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Any nsclc stage 4 or stage 3b survivors
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Nov 26, 2005 - 8:05 pm
Just wondering if there are any stage 4 or stage 3b with pleural effusion survivors out there and what your treatment was. My father has nsclc stage 3b with pleural effusion |
Joined: Jul 2005
I know your having a tough time right now. Just take it day by day. Keep his spirits high.
Joined: Aug 2005
not sure i actually qualify as a survivor but i am still here... On August 1 they gave me 30 days to three months.... Hello, i am still here. And doing well. I am still working full time, going to school to get my masters and not worrying so much about whether my house is clean. I was diagnosis in July due to a pleural effusion of the left lung. they have never found the tumor. my last ct/pet scan was about a month ago and none of my scans have ever shown the actually cancer. The thoratic surgeon gave me my timeline when he did the thorascopic and placed a pleurx cather in. The effusion has been dry for about a week and i don't see my oncologist until Feb. I think i will take surviorship status. as we have heard on this sight time and agian a strong faith in God and a good attitude can see you through anything. Even when the news is not so good. Take care
Joined: Sep 2005
Hi there. Thank you for your response. It sounds like you are doing very well. Did they ever give you a stage and did you ever have any treatment at all other then the catheter?
Joined: Aug 2005
HI, yes i am doing very well. After they placed the cather in, i went on 4 rounds of chemo, three weeks apart. Taxol and carbo. I actually tolerated that very well. A little sick, but zofron helped that. I am now on Tarceva and that is making me very tired, but i am hopeful that it will ease up. Can you tell me your story. Some days i struggle more with my emotions than others, i still get back aches, which worry me, but i feel grateful i am still able to live my life. How is your father doing? I hope well. I was staged at 3b or a 4.
Joined: Sep 2005
Hi there. My father actually has nsclc and was diagnosed Aug. 11, 05. Initially he had no symptoms but coughing up blood which revealed a 7cm mass in the right lung making him a stage 3a but because there was a pleural effusion he was 3b even though the pleural effusion did not have cancer cells. My father opted to go for a clinical trial where they do carbo and taxol three weeks apart anywhere from 6-8 cycles and you are also taking an oral agent daily throughout, similar to Tarceva but supposed to be more potent. After the first treatment we saw improvements immediately. We are entering cycle 4 next week and hoping to make it through to the full 8 and get this thing under control. I am trying to keep myself positive as my father is feeling better but he is exhausted from the chemo but that seems to go away just before the next cycle is due. We are praying a lot and have a strong Roman Catholic faith.