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FormerMember over 16 years ago

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Whether you’re here to talk to others, join a group, ask questions or just listen, everyone is here to offer emotional and practical support to help you with your cancer journey.

We know it can sometimes be confusing when you first arrive, with lots of forums and groups to choose from. So this thread is to welcome you, make friends and help you find your way around the site. Whether you are a patient, family member, friend or a carer, feel free to post any thoughts or questions here and other Share users will be happy to help you navigate around the site and find what you are looking for.

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Dear Chelle

Thank-you for sharing this good news, it gives such hope to everyone.

Take Care Jen x

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi everyone,

I'm new here just joined in a few minutes ago after reading some of your posts.
I was feeling a bit down today and decided to see if I could find more information on Lung cancer and secondary Brain tumour.

I'm portuguese, working in the UK for 6 years now and was living a "happy existence" until early last year when my dad was diagnosed with stage 3b lung cancer.
Both my parents are in Portugal, retired, and i've been travelling back and forth to try and give them as much support as possible. In july last year after chemo and radio, dad's lung cancer seemed to reduce size enough and he had surgery where he had half of his right lung removed. Dad seemed to recover well (he is 70 years old) for a few months, but when he had a CT scan in november some lymph nodes appeared affected and after a PET scan, a 3cm brain temporal-frontal tumour was seen. It was devastating for him, his confidence went to bottom but we managed to give him enough strength to start radiotherapy, which he did during christmas time.
Since then he hasnst been able to leave the house again. He is always tired, and just recently, 3 weeks ago, after starting the chemotherapy again (pills) he cannot leave the bed without my mom's help.
Also, he has been having incontinence episodes, either due to brain dysfunction or because he cannot move fast enough to reach the toilet/bedpan on time.
My mom is extremely tired and struggles with 24h nursing.
I struggle being here just listening to phone descriptions of what is going on and I feel I've failed miserably as a daughter. I usually manage to go there once a month but do so little.
I'm scared that he may just have a few weeks/months to live and i wont be with him.
I'm going there next week as he has a doctor's appointment and an ambulance will have to come to the house and get him. That will be very difficult for him so i want to be there and i managed to take a few days from work.
I feel very anxious and just wanted to know what to tell him to make him feel better or more confortable.
I feel him and my mom have always been there for me and i'm not being able to retribute that love.

Thanks to all of you for being here and sharing your painful and most intimate fears with the world.
It has helped me a little today.

God bless you all and your relatives and friends too!

moomy over 15 years ago

Clara, what a difficult position to be in, that far from your dear Dad! I would guess that you have been going over to them as often as you can, anyway, it is tough having to fly out every time you need to, its not as though you can go 'at the drop of a hat', is it? I'm sure your Mum and Dad realise that, too and are grateful that you can drop everything to be able to go at all....is there no way your Mum can have help with the caring of your Dad, even for a few hours a week?

Keep posting on here, it does help......a (((((((((((((hug)))))))))))) for you....

Moomy

FormerMember over 15 years ago

I'm new and just wanted to say how relieved I felt to read that my family are not the only ones on a rollercoster of highs and then massive disappointments. We get so cross each time my Mum goes back to the consultant and they tell her they've discovered more tumors they hadn't spotted before or their original diagnosis is wrong. My Mum was suddenly taken ill in June of 07. She was in and out of hospital and was rapidly becoming more ill. They eventually diagnosed her with divaticulitis and said she had an absyss that needed draining. They tried to drain the 'absyss' but it had already burst. After sending her home she became so ill she needed 2 blood transfusions and when she went in for the second the doctor saw her condition and insisted she be admitted. They found a blockage in the bowel and did a biopsy. It was, of course, bowel cancer. They operated to remove the tumor and found the abysyss was actually caused by the tumor bursting through the abdomen wall and when it burst it had leaked into the abdomen. She had 26 weeks of chemo, Her hair did not fall out and she was not sick but very drained. She had check ups and scans every 3 mths and was told everything was clear until just before Christmas 08 she noticed blood in her urine. A tumor in her bladder. They removed this and gave her chemo for bladder cancer, only to find it was a bowel cancer tumor so would need different treatment, but there was another tumor in the pelvis and shadows in the lungs. So- a hysterectomy, removal of the bladder and more of the bowel was needed and the shadows were probably veins in the lungs but first let's do another scan just to check if there were any more tumors.. I don't know the technical names but my Mum had a scan that made her radio-active(?!) which showed up everything. I know it's expensive but this would've saved all the expectations and then heartache we had when they discovered more tumors in her lungs, liver and lymph glands. Why do they use phrases like 'we think' and 'probably'?? That's not good enough for my Mum. We all feel so angry (I'm one of 6 and my parents foster too) except for my Mum who seems so calm. She's not unwell in herself at all and last time she was so so ill. How do they get it so wrong? Why didn't they give her stronger chemo the first time to kill all the cells they spread around by trying to drain the absyss? Now we're waiting for tests to see if my Mum would be suitable for treatment using anti-bodies as well as chemo. She won't start treatment for at least 7 weeks as they've told her to go on a holiday she has booked in April first. Just seems insane to me, not the urgent treatment we're led to believe happens if you're diagnosed with cancer.
Just realised how long this is and how much I've ranted but it definately feels better! Hope I haven't gone on for too long.

