Sometimes we talk about the gifts of cancer, sometimes it's things we just didn't know.
For me it was learning that lung cancer is survivable. I thought it was an automatic death sentence. Then I met a man on a message board who was in his 13th year of survival who survived had brain mets twice. I broke down with deep sobs of relief.
It is late evening and the side effects of chemo have been making me feel challenged all of this week. When the night draws in it all seems more frightening. Then I come to this site and there is a wonderful gift of hope and encouragement from Denzie. Not for the first time I will be copying that message and saving it with others so they are there for me when I am in most need. Thank you so very much Denzie. Thank you to all those who take the time to let us know that there is hope. Goodnight and God bless . Sally70
Great post Denzie - I'm continuously surprised 
Like you I hadn't heard of long term LC survivors until I became involved in lung research groups and was told I was replacing a couple of men who had survived 15 years at that stage (I was 3.5 yrs out at that point) so that gave me huge hope The other myth busted was redeveloping my lung health/fitness after my surgeon explained that after my upper left lobectomy, if I continued being active, breathing could improve and the lung could redevelop. I went onto recover my previous 130 lengths several times a week and increased it incrementally - within a couple of years swimming 360 in one session (over 5 hours) accumulating 980 and 989 miles in aid of lung cancer research charity for two consecutive years... never give up....
You're my hero!
Bless you - just need to recover my fitness again after all this lockdown - swimming pools reopened 2 weeks ago in UK and I started off with 64 (a mile) and built up to 92 after 5 days as previous lockdown swimming resulted in tennis elbow- doing too much too soon! Swam 106 lengths tonight so onwards and upwards (slowly - I will get there! )
You are an inspiration Janette. I am also a swimmer but don’t do the lengths that you achieve. It’s good to be able to get back into our swimming routine again taking it slowly. I am convinced swimming saved me both physically and mentally.
Thank you Denzie you are an inspiration. Like you I very quickly learned that you can survive from lung cancer and also regain your previous fitness through hard work! I think the main thing I have learned is that this cruel disease can affect people who are fit and have never smoked plus some very young ones. Like Janette I am a swimmer and my consultant said that helped my recovery.
Well Denzie great question. What have I learned about cancer? Well I thought for sure it was a death sentence. I knew in 2009 I had a slow growing lung cancer at the time we called BAC. I found out back then that we would just watch it and that someday it would could turn and become Adenocarcinoma. Well it did in 2019. Then I got scared. I started treatment with Carboplatin, Alimta and Keytruday. Well I was told maybe six months to live in July 2019 and I'm still here. I am for sure not who I used to be both physically and emotionally. I lost Karen is what I'm saying. I went today for my first appointment with a cancer therapist. It is the smartest thing I did. I now have someone who I can talk to about my feelings once a week. I found I was becoming bitter telling my family and friends how I was feeling and started staying away from them. I kept wishing they would research my cancer so I didn't have to keep telling my story. Anyway I realized that what I thought my friends and family would be there for me were not. The people I didn't think would be there for me are. I didn't realize how afraid people of to talk about cancer. I realized I waisted a lot of energy that I could have spent researching my cancer trying to explain "why I'm still living at 21 months when I only had 6 months". What I learned about cancer is no one really wants to hear about your cancer. Don't mean to be a Debbie downer but this is what I learned about cancer. Karen in Minnesota
I think most people are so afraid of it that they don't want to know 'how you're doing'. They want to know just enough that they think they have nothing in common with us and they can't get it. The other half think that you've had chemo and radiation you're over it. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
So glad you have someone you can talk to. And I'm sorry you had to learn who your true friends are this way but I'm grateful to learn you have them.
Did they do biomarker testing on your BAC when it became active adenocarcinoma?
Hey Denzie. Yes they sent my biopsy to Foundation One in July 2019. I so agree with what you said. When we need people the most they are to afraid to really hear about our cancer. I myself just felt more alone. However, I have always been a survivor with a positive attitude and this helps me so much. Thank you for the kind words Denzie. Karen in Minnesota
That lung cancer is not a death sentence. When I was diagnosed in 2015, a friend and neighbor was a 20 year survivor and gave me hope that I, too, could survive it. After 9 years at 82 years of age, I'm NED and able to do many things I enjoy and have been allowed to meet 6 great grandchildren. Life has been good once treatment was completed. The support, advice and information from Health Unlocked has been invaluable in this journey.
How do you calculate cancer free years?
What are your favorite Lung Cancer related charities to donate to?
Happy Days Are Here Again
