Waiting to be staged

[Beepers7]

My name is SteveO. I am 72 and in pretty good shape, so I thought. That’s until an X-ray showed a mass in my upper left lung. Biopsy confirmed cancer. Another spot on PET. Me more biopsy then stage and treatment plan. I’m encouraged by hearing from others successes . Thanks and God Bless

[SusieJo1948]

You stay encouraged they have a lot of new treatments out that are letting stage 3 and 4 live longer. I had stage 3 in lympnodes adnoecarsinoma. I didn't do radiation therapy I felt too weak I did 6months chemo am now a 7 years survivor. Never give up and don't stop fighting. Your fighting for your life. Let us know what's happening. Were here for you. Love susiejo1948

[Beepers7 in reply to SusieJo1948]

Thanks for the encouragement susiejo. You give me hope and comfort ❤️

[Denzie Moderator Volunteer]

Welcome to the Go2 boards. Sorry for the need that drove you. Please let us know what you learn. We’ll share strategies for getting through treatment. This is no longer the automatic death sentence it once was and your general good health will serve you well getting through it.

[Beepers7 in reply to Denzie]

Denzie,

Appreciate you encouraging words. I will fight going forward with my treatment plan. Thanks again ❤️

[PegD]

Welcome Beepers7. Glad you found us as we have many stories of hope and are here to support you.

[JanetteR57]

Welcome. As others have said, so many more treatments now and all stages have survivors in them so aim to be one of them. Waiting can be a tricky time - for tests and then for results but all necessary to find the optimum treatment as it's such an individual approach these days. Keep as active as you can in the meantime... good luck.

[Beepers7 in reply to JanetteR57]

Thank you Janette,

Can believe the outpouring of love and support coming from everyone. Blessed and comforting.❤️

[Gatorb8]

Sorry to hear o your diagnosis. If you can have surgery do it. If you cant make sure they determine your biomarker profile of the tumor to see if you can do targeted therapy with a pill. Good luck to you!

[Beepers7 in reply to Gatorb8]

Such a blessing to have you all out there surviving with cancer and willing to reach out and share with us new members of the club. So encouraging. Thanks 🤗

[Feelingblessed2013]

As someone once said to me; welcome to the club none of us wanted to join.

Surgery is still considered the "gold standard" of cancer care, so if it's an option you might want to give it some serious consideration. Six years ago I was diagnosed with stage 2 squamous cell LC in my upper left lobe which was removed and I was NED for about 4 years.

Please keep us in the loop, let us know how you are doing.

[Beepers7 in reply to Feelingblessed2013]

Thanks for reaching out to me Katherine. If surgery is an option I will take it. I had heart bypass surgery in 2013 and have been doing great . Thanks again 🤗

What is NED?

[Feelingblessed2013 in reply to Beepers7]

Sorry, I tend to forget that learning the "lingo" is a process. NED stands for no evidence of disease.

[KimGO2 Partner]

Hello Beepers7, Glad you found us online! We are here to help you. I do encourage you to reach out to our helpline for education, support and other resources. Our number is 1-800-298-2436 or by email at [e-mail]. You are not alone. Sending you hugs. Warmly, Kim

[Beepers7 in reply to KimGO2]

Thanks Kim. Having EBUS today on another spot that showed up on PET scan. Then staging I presume. I will reach out again after results.

[KimGO2 Partner in reply to Beepers7]

Yes, the EBUS results will help determine your stage and then treatment recommendations can be discussed. Keep us posted. Thinking of you today. Warmly, Kim

[Denzie Moderator Volunteer in reply to Beepers7]

Have they given you a preliminary diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, adenocarcinoma in situation, large cell, or other non small cell cancer? They will have sent that first biopsy for genomic testing and I suspect there hasn’t been enough time to complete that process yet.

I look forward to hearing what they learn today.

