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sunnyaz
sunnyaz Member Posts: 582
in Lung Cancer #1
My name is Julie and I am on the Thyroid Cancer boards. I am a three year survivor of Thyroid Cancer with double metastasis to the Lymph nodes. Oh, and who can forget my second primary cancer of Melanoma, which my Grandmother died from. Everyone in my family has had cancer which is why I am very active with ACS here in my town.

Here is my dilemma.... I recently quit smoking and learned that there are studies of quitters that got Lung Cancer because they quit smoking. I was prompted to look this up because my Dad's surgeon said something to me when my Dad was in the hospital dying from cancer. He said, "this is the type of cancer you get when you quit smoking." So.... my question is, are there any Lung Cancer patients that quit smoking, did not have lung cancer and then got a diagnosis? Are there any who never smoked and how many were still smoking when they were diagnosed? Some researchers say that smoking doesn't cause Lung cancer. Another says that the cells start to "overcompensate" so to speak and produce too rapidly in the healing process. I am very confused. Can anyone shed some light on this for me. I am seriously considering lighting up again.

Blessings,
Julie-SunnyAZ

Comments

  • LungCancerSux
    LungCancerSux Member Posts: 3
    #2
    Somking
    Hello, My wife of 8 years just recently died of Adenocarcinoma of the lungs, she was stag IV in both lungs. She was diagnosed on April 9th while being 26 weeks pregnant. She passed away on August 7th. She was a 37 year old female non-smoker and non-drinker. She never did anything bad in her life. Sometimes we don't know why we get what we get.
  • sunnyaz
    sunnyaz Member Posts: 582
    #3
    LungCancerSux said:

    Somking
    Hello, My wife of 8 years just recently died of Adenocarcinoma of the lungs, she was stag IV in both lungs. She was diagnosed on April 9th while being 26 weeks pregnant. She passed away on August 7th. She was a 37 year old female non-smoker and non-drinker. She never did anything bad in her life. Sometimes we don't know why we get what we get.

    Dear LungCancerSux
    I am so sorry to hear of your loss and I pray that you are finding peace. Thank you for responding.
    Blessings,
    Julie-SunnyAZ
  • lekkerone
    lekkerone Member Posts: 199 Member
    #4
    LungCancerSux said:

    Somking
    Hello, My wife of 8 years just recently died of Adenocarcinoma of the lungs, she was stag IV in both lungs. She was diagnosed on April 9th while being 26 weeks pregnant. She passed away on August 7th. She was a 37 year old female non-smoker and non-drinker. She never did anything bad in her life. Sometimes we don't know why we get what we get.

    Sorry
    I am so sorry to hear of your wife's passing. You are right we don't know why we get cancer or exactly when. Take care, Diane
  • dennycee
    dennycee Member Posts: 857 Member
    #5
    The researcher are partly right. There is a high correlation between the chemicals that are inhaled and the damage that they do to the DNA that causes cells to divide incorrectly. In other words, it's not the fall that kills you, it's the fast stop. Tobacco companies do research too and have been known to publish misleading info. People choose to believe them because they want false assurance that it is ok to smoke.

    25+ years after she quit smoking, my mom was dx with lung cancer. A family friend was dx 30+ years after she quit. There was no cell overcompensation there. Small cell lung cancer used to be the type that most smokers got. Recently there has been a trend toward non small cell cancers. However smokers and former smokers rarely have the mutation that permits use of the targeted therapy Tarceva. Perhaps that is what the doctor is alluding to. 80+% of lung cancer patients were once or current smokers. Please don't take it back up.

    And yes there are never smoked patients with lung cancer. There are other environmental factors including asbestos and radon gas. More importantly, there are studies that show your chances of dying from LC decrease with the cessation of tobacco. You also reduce your chances of dying from heart attack, congestive heart failure, anyeurism or stroke. most cancers have first and second hand tobacco as a risk as an ACS activist you probably already know this.

    Ask yourself if there is something so absolutely special and charmed about you that makes you certain that you won't get cancer ever. As a former smoker now LC patient I would suggest the answer is no. I doubt that you will find anyone one here that will tell you go ahead smoke if that is what you are looking for. If you are looking for support to help you stay quit this is the place.
  • sunnyaz
    sunnyaz Member Posts: 582
    #6
    dennycee said:

    The researcher are partly right. There is a high correlation between the chemicals that are inhaled and the damage that they do to the DNA that causes cells to divide incorrectly. In other words, it's not the fall that kills you, it's the fast stop. Tobacco companies do research too and have been known to publish misleading info. People choose to believe them because they want false assurance that it is ok to smoke.

