Back in the late 1980s when I was in my 30s, I changed.
Every day since then, I would say to myself something about how I enjoy life and or someone or something, or just being alive.

Looking back, pretty smart move for someone thick as a brick at times.

What is it with doctors saying masses not tumors anymore. When did the lingo change.

Last March, I intentionally went on a diet, halved my food intake and presto, I dropped 30 pounds over 9 months.
Now I am being told to eat all I can for the next 3 weeks to be in better shape for the road ahead.
And here I am, after finally training myself to eat less and be well under my old weight over 200lbs, and I am supposed to gain weight.
This is cruel, it's inhuman I tell ya.

Prayers sent. Wishing you the best LBJ.

I've been hesitant to post in this thread as I have been waiting to hear good news from one of your follow up visits. The sad truth is we all die before we want to or before we are ready, whenever that may be. Having said that, by no means should we go gentle into that good night. Be prepared to fight and fight hard.

Are you absolutely certain that you are receiving the best medical care? Sloan Kettering in NYC might be the best in the world at fighting cancer. They saved the lives of two of my closest friends (one had kidney cancer).

I wish you the strength you are going to need to get through this, both physically and spiritually.

Sorry to hear this, hope it all works out.

quote:

Originally posted by lbj:
Back in the late 1980s when I was in my 30s, I changed.
Every day since then, I would say to myself something about how I enjoy life and or someone or something, or just being alive.

Looking back, pretty smart move for someone thick as a brick at times.

What is it with doctors saying masses not tumors anymore. When did the lingo change.

Last March, I intentionally went on a diet, halved my food intake and presto, I dropped 30 pounds over 9 months.
Now I am being told to eat all I can for the next 3 weeks to be in better shape for the road ahead.
And here I am, after finally training myself to eat less and be well under my old weight over 200lbs, and I am supposed to gain weight.
This is cruel, it's inhuman I tell ya.

Next they will be telling you to smoke lots of marijuana.

We're all here for ya and for keeping you around for a lot longer than that. So when you're fighting this and need some strength and encouragement, you have a helluva team behind ya here.

Now that hernia - stop toting all those mags around! I know they're like grown man Legos.

LBJ, if I may, I am not a doctor but I have particed in a field of law that dealt with a lot of medical issues. During the 12 years or so I did this, I found out that there is a lot of differing quality of treatment and knowledge throughout the country. You would think that SLC would have top notch medical treatment. And in some areas they do. In others, I found that they were two years behind cutting edge technology. Long story short, facing such a situation as yours, I would get a second opinion if possible. MD Anderson, Mayo, Cleaveland Clinic or Cedar Sinai Hospital would be where I would look - and where I was told by doctors to look as well. For instance, I know two men that had the same cancer and treatment. One flew to the Cleaveland Clinic as nobody in Utah was doing the procedure he wanted. 2 years later, there was one doctor in Utah that was doing it and now it is common. Cleaveland had a less invasive procedure than Utah that contributed to a much better recovery. We have a neighbor whose mother flew to the Mayo Clinic where they started her on a trial treatment that nobody in Utah had heard of. GOOD LUCK!!!

LBJ

You can read a bit of what I went thru here.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...935/m/6480006293/p/1

I asked for prayers here on this Forum when I was diagnosed and started my battle in 2009.

Three sets of chest x-rays showed nothing and two trips to Emergency and not being able to breathe. Every MD even the Respiratory Specialist was treating me as a COPD Case with heavy prednisone meds. Ex Heavy Smoker.

Was scheduled for a CT Scan the Friday before Thanksgiving week of 2009. That morning I woke with 104 degree temp. Wife called MD office and I was told to go to the Hospital and MD would call them to have me admitted. During admission chest x-ray showed Pneumonia in left lung. Three days into the stay at Hospital a Bronchoscopy found a tumor blocking the left lung main air passage and biopsy proved it to be Cancer.

CT scan showed a mass about the size of your two fists in upper left lung lobe with some invasion also into right lobe airway. It was diagnosed as stage three A-B.

Lots of prayers, laser airway surgery with stenting, concurrent Chemo and Radiation and I have been Cancer free since March of 2010. I made the five year mark and still going.

During treatment I went from 187 lbs down to 160 lbs soaking wet. Now I am at 230 lbs.

Many People Prayed for me here on this Forum and at my brothers Church. I stayed as strong as I could and with a will to fight it. I even drove myself at time with my oxygen tank, cart strapped in the passenger seat as I went to Chemo. Wife had to get kids to school and sometime schedules conflicted.

I will keep you and Family and Friends in Prayers.

My email is in my profile if you want any more information I will gladly share the road I went down.

Stay Strong!!