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hello, this is my first post and if i'm honest I'm not really sure if I'm doing this right. I have no idea how to up date my profile so i'll give a little info here.

I'm looking for some advice....my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer in Dec 2005, after chemo and radiotherapy was in remission by Dec 2006. He fell ill Nov 08 claiming he thought it was the flu...getting weaker by the day, by the end of Jan 09 we finally convinced him to go to his GP. After umpteen blood tests, chest xray, liver scan, CT scan then more bloods was diagnosed last week with prostate cancer (primary) and secondary bone cancer (ribs & spine). At 64 we are devastated at the thought of losing him. He previously was appointed a macmillan nurse but due to him having to change oncologists to one who specialises in prostate he has now been told he will get support from a palliative nurse. Can anyone explain how this differs from a macmillan nurse? He has been told there will be no chemo and he may possibly recieve injections to ease the pain.......is that all thats available? He is currently on 30mg of morphine x2 daily. Does this mean it is terminal? Will anyone explain how long we can expect him to live? I understand that these answers will depend on how far gone the cancer is etc but I think I still hope he can be cured and will live forever!! Hope I've not waffled on too much.

Morag x

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi Loubie-Lou, I'm far from being able to give any advice but I can sympathise deeply on the point you made regarding the "probably" and "maybe" and "we think". My family are exactly the same we want answers and sometimes what the "specialists" have to offer just isn't enough! By the sounds of things your mum is one tough lady and having all her family around her will be great support. God Bless you and your family..........sending all the best wishes in the world to your Mum.

Morag x

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi Morag, sorry you find yourself here. I think you need to talk to your Dad's nurse, give her a ring, I am guessing that she/he is a macmillan nurse - they just seem to specialise in different areas. For example my husband;s is 'Upper Gastro Intestinal' because he has oesophageal cancer. Take care and hope the nurse can answer your questions.
Karen

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi,this is all new to me,and I realy dont know if i'm doing everything right,but here goes.

I simply want to introduce myself to everyone out there and say " Hello"
My name is Peter I am 62 Married,with two children,and two wonderfull Grandchildren.
I was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer almost 1 year ago,after many attempts at Biopseys,I underwent a Full Blown 'Hands in' Opperation at a Southampton Hospital,but unfortunately the Surgeon was unable to do anything to remove the Tumour.
Since then I have undergone Chemo,and Radiotherapy,though I seemed to cope pretty well with the side effects of both,it is only now that I feel a little bit of helplessness with everything.(Sorry this was only supposed to be a simple 'Hello',)
Regards,Peter.

moomy over 15 years ago

Hello and welcome, Peter, though am sorry you have the need to be here of course! Sometimes it is afterwards, when it all hits home, that your knees get weak and you feel it's so hard to cope, but hang on in there, and keep posting, too, you will have support and you can join a thread about lung cancer if you wish. Try the 'tag' for lung cancer( on the left of your screen, in blue) and it will show you different threads, one of which may well give you a lot of support and specific help, I'm sure you would be warmly welcomed. my best wishes to you.....

Moomy

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi Everyone!

I'm Sita and I used to post on this site regularly from 2006 onwards to 2008 or so. My experience of cancer was with my Mum who died from lung cancer 3 weeks after she was diagnosed. Sadly, as she was a non smoker, the cancer was diagnosed pretty late due to the Doctors thinking she just had a chest infection.

A while back, I decided to give myself a break from the site as I wanted to focus on getting over what happened with Mum. I suppose I just needed some time alone to recover, however, I did stop by on the site from time to time.

There are some wonderful, caring people on here. For any new-comers, I know you will find this site just as helpful and supportive as I did. If anyone is a little shy or too scared to post, I can assure you that many, many people on here will make you feel most welcome if you decide to share your experience.

Take care all - and please don't hesitate to get in touch, anybody, if you want to rant to a complete stranger! :-D

Lots of love and strength...

xxx Sita xxx

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