[Beepers7 in reply to Denzie]

Thanks for checking in on me. Right now waiting to go into surgery for lymph biopsy. I will keep in touch. 😊🙏

[ElmerFudd314]

Beepers, I was in a similar situation in December 2017. Age 70 great physical condition, no other illness, diagnosed with g 4 nsclc adenocarcinoma. The doc at the VA said I might have 9 months to live. Here I am still kicking. Been through just about everything for what started out as a small tumor in the upper left lung, mets to the brain, no useful mutations. (The "good "mutations allow for use of newer drugs.) So they radiated my brain and started chemo with 2 older drugs. , After 6 cycles, (every 3 weeks.), I did pretty well and they cut me back to only 1 of the chemo drugs for "maintenance". The single drug treatment was much more tolerable. I was shifted to Opdivo for quite a while and now they are going to shift back to a 2 drug chemo regimen on Oct 31. Recently I've had radiation to some mets to the spine and rib cage. Happy Halloween to me! So if we can hold on long enough maybe they'll come up with something better. Good luck to you!

[Memaw0100]

Good luck to you. My diagnosis came after I lost my mother to lung cancer and 2 days after my brother died from throat cancer, do I expected the worst. It will be 6 years in January. I had a lobectomy and chemo. I won’t say the chemo wasn’t a little tough. I now have colon cancer and it has proven to be a much tougher advisary. After surgery and chemo it has gone to lymph nodes. Every story and every person different. Good luck and God bless!

[Beepers7 in reply to Memaw0100]

Thank you for your reply. It means a lot to me. You are all survivors and it helps us new club members hope. God bless you too!

[Beepers7]

Elmerfudd,

Thanks for reaching out to me. We are the same age and both Veterans. My diagnosis started at VA but now using KP for treatment. Fighting these health issues takes courage and determination as I see you have both. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers going forward. Your a great encouragement to us new members.

SteveO

[ThePurplePlace]

Hello SteveO - I am sorry that you are here and that you've been diagnosed with Cancer, but happy to know you found an excellent group to come to for support, questions, compassion and hope.

I'll be thinking of you hope very much you have all your results soon, so you can move forward and begin treatment. I found the early days to be some of the most overwhelming, just "waiting", but once knew where I stood and have my treatment plan, I then focused on "beating it" and that's will I will continue to do.

I have Stage IV NSCLC (Adeno) and I am currently doing quite well (in remission). I will be celebrating my 5th Cancerversary in March of 2020. Something I honestly thought would never be possible when I first learned I had Stage IV cancer. Now there are several of us who are "living" with Stage IV cancer and more and more it's being treated as a "Chronic" illness.

Thankfully, there have been many new treatment options that have become available since my diagnosis and that's great news for all Lung Cancer patients.

I wish you the very best and hope you'll soon be on the road to brighter days.

Best wishes,

Lisa

[Beepers7 in reply to ThePurplePlace]

Lisa,

Thank you for the encouragement. I’m quite teary eyed right now. Your kind and meaningful testimony give me great comfort. May you continue to thrive and reach out to others like me. Such a blessing 💕🤗

[ThePurplePlace in reply to Beepers7]

Thank YOU SteveO for your very kind response! We are all here to encourage and support each other!!

[Ncpoet]

So glad you reached out to us. I am a six year survivor of stage 4 NSCLC. Wonderful support is found here. Keep us posted on how you are doing.

[RRR737]

I'm 66 and know what you are going through because it happened to me. In 2015 I was hospitalized for anemia and during a standard x-ray they found a growth in the lower lobe of my left lung -- two weeks later I was on the table and they took the entire lobe out. Then on a follow scans they found a growth on the middle lobe of my right lung - again less than two weeks they removed the middle lobe of my right lung. One thing I would recommend if they do remove or other pain is -- my surgeon used a Pain Ball (I'll leave link below) and I felt good. It is a wonderful method of minimizing the pain. As of now I've been NED 4 years on my left and 3 years for my right. Waiting is the most horrible part -- it's like every time I have a follow up scan I always wonder if they will find something new. I do wish you the very best -- Keep us posted ---- God Bless avanospainmanagement.com/so...

[Beepers7 in reply to RRR737]

Thanks for testimony and sharing. It certainly helps us new members of the club. Guess we should be very thankful for the doctors, nurses and treatments we are able to receive. Hang in there and keep positive. I know you will. GBY

[RandyL]

Stay positive!! 3 1/2 year stage 4 NSCLC survivor, owe my life to Opdivo and am very thankful.