HOW DO YOU KNOW??????

don09

Hi Everyone, Hoping this holiday season finds you all in good spirits, wishing I could say the same for myself, I'm wondering if there are any of you out here who have thought perhaps that there "Remission status" changed before having it confirmed by their Dr. I am curious to know what symptoms or new sensations you experienced that wasn't there before that made you question your remission. For the most part, I have done well, I am in my second year of remission. Any info would be a great relief.

Glenna M

Sorry Don but I can't be of
Sorry Don but I can't be of much help to you. I was in remission for two years when one of my routine CT scans showed it was back. I had no signs or symptoms except possibly I may have started getting tired easier, I'm really not sure when that happened.

If you are due for a scan soon you may want to discuss your feelings with your doctor and he may move your scan date so you can find out sooner.

Please don't let this spoil your holidays. Even a scan is not a guarantee that the cancer is back.

Stay well,
Glenna

soccerfreaks

It is not unusual for any
It is not unusual for any survivor to be concerned about recurrence, regardless of circumstance. Depending on where the original cancer was, any sniffle, any cough, any pain in the knee, whatever, is bound to bring about anxiety.

Personally, even after six years, every sore throat makes me think about the return of head/neck cancer, every cough makes me wonder if the lung cancer is back.

It is sadly part of what we have to deal with and while it softens as time goes by, so far it has not gone away completely for me.

If you are truly very concerned, do not hesitate, as someone has suggested, to visit your doctor. You have gone through enough without living with constant anxiety.

Take care,

Joe

Ex_Rock_n_Roller

Ditto that
Twenty months past end of first-line treament, no findings, and I echo Joe on the "every ache and pain/every sniffle" concerns. Despite the fact that I feel great and constantly marvel at how lucky I've been, I regularly have to boot myself out of anxiety mode. In my case, it's complicated by the fact that I've had system-wide arthritis since the age of nineteen, so random aches and pains are pretty much a constant. For something to rise above the background noise, it would have to be pretty impressive (i.e. probably already advanced to a certain degree).

My onco says to call if I feel "anything new and different that lasts." The few days between perceiving a change and seeing whether it's going to disappear, assuming I can write it off to a plausible non-cancer cause, can be anxiety inducing. So far, anything suspicious has come and gone in fairly short order.

The best I can recommend is to keep busy. Over the past year, for me that has taken the form of retiring and going on multiple camping trips to places I've never seen. Unfortunately, that starts to run into money, of which I am not possessed of unlimited amounts, so I'm getting into a lot of projects around the house. I'd probably be more sane if I were still working, but that's a particular die roll I wasn't willing to take, since I can (barely) afford to be at leisure until the time I would have retired. May go back part time, though, just to occupy the mind.

Dan620

Glenna M said:

Sorry Don but I can't be of
Sorry Don but I can't be of much help to you. I was in remission for two years when one of my routine CT scans showed it was back. I had no signs or symptoms except possibly I may have started getting tired easier, I'm really not sure when that happened.

If you are due for a scan soon you may want to discuss your feelings with your doctor and he may move your scan date so you can find out sooner.

Please don't let this spoil your holidays. Even a scan is not a guarantee that the cancer is back.

Stay well,
Glenna

Same here
My last teatments for NSCLC 3B Aug 2008, have had ct-scans or x-rays every 3 months since all have been clear until last one Dec 7th Onco Dr. called on the 9th with RX for antibiotics for pneumonia, saw him on the 16th now says could be pneumonia or cancer. Go back for another ct-scan Jan 4th see Dr. on the 11th and hope lung clear. Like Glenna i have had no real symtoms. This just never ends. Stay well every one and Merry Christmas..... Dan

AlanRinHBG

Ex_Rock_n_Roller said:

Ditto that
Twenty months past end of first-line treament, no findings, and I echo Joe on the "every ache and pain/every sniffle" concerns. Despite the fact that I feel great and constantly marvel at how lucky I've been, I regularly have to boot myself out of anxiety mode. In my case, it's complicated by the fact that I've had system-wide arthritis since the age of nineteen, so random aches and pains are pretty much a constant. For something to rise above the background noise, it would have to be pretty impressive (i.e. probably already advanced to a certain degree).

My onco says to call if I feel "anything new and different that lasts." The few days between perceiving a change and seeing whether it's going to disappear, assuming I can write it off to a plausible non-cancer cause, can be anxiety inducing. So far, anything suspicious has come and gone in fairly short order.

The best I can recommend is to keep busy. Over the past year, for me that has taken the form of retiring and going on multiple camping trips to places I've never seen. Unfortunately, that starts to run into money, of which I am not possessed of unlimited amounts, so I'm getting into a lot of projects around the house. I'd probably be more sane if I were still working, but that's a particular die roll I wasn't willing to take, since I can (barely) afford to be at leisure until the time I would have retired. May go back part time, though, just to occupy the mind.

ditto ditto
Pretty hard to add to Joe and Steve. All I have to say is same here.

medi_2

Dan620 said:

Same here
My last teatments for NSCLC 3B Aug 2008, have had ct-scans or x-rays every 3 months since all have been clear until last one Dec 7th Onco Dr. called on the 9th with RX for antibiotics for pneumonia, saw him on the 16th now says could be pneumonia or cancer. Go back for another ct-scan Jan 4th see Dr. on the 11th and hope lung clear. Like Glenna i have had no real symtoms. This just never ends. Stay well every one and Merry Christmas..... Dan

merry Christmas
to you too, Dan. I'll be rootin' for you!!!
Cheers
Medi

don09

AlanRinHBG said:

ditto ditto
Pretty hard to add to Joe and Steve. All I have to say is same here.

Thanks to you all
Just wanted to offer you all a big thank you! It's nice to know that I am not alone with these kinds of thoughts, but mostly.............Thanks for your support, encouragement, and responses.

Dan620

medi_2 said:

merry Christmas
to you too, Dan. I'll be rootin' for you!!!
Cheers
Medi

Thanks
medi i needed that.... your an Angel..... Dan

catcon49

don09 said:

Thanks to you all
Just wanted to offer you all a big thank you! It's nice to know that I am not alone with these kinds of thoughts, but mostly.............Thanks for your support, encouragement, and responses.

hey don09
Yeah, we all go through the same things just at different times. I try not to focus on aches and pains too much but I do report anything that hasn't gone away in a week to my doctor. But I often wonder about intermittent pain. I try to pin the drs. down with questions but sometimes they are too slippery.