Tips and advice for those newly diagnosed

[AmyKamp]

Thinking back across your experience with small cell lung cancer, what have you learned? What tips, advice, perspectives helped you the most?

[Denzie Moderator]

My doctor wanted to treat my cancer with the most aggressive treatment available in 2011. What I received was standard of care for small cell lung cancer concurrent chemo radiation with Cisplatin and etopicide. Today they add an immune check point inhibitor (immunotherapy). My cancer is nsclc). I hope it’s okay to share my experience with those meds.

The first thing I tell any new patient is to plan for the worst and hope for the best. Get your durable medical and financial powers of attorney arranged. Tell your family what you want and don’t want as far as medical treatment in case you can’t speak for yourself.

Fatigue is as my greatest side effect. Try to walk a bit each day to overcome that. Buy a stool softener, laxative and anti diarrhea medicines. I used all three. Get plasticware to eat with, it cuts down on the metallic taste. Lemon drops helped with the metallic taste between meals.

Take all meds exactly as directed. Honey will help soothe the throat and reduce the irritation that radiation causes. So will aloe juice.

Rest when you need to. Effects are cumulative but you will come through this.

My coworker’s husband had the same treatment plus preventative cranial irradiation (PCI). He survived seven years with his sclc before a heart attack took him.