So it seems to be lung cancer....

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dales
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by dales »

OK... if you say so.
I do say so.

In my father's case it was managed by radiation treatments which seemed to work.

He died some 15 years later from something not even cancer related.

Who's to say in Scooter's case that he might be able to overcome, as I don't believe cancer is an automatic death sentence.

Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.


yrs,
rubato

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Lord Jim
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Lord Jim »

Crackpot wrote:Do I need mention that he hasn’t even got a cancer diagnosis yet Mr Sunshine?
Hey, it's not for nothing that Ray chose the avatar he's got...lookin' on the bright side ain't his default position... 8-)
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RayThom
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So it seems to be lung cancer...

Post by RayThom »

Lord Jim wrote:
Crackpot wrote:Do I need mention that he hasn’t even got a cancer diagnosis yet Mr Sunshine?
Hey, it's not for nothing that Ray chose the avatar he's got...lookin' on the bright side ain't his default position... 8-)
With all my chronic illnesses over the years I have become quite clinical about diagnosis and prognosis. Cancer doctors know there are very few cures for cancer at this time (with the exception of a few blood borne types, and some gene therapies) but just like them, I know there eventually will be a cure. Regardless, it's their job to sound hopefully optimistic but they cannot say "by oath" that any survivors are "cured."

If someone who has cancer goes five years without another treatment needed they are considered "controlled" not cured. My mom was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 1964 at age 47. She died in 2006 at age 88 after five subsequent treatments and remissions over those 41 years. She never was cured, she just had a lot of help managing the disease as well as possible. Good management gets you extra years... not hope and prayers, nor good wishes.

Now if I want to get spiritual about cancer then, yes, just put up a good fight and you will be one of the chosen few to be cured. Hell, you might even live forever.
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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

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RayThom
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So it seems to be lung cancer...

Post by RayThom »

Crackpot wrote:Do I need mention that he hasn’t even got a cancer diagnosis yet Mr Sunshine?
See "Non-AIDS-defining cancers"
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-ca ... ancer.html
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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

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BoSoxGal
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by BoSoxGal »

Scooter wrote: And "you're lucky to have found it so early! is wearing really thin, especially when the American Cancer Society says 5 year survival for a stage 1 is 50/50.
There’s no need to rip on RT when Scooter himself acknowledged the odds he’s very likely facing. Of course we all hope he’s got a benign nodule, but when the radiologist says it’s more indicative of cancer than anything else, that’s very serious - doctors aren’t inclined to panic patients unnecessarily. I’m sure Scooter, having read the ACS statistics on lung cancer, knows all too well it’s one of the deadliest forms of cancer and very difficult to beat. In my experience it’s important to be hopeful and encouraging of loved ones facing cancer diagnosis, but it’s equally important to let them know that they can talk about whatever they want to talk about, even the bleakest aspects.

Scooter, of course we are all praying it’s nothing much at all. Beyond that, I’m praying that you have BAC rather than the other alternatives.

Please start eating extra fruits and veggies and ditch anything nasty from your diet; I’ve read so many cases of folks who fought cancer successfully by boosting their natural immunity with a very healthy diet in addition to conventional treatments, it sure can’t hurt to try.

:hug:
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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Crackpot
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Crackpot »

Doesn’t change the fact that those odds rely on a diagnosis which he does not have yet. I and others I have known have been in a similar position there things looked like they could be cancer and ended up benign. You proceed as it’s the worst case but until you get the diagnosis you are just playing it safe.
Last edited by Crackpot on Wed Nov 22, 2017 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

Big RR
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Big RR »

Scooter--I'm sorry to hear this; hang in there and get if its positive, the best advice/treatment you can. Like anyone with a serious disease you will likely be deluged with advice, most of it well meaning, some batshit crazy. Educate yourself as best you can, and then get an oncologist or other practitioner that you feel comfortable with and can trust and work with him or her. I wish you all the best.

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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by MGMcAnick »

Wow Scooter, that's quite a post. Keep in mind that cancer is only a possible diagnosis at this point. I would also note that the only two people I know who were diagnosed with lung cancer are still with us 10 and 12 years later. If it is cancer, it can be beaten.
A friend of Doc's, one of only two B-29 bombers still flying.

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RayThom
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So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by RayThom »

Semantics: Not that I agree but in this case 'beaten' and 'managed' obviously means the same thing. My mom beat cancer five times for 41 years. She died from cancer.
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Sue U
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Sue U »

True, many cancers are now considered a chronic rather than a terminal condition. At this point, I'm still hoping that in Scooter's case it's neither.
GAH!

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Scooter
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Scooter »

So was admitted yesterday for wedge resection biopsy - a wire coil guided by CT was placed around the nodule and out to the chest wall, to allow the surgeon to localize it for excision. Was very happy with all of the staff involved in my care. Realized that anesthesia meds remove all my filters, as my stunningly handsome anesthesiologist's face was the last thing I saw before going under, and I remember saying something like, "I could lose myself forever in the deep blue pools of your eyes."

The most discomfort was caused by the chest tube that had to be placed; once it was removed this morning it was as if nothing had happened, and I was discharged this afternoon.

Will learn in a week or so what comes next. Most likely scenario if it is cancer, given the size, will be removal of the lower lobe (i.e. half) of my left lung, probably sometime next month. Sounded radical to me based on reading I had done, but my surgeon says that the newest research shows recurrence in one-third of wedge resections, whereas he has never had a recurrence in a patient undergoing lobectomy for a single mass, stage 1 cancer.
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

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kristina
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by kristina »

Sending cyber hugs and chicken soup.

I wonder how often anesthesiologists hear things like what you remember saying?

Crossing my fingers (for whatever that's worth) for good news next week!

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Gob
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Gob »

Best of luck old son.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Crackpot
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Crackpot »

All the best
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

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Long Run
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Long Run »

What they all said -- best wishes.

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BoSoxGal
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by BoSoxGal »

:hug: :hug: :hug:

I’ve been under the knife three times and very grateful I don’t know what manner of nonsense I muttered in my delirium. My surgeons all said I was very easy on the anesthesiologist, which is something I suppose.

This is going to go well for you, I’m determined. :hug:
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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Scooter
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Scooter »

Oh, did I neglect to mention that I got all of this and it didn't cost me a dime?
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

-- Author unknown

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Joe Guy
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Joe Guy »

You're just picking on us because we here in the US have a brand new tax plan. It's the best tax reform ever, I can tell you that. Amazing!

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RayThom
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So it seems to be lung cancer...

Post by RayThom »

Yo Scoot, lobectomy via thoracotomy for stage 1 has a high rate of longer term survivability.

New treatment techniques evolve almost daily -- surgical and nonsurgical. Remember... it's mind over matter.

I wish you good management.
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Scooter
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Re: So it seems to be lung cancer....

Post by Scooter »

Thanks for the good wishes everyone. Ray, yes that is what my surgeon explained, and I am good with it. Actually, I went to bed feeling pretty good last night, because if this was cancer, it's gone now, and the lobectomy will be my insurance against a recurrence. So it's all good.
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

-- Author unknown

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