New member & just diagnosed..

hearrean

I am a 58 year old male, former smoker (quit 6 years ago). After about 2 weeks of testing at MD Anderson in Houston, I received my officail diagnosis yesterday. The Doc said it is Large Cell Lung Cancer with 2 nodules/masses in the upper right lobe with (2) regional mediastinal lymph nodes involved. He didn't give me a staging & I forgot to ask. My MRI/Brain Scan was negative. Unless he was just trying to make me feel better, he did say this was treatable & even curable! He wants me to exercise a minimum of (1) hour a day & keep postive. He is referring me to one of their Thoracic Oncologists (on 11/12) for probably a 3 month regime of chemo & then back to him for surgery. (I guess this depends upon tumor shrinkage). He has also referred me to one of their Pulmonary Docs for an EBUS next week which will be done under general anesthesia. I suppose this will check/biopsy the actual affected lymph nodes.
Just wanted to share & introduce myself.

CHG

Hello,
Today I am a 59 year old female. I was 56 at the time of my dianosis. I had the same dignosis pretty much as yours in 2005. I had 6 weeks of daily radiation and weekly chemo (carboplatinum/taxol). At the end of that time I had surgery. My upper right lobe was removed. I also had 20 lymph nodes removed and one rib bone. My pathology report was negative for cancer. I did have two sessions of adjuvant chemo after surgery. That was in July 2005. My scans have been clean since. Do stay positive. Sounds like you have a good and positive doctor.

spat

Hi Hearrean, sorry to hear about your diagnosis. My dad has cancer..he also stopped 6 years ago and we found out in June that he has lung cancer - stage4. my experience with doctors is that they are pretty straight forward and generally don't use the word "curable" for cancer w/o knowing the staging. MD Anderson is one of the best hospitals out there. I also agree with the exercise..i'm learning so much with my dad and have found that basic exercise and proper diet (lots of tomatoes, tumeric, broccoli, etc.) can do wonders for your immune system. that is what helps the good cells fight the bad cancer cells. i hope your treatment goes well. my prayers are w/ you...do stay positive there are good drugs out there but most of all your own positive energy is what gives your body what it needs to battle this.

cabbott

spat said:

Hi Hearrean, sorry to hear about your diagnosis. My dad has cancer..he also stopped 6 years ago and we found out in June that he has lung cancer - stage4. my experience with doctors is that they are pretty straight forward and generally don't use the word "curable" for cancer w/o knowing the staging. MD Anderson is one of the best hospitals out there. I also agree with the exercise..i'm learning so much with my dad and have found that basic exercise and proper diet (lots of tomatoes, tumeric, broccoli, etc.) can do wonders for your immune system. that is what helps the good cells fight the bad cancer cells. i hope your treatment goes well. my prayers are w/ you...do stay positive there are good drugs out there but most of all your own positive energy is what gives your body what it needs to battle this.

Definately do the exercise! I've read research on exercise and the changes it makes in your body are real and effective--sometimes as beneficial as meds. What's more, the exercise makes your body stronger so that you can tolerate more of the treatments and surgeries that fighting this disease takes. Anyone, no matter what age or level of fitness, can start exercising and improve in fitness. But don't start out trying to run a marathon. First of all, you would get hurt and get worse. Second, marathon running is too much exercise even for healthy people! Just start easy--something like 10 minutes of walking if you aren't used to it. When you can do that well three times a day, add five minutes and do that. Gradually work up to an hour at a whack. If walking is not your thing, consider a sport. I like group fitness classes. Strength training 1 to 2 times a week is great too. I'm a lady, but I use the local Y as my fitness club. I can't lift what the guys do, but I'm improving and it shows at work. I can bounce up the stairs and down the hall with the best of them in spite of missing part of my right lung.

By the way, my surgeon used the cure word with me too. I'm stage one, and since my cancer was confined to one lobe, removing the lobe could be the key to stopping the cancer. I have CAT scans every 3 months for 2 years and we hope for the best. I'm not as sure that my attitude will or won't make the difference, but the trip is better with a positive attitude. So I exercise and fill my plate with veggies and hope for the best. Good luck!

jaminkw

cabbott said:

Definately do the exercise! I've read research on exercise and the changes it makes in your body are real and effective--sometimes as beneficial as meds. What's more, the exercise makes your body stronger so that you can tolerate more of the treatments and surgeries that fighting this disease takes. Anyone, no matter what age or level of fitness, can start exercising and improve in fitness. But don't start out trying to run a marathon. First of all, you would get hurt and get worse. Second, marathon running is too much exercise even for healthy people! Just start easy--something like 10 minutes of walking if you aren't used to it. When you can do that well three times a day, add five minutes and do that. Gradually work up to an hour at a whack. If walking is not your thing, consider a sport. I like group fitness classes. Strength training 1 to 2 times a week is great too. I'm a lady, but I use the local Y as my fitness club. I can't lift what the guys do, but I'm improving and it shows at work. I can bounce up the stairs and down the hall with the best of them in spite of missing part of my right lung.

