stage 3 A nsclc

don09

Hi My Wife has 3A NSC-She just finished 5 weeks of chemo and radiation.They are going to do a scan the first week of January.Any related info is very much appreciated. GOD BLESS MERRY CHRISTMAS

soccerfreaks

specifics
If you were more specific with your questions, Don, it might compel many more folks to respond. Then again, maybe there is a holiday lull, involved, to be candid.

In any case, I am a survivor of NSCLS (squamous cell carcinoma in my case) and, following surgery in January of '08 and subsequent chemotherapy, I am now NED (No Evidence of Disease).

So let me answer that unspoken question first: there is hope! There are many others who habituate this board and the site who can also testify to that.

Stage 3A is a heckuva lot better than stage 4, to be sure, yet there are a bunch of stage 4 survivors here, too.

If you are also asking about what to expect in the coming months and years, the question is harder to answer, as each of us seems to travel a slightly different road, even if we are battling the exact same cancer in the exact same location.

I would advise that you consider this the type of event and experience that you might equate to gorilla warfare, and, as a result, your wife may suffer from some of the same kinds of debilitating effects, sometimes ignored with sometimes unnecessary and unforeseen tragic results of a sort you might not have foreseen.

In other words, be sure to recognize up front that your wife is now (I would suspect) carrying around a bunch of mental stress in addition to whatever the cancer and the treatments have done to impact her physically.

I would advise, don, if you have the time, that you go back through the posts on this board, even paging back, in order to read about what others with similar diagnoses and treatments have dealt with.

I would further advise, don, that you have a look at the Caregivers and Emotional Support boards in this discussion area. These target the most critical person in your wife's life right now: YOU.

That said, let me also advise that you recognize this: to be a good caregiver, you must take good care of the giver. Which is to say, don, be sure not to get so engrossed in this that you lose yourself. Make time for yourself (and, yes, that sounds odd, me saying that to you, man to man but it is true.)

I wish your wife and you, and all of your loved ones, the very best.

Hope and humor!

Take care,

Joe

Laura88

Hello Don -- and happy
Hello Don -- and happy holidays. I think, as always, all of Joe's responses are great and should be read carefully -- he always gives great advice. The only thing I would like to add is that for me (also going through 6 rounds of chemo and 8 weeks of radiation) the scans are always the hardest and most stressful part. Your wife may need extra support around those scans. I have only had one scan since treatment ended, that scan being in November. My next scans are in February. I am always most grateful for my husband, who knows how stressful these scans are for me. Sounds like you are the same support to your wife that my husband is to me and I can tell you, I could not get through any of this without him. That said, I understand how horrible this is for him, also, having to be strong and supportive and sort of losing his own feelings in all of that. I try to acknowledge that but sometimes get pretty self-involved in my fight. I'm betting your wife knows how important your support is, and also how important your own feelings are. She also knows how lucky she is to have you.

Best wishes for your holidays and I am sending good thoughts regarding the first scan. Please let us know how it goes. Laura