the time of my surgery, they removed 15 lymph nodes, and they were all cancer free, so hopefully everything was caught early and no more problems. I get scanned and blood work every 6 months. My last appointment was good, and I have another appointment coming up in September. I see my Surgeon at each of those appointments, and in between I see my Oncologist. Life is good, I feel so blessed, I have 2 new grand babies just born in July, 10 days apart, and I continue to be positive. So, this is my story. If anybody has any questions regarding my treatment, I'd be happy to answer.

[bellaella]

good to hear.. keep positive.. enjoy those babies!

[Ruthie1950]

You are blessed! God is good. I pray you continue to get only cancer free reports!

[Spainy]

Welcome Grandma, our ages and cancer story very similar, I'm almost 2 1/2 yrs cancer free and scanned every 6 months. Had upper right VATS. Mine was found incidentally when they were looking at what was going on in my left shoulder. How did you discover yours?

[Palmdalegirl in reply to Spainy]

I got what I thought was a upper respiratory infection and my doc put me on antibiotics and steroids. I called her 3 weeks later and told her I was still sick, so she decided to send me for a chest X-ray, and she called me that afternoon and said they saw something suspicious, and then the whole process started. I thank God it was caught early. How was yours caught?

[Spainy in reply to Palmdalegirl]

See above, my original reply to you. Caught incidentally looking for left shoulder issues but found in right lung.

[Feddeb in reply to Spainy]

I tripped over a kerb and something showed up on x ray. Someone had called an ambulance as it was on a main road. Took ages to come. By the time it arrived i felt ok and wanted to just go home. Glad i gave in and went to a and e for a check.up

[Memaw0100]

I am so happy for you. I had a wedge resection and chemo 3 and a half years ago. My doctors believed mine was caught early. So far so go. I pray your next visit goes well for you!

[Palmdalegirl in reply to Memaw0100]

Thank you so much, and that's wonderful that it's been 3 and 1/2 years for you. I pray that all of us beat this ugly disease.

[JeanE41]

Welcome. I had a lobectomy for nsclc 3 months after a lumpectomy for breast cancer in 2015. I'm now 75 years old and so far so good. My next scan is in October. I plan to enjoy each day to the best of my ability. I'm ahead of you in grand children, since I have an 18 month old great grandson. We love to hear success stories and hope the good news continues.

Jean

[Palmdalegirl in reply to JeanE41]

I'm so happy everything is good for you so far, and I pray it continues to go well. This is a ugly disease and I pray they will find a cure for it. I have 5 grown kids, and this was very upsetting for them as well as me.

[JeanE41 in reply to Palmdalegirl]

I agree that this disease can be harder on our loved ones than on us. It's hard to watch someone you love go through the treatments and the aftereffects of them. I, too, pray for a cure or at least effective, long term treatments that are not so debilitating.

Take care. Enjoy each day. They're precious.

Jean

[ThePurplePlace]

Hi Brenda,

Congratulations on your new Grandbabies! I can hear the "joy" in your words and am so happy you are doing well and enjoying being a Grandmother.

I am also battling LC (Stage IV NSCLC) Adeno - Diagnosed on 3/27/15 at 56. I had no lung symptoms and the only warning was a sudden onset of what I thought was "vertigo". Two days later I had an urgent CT Scan and they found a brain tumor and significant edema. I was immediately admitted, I quickly started having speech issues and lost the use of my right hand/arm. During that hospital stay, we learned that my Primary Cancer was Lung and that I also had a Pulmonary Embolism -- I was very ill - very suddenly and I can still remember feeling totally overwhelmed and that my life was soon going to be over. Neither of my tumors were considered operable and the first plan was to treat he brain tumor.

I've since been through Cyberknife, Chemo, Radiation and Immunotherapy. I am currently "Stable" and off treatment and have been for almost a full year now. I had an excellent response to Opdivo and feel very fortunate. I did have to stop it due to "low grade" Pneumonitis, (last August), but it kept working -- the tumor shrank more, there have been no new nodes/masses and it's now tiny (about 12 mm) and has been stable for 11 months! Last scan was in June, next is September, with labs and port flushes every six weeks. Hoping to be NED on my next scan. In June my Onc said, he now feels the "blip" that is still showing is very likely residual scar tissue and it has not changed in months. The report did that that there is no sign of any metastatic disease below the diaphragm and that was great to hear.

The best news of all is that I am also now a "Nana" and was blessed with my very first grand-baby (a little girl) in February. She is a dream come true and added lots of JOY and LOVE into my life. Having her has also given more hope and inspiration to fight hard, as I want to be in her life for a long time. I know that I am very fortunate to have her and admit that when I was diagnosed almost 2 1/2 years ago, I never expected to experience the love and joy of becoming a Grandmother, something I have always wanted and dreamed of. Being a MOM has always been the greatest JOY in my life, I love both of my boys, so much! They have always been the best part of my life! Now, being a "Nana" gives a whole new meaning to the word LOVE - I absolutely LOVE this baby with all my heart and cherish every moment that I spend with her....she is truly a 'gift' to love and cherish.

Thanks for sharing your story - I'm so happy that we are both doing well and LOVING our precious grandchildren.

~ Lisa

[FtB_Peggy]

Welcome, wonderful to have you join us. We are very happy to have you here, and hope you keep talking!