By the way, my surgeon used the cure word with me too. I'm stage one, and since my cancer was confined to one lobe, removing the lobe could be the key to stopping the cancer. I have CAT scans every 3 months for 2 years and we hope for the best. I'm not as sure that my attitude will or won't make the difference, but the trip is better with a positive attitude. So I exercise and fill my plate with veggies and hope for the best. Good luck!

I am doing chemo for a malignant pleura (space between the chest wall and the lung. I worked out for five years--the last two on a total gym that I loved. I am afraid to use it because it has a lot of chest work. I feel sure my cancer is not worse because my chest was strong for a 63-yr-old woman but I am so afraid of doing something now to trigger another infusion (fluid filling the lung). I know this is probably crazy but I have not yet gotten past the fear. I've only had three chemo treatments with seven more schedule so I'm still working on changing my mental perspective.

lagobabe

Hi Hearrean, I'm a 20 year lung cancer survivor. I was diagnosed in 1987 with adenocarcenoma cancer in my left lung. They removed 1/2 of the lung. and in 1991 I was diagnosed with large cell cancer in my right lung , they removed a little better than 1/4th of my right lung. I will tell you that exercise is very important I do the eliptical 4 days a week for 20 minutes and then do abdominal and lift weights, all together I'm at the fittness center about 1hr and 15 minutes. I find that ,that is what keeps me breathing pretty good. I still have a check up once a year, and yes I still get panicky everytime they look at the x-rays, I don't think you ever get over that. I do very well for my age which is almost 74 yrs old, I was diagnosed at 53 yrs old. I never had any chemo or radiation, I will admit my immune system is not the best as I seem to catch everything going around even though I do all kinds of vitamins. I would say you have a good Dr. since he used the CURE word. I had one of those Dr's too. I had all my surgerys at Scott & White hospital in Temple, Tex. I know MD Anderson is a real good hospital though too, a lot of my friends go there.
So I would tell you to exercise after the surgery and don't wait to long to start. Walk for 5 minutes the first day and then add a minute everyday until you are comfortable with at least 30 minutes. I have a web page on CSN under lagobabe If you want to contact me, please feel free to do so.
Good luck

cerobby

cabbott said:

Definately do the exercise! I've read research on exercise and the changes it makes in your body are real and effective--sometimes as beneficial as meds. What's more, the exercise makes your body stronger so that you can tolerate more of the treatments and surgeries that fighting this disease takes. Anyone, no matter what age or level of fitness, can start exercising and improve in fitness. But don't start out trying to run a marathon. First of all, you would get hurt and get worse. Second, marathon running is too much exercise even for healthy people! Just start easy--something like 10 minutes of walking if you aren't used to it. When you can do that well three times a day, add five minutes and do that. Gradually work up to an hour at a whack. If walking is not your thing, consider a sport. I like group fitness classes. Strength training 1 to 2 times a week is great too. I'm a lady, but I use the local Y as my fitness club. I can't lift what the guys do, but I'm improving and it shows at work. I can bounce up the stairs and down the hall with the best of them in spite of missing part of my right lung.

By the way, my surgeon used the cure word with me too. I'm stage one, and since my cancer was confined to one lobe, removing the lobe could be the key to stopping the cancer. I have CAT scans every 3 months for 2 years and we hope for the best. I'm not as sure that my attitude will or won't make the difference, but the trip is better with a positive attitude. So I exercise and fill my plate with veggies and hope for the best. Good luck!

I too am a new member. I had surgery last week,
non small cell) they removed 2/3 rd's of the upper left lobe. This is my very first posting and I'm not even sure if I'm doing this right, but thank God I found this site. I'm going back to the surgeon next week for post op exam. I stopped smoking over 30 years ago (I'm a 58 female) and consider myself in excellent health. As soon as I'm cleared I will be exercising my butt off but am frustrated that I feel so tired and and still short of breath after talking. Frankly I'm still in shock. When will this pass? I'm overwhelmed....