Keep the Faith

God Bless
Roy
Prayers Sent

Ps: this is a free magazine that talks about all the breakthroughs and new treatments.
I still read it.
http://www.curetoday.com/subscribe

LBJ -

Back in 2008 my wife's father called and told us he had prostate cancer - what his father died from. He was able to get into some clinical testing and was pronounced cancer free a couple of years later.

About 2.5 years ago my Dad called to tell me he had cancer. They had given him 3-5 years.

Last November he called to tell me that he's cancer free!

Miracles do happen!

Look at it this way, the time you spent halving your calorie intake also trained your body to do more with less.

Get ready to fight! Mind. Body. Soul.

You will be in my thoughts and prayers, LBJ.

quote:

Originally posted by ontmark:
LBJ

You can read a bit of what I went thru here.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...935/m/6480006293/p/1

What a great thing and success story.

It's been 4 plus days since the first news, so I am still working through a whole host of issues currently.

My wife and everyone else seem to think the recent scans of Tuesday and Wednesday are good news.
Maybe they are.

But somehow it doesn't feel that way yet to me.

Damn. I was hoping this would be a benign whatever the hell.

In any case, you've got a lot to live for, and your wife sounds optimistic - hopefully her good cheer will rub off on you. A positive outlook is your greatest ally right now. Well, that and a doc with the latest whiz bang technology.

Remember that every day is a victory.
Don't just beat cancer, teabag the bastard. Metaphorically speaking.

Tom, I find your honest and open postings to be a sign of great courage. You have it in you to fight this until you defeat it. We all can only hope to face this sort of news with as much grace. Thank you for sharing the beginning of your journey. Prayers sent again.

quote:

Originally posted by lbj:
But somehow it doesn't feel that way yet to me.

It is a very great deal to have to soak up, give it time.

lbj...I just want you and your family know that there are a lot of folks here that think about your illness daily and offer prayers for God's will to be worked in your situation with strength and healing...

Aaron's blessing is a strong one...

"May The Lord bless you and keep you...
May The Lord make his face shine upon you..and be gracious to you...
May The Lord turn his face toward you...and give you peace"

We will continue to send out our thoughts and prayers until the disease is beat back...

Keep the faith my friend

Praying for you, lbj!

More prayers for you lbj. Be positive and fight. (I know you will). BTW, did your Urologist grow up in Ohio? Neighbor boy now practices in Fort Collins. Good kid. Smart. About 45, bald on top. Dr. G. If he's your Doc, you're in good hands.

LBJ, all the best wishes that it will turn out good!

LBJ, I'll be praying for you and your family as well as your physicians. If you have any questions regarding the surgery aspect please feel free to contact me. My email is in my profile.

lbj, BB61 has excellent advice regarding your specific type of cancer. Do seek a second opinion on the Medical centers that specialize on your treatment needs and which of these have the truly talented doctors. My wife had two breast cancer diagnosis in eighteen months and found an excellent female surgeon at her hospital that took wonderful care of her. Patients tend to go with the flow with a cancer diagnosis and go with the first doc that is recommended. However, the key is a second opinion and finding out the medical centers that have specialized docs that fit your surgical needs and that have a team of docs that will follow you through this process. In addition to my wife,s cancer treatment I am a thirty two year cancer survivor and these experiences have shaped my view of the optimum manner to approach your challenge. Please feel free to contact me. My e-mail is in my profile. God bless you and your family.

I wanted to share my experience with my Dad and hopefully it may provide some hope to you. I am the type that likes to hope and pray for the best and expect miracles.

So without further ado a couple examples of why the Dr's prognosis may not always be set in stone.

My father became severely jaundiced one day when I was in high school. He went to the doctor and several tests later they said he had a mass in the head of his pancreas. It was a 95% chance that it would be cancer. They scheduled a huge surgery for him "whipple procedure" to remove the mass and reroute things. And with those odds it didn't look good. He made it through the all day surgery and several days later later in the hospital we were still awaiting the pathology results when the dr came in to pull some of the drains. So as he is pulling them he says to my Dad " The mass wasn't cancer!" It as a miracle and he won with only a 5% chance....

Now many years later in my first year of my nursing career my Dad discovers an enlarged lymph node in his neck and heads to the Dr. They do a biopsy and it comes back positive. He has another major surgery "radical neck dissection involving removing one side of his neck muscle, lymph nodes and thyroid. Afterward the pathology shows medullary thyroid cancer with metastasis to his lymph nodes as far down as his chest. The Dr gave him 5 years to live. It is now almost 15 years later and he is still here and enjoying life. He found a specialist that deals with this rarer form of thyroid cancer and has done trials of different meds including a chemo pill daily that specifically targets his type of cancer. As some have said do your research and seek out many opinions. Many forums for the type of cancer you have can yield great information.

Don't know if this gives you any hope but I thought I would try. The odds can be beat and nothing is ever set in stone.

Thinking of you and your family daily and praying for you too.