Just saying hi

Fear
I felt the same way you did for several months after my treatment stopped. I was diagnosed in May '09 with NSCLC adenocarcinoma stage 1a also and two weeks later they discovered that I also had SCC Supraglottic Laryngeal cancer. I thought it was a death sentence as they were inoperable. After 3 months of chemo and radiation I went into remission and slowly learned to enjoy life again and stopped worrying as much.

You can't let the fear destroy your life there are many survivors here who were stage 4 and they are living life and enjoying it. It's natural to become apprehensive when you are due for a scan because those doubts come back but you have to enjoy life while you can. There is no guarantee for any of us that we won't have a recurrence or a new cancer, but then there is no guarantee that any of us won't get hit by a bus tomorrow morning either. Don't dwell on it or it will consume you.

If you are still having trouble accepting that they got rid of the cancer I would like to suggest, and I mean no offense by this, some counseling. Reaching out for help is nothing to be ashamed of, many of us go through depression post treatment/surgery.

Please post again so we will know how you are doing and we can continue to help you.

Glenna

joep531857 said:

hello
Hi Iza;
My name is Joe, and I am fairly new also. I was diagnosed with stage 1a non small cell adenocarcinoma. I had a left upper lobectomy and they saw some of my cancer touching the sack(pleura) that surrounds the lungs. This then made my stage 1b and it also called for 16 weeks of chemotherapy which I finished about 4 weeks ago. My best advice is for you to come here and talk about your fears. I was afraid to go to sleep at night in the beginning. I am now almost 6 mos post op and I live my life one day at a time and enjoy every minute of it i can. I try and not let the little now insignificant things ruin my day. I also have a therapist i talk with and found i need some medication to help me through this period. I still at times think about reoccurence but i have no control over that. I quit smoking, eat right and get a good nights rest those are things i can control. But, I urge you to come to the chat room and the people there know exactly what you are going through. I hope this helped.

Hi
I had exactly the same as you on Dec. 1/11. I needed no further treatment and yet I have days feeling exactly as you do. It really makes no sense. My respirologist it really pleased and says I have a 'remarkable capacity for exercise," my xrays are good and yet I still worry....today has been one of those days. Maybe we have to work harder at being thankful and less anxious about the future.

Iza50
Hello, I see you on inspire. It seems that you haven been given excellent advice and now you need to be pro active with what has been given to you. I know its scary, I had a lower right lobectomy on 9-23-10 and so far so good, it was a squamous cell 1cmx9mm nodule.

This is the 2nd primary cancer that I have had, as the 1st was anal cancer and I completed tx 6-30-09. Both of the primarys have a 85% cure rate. I am fortunate that since I was being scanned for the anal is how they caught the lung. I was a 35 year smoker and quit on 5-4-09. I hope that you will find the peace inwhich your searching for. One day at a time I hope that you will feel more in control of your health, as you can improve it. I wish you well. Lori