Any nsclc stage 4 or stage 3b survivors

crot1998
crot1998 Member Posts: 67
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
Just wondering if there are any stage 4 or stage 3b with pleural effusion survivors out there and what your treatment was. My father has nsclc stage 3b with pleural effusion

Comments

  • sugarbears
    sugarbears Member Posts: 3
    #2
    I know your having a tough time right now. Just take it day by day. Keep his spirits high.
  • iblev
    iblev Member Posts: 13
    #3
    not sure i actually qualify as a survivor but i am still here... On August 1 they gave me 30 days to three months.... Hello, i am still here. And doing well. I am still working full time, going to school to get my masters and not worrying so much about whether my house is clean. I was diagnosis in July due to a pleural effusion of the left lung. they have never found the tumor. my last ct/pet scan was about a month ago and none of my scans have ever shown the actually cancer. The thoratic surgeon gave me my timeline when he did the thorascopic and placed a pleurx cather in. The effusion has been dry for about a week and i don't see my oncologist until Feb. I think i will take surviorship status. as we have heard on this sight time and agian a strong faith in God and a good attitude can see you through anything. Even when the news is not so good. Take care
  • crot1998
    crot1998 Member Posts: 67
    #4
    iblev said:

    not sure i actually qualify as a survivor but i am still here... On August 1 they gave me 30 days to three months.... Hello, i am still here. And doing well. I am still working full time, going to school to get my masters and not worrying so much about whether my house is clean. I was diagnosis in July due to a pleural effusion of the left lung. they have never found the tumor. my last ct/pet scan was about a month ago and none of my scans have ever shown the actually cancer. The thoratic surgeon gave me my timeline when he did the thorascopic and placed a pleurx cather in. The effusion has been dry for about a week and i don't see my oncologist until Feb. I think i will take surviorship status. as we have heard on this sight time and agian a strong faith in God and a good attitude can see you through anything. Even when the news is not so good. Take care

    Hi there. Thank you for your response. It sounds like you are doing very well. Did they ever give you a stage and did you ever have any treatment at all other then the catheter?
  • iblev
    iblev Member Posts: 13
    #5
    crot1998 said:

    Hi there. Thank you for your response. It sounds like you are doing very well. Did they ever give you a stage and did you ever have any treatment at all other then the catheter?

    HI, yes i am doing very well. After they placed the cather in, i went on 4 rounds of chemo, three weeks apart. Taxol and carbo. I actually tolerated that very well. A little sick, but zofron helped that. I am now on Tarceva and that is making me very tired, but i am hopeful that it will ease up. Can you tell me your story. Some days i struggle more with my emotions than others, i still get back aches, which worry me, but i feel grateful i am still able to live my life. How is your father doing? I hope well. I was staged at 3b or a 4.
  • crot1998
    crot1998 Member Posts: 67
    #6
    iblev said:

    HI, yes i am doing very well. After they placed the cather in, i went on 4 rounds of chemo, three weeks apart. Taxol and carbo. I actually tolerated that very well. A little sick, but zofron helped that. I am now on Tarceva and that is making me very tired, but i am hopeful that it will ease up. Can you tell me your story. Some days i struggle more with my emotions than others, i still get back aches, which worry me, but i feel grateful i am still able to live my life. How is your father doing? I hope well. I was staged at 3b or a 4.

    Hi there. My father actually has nsclc and was diagnosed Aug. 11, 05. Initially he had no symptoms but coughing up blood which revealed a 7cm mass in the right lung making him a stage 3a but because there was a pleural effusion he was 3b even though the pleural effusion did not have cancer cells. My father opted to go for a clinical trial where they do carbo and taxol three weeks apart anywhere from 6-8 cycles and you are also taking an oral agent daily throughout, similar to Tarceva but supposed to be more potent. After the first treatment we saw improvements immediately. We are entering cycle 4 next week and hoping to make it through to the full 8 and get this thing under control. I am trying to keep myself positive as my father is feeling better but he is exhausted from the chemo but that seems to go away just before the next cycle is due. We are praying a lot and have a strong Roman Catholic faith.
  • iblev
    iblev Member Posts: 13
    #7
    crot1998 said:

    Hi there. My father actually has nsclc and was diagnosed Aug. 11, 05. Initially he had no symptoms but coughing up blood which revealed a 7cm mass in the right lung making him a stage 3a but because there was a pleural effusion he was 3b even though the pleural effusion did not have cancer cells. My father opted to go for a clinical trial where they do carbo and taxol three weeks apart anywhere from 6-8 cycles and you are also taking an oral agent daily throughout, similar to Tarceva but supposed to be more potent. After the first treatment we saw improvements immediately. We are entering cycle 4 next week and hoping to make it through to the full 8 and get this thing under control. I am trying to keep myself positive as my father is feeling better but he is exhausted from the chemo but that seems to go away just before the next cycle is due. We are praying a lot and have a strong Roman Catholic faith.

