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Lung Cancer Stage 3B
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Jan 24, 2008 - 9:43 pm
My father was recently diagnosed with stage 3 b lung cancer that is inoperable. He started chemo yesterday (Cisplatin/Etoposide chemo). He is so weak and in a lot of pain and won't eat anything. I am so scared. Is there anyone who has had stage 3b and bounced back where there has been a quality of life. I just don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. |
Joined: Oct 2009
Hi -- I am stage 3B, inoperable. I had 6 cycles of Cisplatin/Alimta chemo and eight weeks of radiation. Scans last week revealed a much, much smaller tumor and lymph nodes having a great response. I am once again going to meet with the surgeon as they think I may be a surgical candidate. As far as weight, I was between 90 and 95 lbs. all during treatment. My last chemo was 10/5 and today I weighed 106 lbs. I am feeling better than I ever have (honest!!) and I am so very hopeful for the future. I feel as if I've learned all my lessons as far as what is important and what just is not (like my thinning hair -- I worried so much about it and now I realize it is nothing worth even thinking about). I am happy, healthy and looking so forward to wonderful holidays with my family and friends.
I think one of the most important things you can do for your dad is just be there for him. I believe being a caretaker is almost harder than being the patient -- I admire your strength, and your dad is very lucky to have you. I can tell you I would not have done so well were it not for my family.
Please check in and let us know how he is doing, and you also. We are here for you to lean on. Laura
Joined: Sep 2009
Thanks for your encouragement ! My husband started treatment this week for Stage III-b inoperable Lung cancer....Surgery could be an option if treatment shrink the tumor !!
Has your treament been rough for you ??? Made you tired & sick ? He had 2nd chemo & rad. today....Chemo 3 x per wk. and radiation 5 x per wk.
Thanks
Dorsey
Joined: Oct 2009
I'm not sure what I said already so please excuse me if I'm repeating myself -- I had six rounds of cisplatin/alimta, once a week every three weeks. I was pretty tired the week after chemo. However, I worked full time (with the exception of the week after chemo) all through treatment. I also had radiation along with chemo, which makes you a bit more tired. Toward the fifth and sixth chemo treatment it took me perhaps a week and a half to get back to baseline instead of a week. I had some neuropathy in my hands and feet, but nothing that could not easily be handled. I did experience some vomiting and chest pain in my last week of radiation. I was unable to tolerate any spicy foods or acidic foods due to radiation and was put on a bland diet. On the upside, my last chemo was 10/9 and my last radiation was 10/23. Today, not very long after treatment, I am feeling as good as I ever have. I am eating anything I want and so happy about that I gained 6 much needed pounds.
Whatever higher power you believe in -- that power I think gives us the ability to look at things in hindsight and say "that really wasn't too bad", no matter how bad it was while actually going through it. This is the power that allows us to continue. Your husband, while going through this will definitely have his good and bad days. He is lucky to have you during both those good and bad times. And on days that power does not work for you guys -- log on here and we will be here to carry you through as best we can. I know I have been so scared and confused during treatment and I have found many good answers and wonderful responses on this website -- and it is so helpful to be able to converse with people who truly know what we are going through.
Please let me know how things are going. I hope you have a wonderful and peaceful holiday. Take care -- laura
Joined: Oct 2009
I'm not sure what I said already so please excuse me if I'm repeating myself -- I had six rounds of cisplatin/alimta, once a week every three weeks. I was pretty tired the week after chemo. However, I worked full time (with the exception of the week after chemo) all through treatment. I also had radiation along with chemo, which makes you a bit more tired. Toward the fifth and sixth chemo treatment it took me perhaps a week and a half to get back to baseline instead of a week. I had some neuropathy in my hands and feet, but nothing that could not easily be handled. I did experience some vomiting and chest pain in my last week of radiation. I was unable to tolerate any spicy foods or acidic foods due to radiation and was put on a bland diet. On the upside, my last chemo was 10/9 and my last radiation was 10/23. Today, not very long after treatment, I am feeling as good as I ever have. I am eating anything I want and so happy about that I gained 6 much needed pounds.
Whatever higher power you believe in -- that power I think gives us the ability to look at things in hindsight and say "that really wasn't too bad", no matter how bad it was while actually going through it. This is the power that allows us to continue. Your husband, while going through this will definitely have his good and bad days. He is lucky to have you during both those good and bad times. And on days that power does not work for you guys -- log on here and we will be here to carry you through as best we can. I know I have been so scared and confused during treatment and I have found many good answers and wonderful responses on this website -- and it is so helpful to be able to converse with people who truly know what we are going through.
Please let me know how things are going. I hope you have a wonderful and peaceful holiday. Take care -- laura
Joined: Oct 2009
I'm not sure what I said already so please excuse me if I'm repeating myself -- I had six rounds of cisplatin/alimta, once a week every three weeks. I was pretty tired the week after chemo. However, I worked full time (with the exception of the week after chemo) all through treatment. I also had radiation along with chemo, which makes you a bit more tired. Toward the fifth and sixth chemo treatment it took me perhaps a week and a half to get back to baseline instead of a week. I had some neuropathy in my hands and feet, but nothing that could not easily be handled. I did experience some vomiting and chest pain in my last week of radiation. I was unable to tolerate any spicy foods or acidic foods due to radiation and was put on a bland diet. On the upside, my last chemo was 10/9 and my last radiation was 10/23. Today, not very long after treatment, I am feeling as good as I ever have. I am eating anything I want and so happy about that I gained 6 much needed pounds.