    25+ years after she quit smoking, my mom was dx with lung cancer. A family friend was dx 30+ years after she quit. There was no cell overcompensation there. Small cell lung cancer used to be the type that most smokers got. Recently there has been a trend toward non small cell cancers. However smokers and former smokers rarely have the mutation that permits use of the targeted therapy Tarceva. Perhaps that is what the doctor is alluding to. 80+% of lung cancer patients were once or current smokers. Please don't take it back up.

    And yes there are never smoked patients with lung cancer. There are other environmental factors including asbestos and radon gas. More importantly, there are studies that show your chances of dying from LC decrease with the cessation of tobacco. You also reduce your chances of dying from heart attack, congestive heart failure, anyeurism or stroke. most cancers have first and second hand tobacco as a risk as an ACS activist you probably already know this.

    Ask yourself if there is something so absolutely special and charmed about you that makes you certain that you won't get cancer ever. As a former smoker now LC patient I would suggest the answer is no. I doubt that you will find anyone one here that will tell you go ahead smoke if that is what you are looking for. If you are looking for support to help you stay quit this is the place.

    Thanks dennycee
    Thanks for the information. I have spoken to many people about this especially in the medical field, where I spend about fifty hours a week. I am not looking for validation to start smoking again but I was genuinely concerned about abrupt quitting and the overproduction of cells. I have already had two primary cancers and have been trying to quit for a very long time. It was a do or die situation for my husband and I. My sister is currently battling the worst type of breast cancer and she never smoked a day in her life. We were exposed to both parents smoking in the house and car our entire childhood. So, really I started smoking in the womb, quit for about sixteen years (except for secondhand) and I have been smoking for the last 29 years. This last quit seems to have been more successful than previous attempts.

    One of my concerns is that Thyroid cancer likes to invade the lungs. Several of the thyroid cancer patients on this board have had metastasis to the lungs and because I have had two metastasis to my lymph nodes, the next place is the lungs or the brain. I realize that metastatic cancer from primary thyroid cancer is different than what most of the people on this board have been diagnosed with.

    Thanks again for your reply. I am still a quitter and staying tough.

    Julie-SunnyAZ
  • dennycee
    dennycee Member Posts: 857 Member
    #7
    sunnyaz said:

    Thanks dennycee
    Thanks for the information. I have spoken to many people about this especially in the medical field, where I spend about fifty hours a week. I am not looking for validation to start smoking again but I was genuinely concerned about abrupt quitting and the overproduction of cells. I have already had two primary cancers and have been trying to quit for a very long time. It was a do or die situation for my husband and I. My sister is currently battling the worst type of breast cancer and she never smoked a day in her life. We were exposed to both parents smoking in the house and car our entire childhood. So, really I started smoking in the womb, quit for about sixteen years (except for secondhand) and I have been smoking for the last 29 years. This last quit seems to have been more successful than previous attempts.

    One of my concerns is that Thyroid cancer likes to invade the lungs. Several of the thyroid cancer patients on this board have had metastasis to the lungs and because I have had two metastasis to my lymph nodes, the next place is the lungs or the brain. I realize that metastatic cancer from primary thyroid cancer is different than what most of the people on this board have been diagnosed with.

    Thanks again for your reply. I am still a quitter and staying tough.

    Julie-SunnyAZ

    Whew!!
    Oh Julie, I really am relieved to know that you are not contemplating taking the evil tobacco up again. I made the acquaintance of a young woman who blamed her lung cancer on her heavy marijuana use then decided she would smoke cannibis because it had healing properties another who took it back up because the damage had already been done. I apoligize if I put you on the defensive.

    Your family has gone through so much. I have never heard of this abrupt quitting causing overproduction so you may want to ask it of one of the oncologists who monitor the cancer grace.org website. I hope that your docs are able to stop the progression at your nodes. For us the mets first to brain, liver or bones. But not limited to those. You are probably aware that cancer can spread to anywhere in the body because it gets picked up by the blood but I like to reinforce that for newly diagnosed.

    I wish the best for you.

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