    Are they doing anything for the pleural effusion? I am so glad your dad got into a clinical trial. They said that was not an option for me as i do not have any measurable disease. The pleural effusion really does place a person in a negative light, but i am very hopeful. I say it is my oppositional defiant disorder. It is really scary as I don't know the future, but i keep trying to remember that really no one does. Lung cancer has a horrible stigma attached to it so a person tends to feel very blamed. I refuse to buy into that. i did do four cycles of the taxol and carbo... they were planning on 6 but with the clean scan they decided to put me on the tarceva as a maintainance. One thing i did start to feel when i completed my fourth cycle is tingling in the hands and feet, which they stated could be a result of nerve damage from the chemo. Now that i have been off for 3 weeks that has went away. How is your dad's daily functioning? I think i almost functioned better on the chemo than i am with the tarceva, but it oculd be just the emotional strain catching up to me. Tell your dad i am including him in my prayers and well wishes... as well as you. i know the struggle that my children are enduring and as parents we want to be strong for you, but with cancer it seems the roles get reversed quite zuickly. God Bless you.
  • crot1998
    crot1998 Member Posts: 67
    #8
    iblev said:

    Are they doing anything for the pleural effusion? I am so glad your dad got into a clinical trial. They said that was not an option for me as i do not have any measurable disease. The pleural effusion really does place a person in a negative light, but i am very hopeful. I say it is my oppositional defiant disorder. It is really scary as I don't know the future, but i keep trying to remember that really no one does. Lung cancer has a horrible stigma attached to it so a person tends to feel very blamed. I refuse to buy into that. i did do four cycles of the taxol and carbo... they were planning on 6 but with the clean scan they decided to put me on the tarceva as a maintainance. One thing i did start to feel when i completed my fourth cycle is tingling in the hands and feet, which they stated could be a result of nerve damage from the chemo. Now that i have been off for 3 weeks that has went away. How is your dad's daily functioning? I think i almost functioned better on the chemo than i am with the tarceva, but it oculd be just the emotional strain catching up to me. Tell your dad i am including him in my prayers and well wishes... as well as you. i know the struggle that my children are enduring and as parents we want to be strong for you, but with cancer it seems the roles get reversed quite zuickly. God Bless you.

    Was yours a non small cell lung cancer or just a malignant pleural effusion? My father's pleural effusion is nearly gone and they are not sure if it was from the chemo or the oral drug he is taking. I know what you mean by the stigma but right now I am worried about my father and nothing else. I am trying to be optimistic and right now my father feels better than he did before the chemo. He was very short of breath prior to the chemo and they were considering draining the fluid but the chemo pretty much dried it up and freed my father of the shortness of breath. Thank you for including us in your prayers it is much appreciated. I am glad your scan came back clear, I hope ours does to. All the best.
  • iblev
    iblev Member Posts: 13
    #9
    crot1998 said:

    Was yours a non small cell lung cancer or just a malignant pleural effusion? My father's pleural effusion is nearly gone and they are not sure if it was from the chemo or the oral drug he is taking. I know what you mean by the stigma but right now I am worried about my father and nothing else. I am trying to be optimistic and right now my father feels better than he did before the chemo. He was very short of breath prior to the chemo and they were considering draining the fluid but the chemo pretty much dried it up and freed my father of the shortness of breath. Thank you for including us in your prayers it is much appreciated. I am glad your scan came back clear, I hope ours does to. All the best.

    they diagnosised me as non-small cell adenocarcinoma from the fluid they took from the effusion. They have not seen a primary tumor but the indications are it is primary lung. My sister died eight years ago from lung cancer as well. She was 51 as i am now. my effusion has stopped draining so i am hopeful in having the cather removed soom. Stay optomistic and i am so happy your dad is feeling better. God Bless

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