Whatever higher power you believe in -- that power I think gives us the ability to look at things in hindsight and say "that really wasn't too bad", no matter how bad it was while actually going through it. This is the power that allows us to continue. Your husband, while going through this will definitely have his good and bad days. He is lucky to have you during both those good and bad times. And on days that power does not work for you guys -- log on here and we will be here to carry you through as best we can. I know I have been so scared and confused during treatment and I have found many good answers and wonderful responses on this website -- and it is so helpful to be able to converse with people who truly know what we are going through.
Please let me know how things are going. I hope you have a wonderful and peaceful holiday. Take care -- laura
Joined: Oct 2009
Hello -- I haven't heard from you and was wondering how your husband is tolerating treatment? Hope you had nice holidays and will have a happy new year. Please do let us know how you are both doing. Laura
Joined: Jan 2010
I don't know if my story will help your father at all, but I'm a 4.5 year stage 3b (with stage 4 lymph node involvement) adenocarcinoma survivor. Okay, I hate the word survivor, and my six month check is coming up in 3 more weeks, and this is generally my lowest point in the cycle, but I can assure you that the past 4 years have been the best of my life. I was diagnosed on Sept. 1, 2005. My wife was 6 months pregnant (our first child), and lung cancer is what had ended my father's life. I don't know how my wife got through the diagnosis, but we had so much left to do before the baby arrived, and I had so much I wanted the baby to know that my days got filled with doing all those things you do when you think you're going to die. I bought Birthday cards, Valentine's Day cards, Christmas cards, I wrote cards and letters to a child whose gender I didn't know because I wanted it to know who I had been. It's a very long story, and so much has happened since, but what I can offer will either make you think I'm crazy, or will tell you a lot about my wife - but we now have our 4 year old daughter (Stella), and she now has two baby sisters, Grace, 21 months, and Leda, almost 3 months. And I'm not writing them cards or letters - I'm still here!
Does it suck getting this diagnosis? You bet! Is it hell going through the chemo, radiation, and, in my case, the resection? (Yup, the did the resection before finding out how far it had spread, so the follow on had to include chemo and radiation.) You know it does. You ache with what seems like every breath, and you never get warm, your stomach never seems to settle down, and people tell you stupid things like "it's all about your attitude", but there is another side, and there is an end to it, and there is life at that other end. As Stella, Grace and Leda's daddy I can tell you, there is life - and a glorious, happy, wonderful life - at the other end!
Good luck to you both.
Joined: Oct 2009
Jim -- what an amazing story you have. And attitude. Unfortunately things did not work out well for me. The surgeon ordered a PET scan and found mets to the pelvis and brain. I am undergoing whole brain radiation and radiation to the pelvis. I will rest a week or two and then begin chemo again. I am working very, very hard to find the strength you have and I will say posts like yours are what keep me going. I have raised my children, but I raised them alone and worked day and night and missed all the fun things. I now have to beautiful grandchildren and had so very many plans for them -- it's hard to not feel bad for myself for sure -- but I try so hard not to. I try to find a way to do everything I was going to do -- still planning on Disney in a few years, still planning little trips, sometimes just taking the two year old out for icecream is really so much more fun and means so much more than what it used to. I think that is what you were saying? Anyway -- thanks so much, Jim. You are an inspiration to me for sure and I hope to hear from you again. Laura
Joined: Oct 2011
you need to believe he well be alright. i have stage 3a i am not sure what the different is. when i had treatment i would drink carnation instant breakfast with some ice cream mixed in and it was better than the ensure and boost. i last only a few pound. so far i have lost 45 pounds in 4 months but with breakfast drink only help . god bless an my prayers r with you all.
Joined: Jan 2012
Hi, my mum was diagnosed in April 2011 with stage 3a lung cancer. A tumor in her right lobe and a tumor in her lymph node in chest well on the left side. We were told that mum needed the most strongest treatment of chemo and radiation at the same time for 5 weeks. Radiation daily and chemo once a week. We were told this will shrink tumor and by my Mum a few years but chances of cancer going were extremely slim. We were very scared.
Amazingly my mum who really didn't have any symptoms of lung cancer and is 69 and slim and generally in good health went thru the treatment rather good. Yes she was tired and for a 2 weeks found it extremely didfficult to swallow and was in pain. She did not loose all her hair and about 5 weeks after treatment ended up with radiation phemiontis - a cough, shortness of breath and low fever, steroids improved this condition quickly.
Mum managed to go on a holiday 3 months after treatment. She feeling a little weak and off balance and so doctor is weaning mum off steroid.
2 scans show that the cancer has GONE!. Which is rather remarkable.
My advice to loved ones and your dad is to be patient and go easy on yourself, listen to your body and stay positive.
All the best for a positive recovery.
I'm from Australia and my mum was on taxol and cisplatin and strongest radiation