I was diagnosed on Thursday with stage 4 nsclc with pleural effusion. Things have moved at lightning speed and I had an indwelling cathetar procedure on Friday and now daily drains for 2 weeks and then talc. The MDT meet on Tuesday to decide on my course of treatment.
I have no symptoms, feel well, and am in total shock, disbelief and panic.
Two weeks ago today I had some slight breathlessness for a minute or two, and then it happened the following day, so I made a docs appointment for the next day convinced it was going to be asthma.. my amazing doctor arranged a chest x-ray that day and the effusion was discovered, drained and specimen sent for biopsy. I then had CT scan on Thursday and the news that nobody wants or expects.
Im a young 55, with an amazing gorgeous husband of 49 and we've been together for 24 years. We couldn't have kids so we've always been everything to each other....and now this has happened and I don't know what to do with myself and can't stop crying, googling and thinking about it.
Im just at a loss as the moment as it's all so new and such an awful shock.
Hi Elsie S and a very warm welcome to the online community
I'm very sorry to read that you've just been diagnosed with NSCLC and I totally understand what a shock being told you have cancer is when you weren't expecting it.
The online community is divided up into different support groups so I'm going to recommend that you join the very friendly lung cancer group which is a great place to ask questions, share experiences and get support.
To join the group just click on the link I've created and then choose 'click to join' or 'join' (depending on the device you're using) on the page that opens. You can then introduce yourself and post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
Try to avoid googling if you can but if you want to research your particular cancer then stick to reputable sites like this one or Cancer Research UK. We've all done it, googled to look for positive information to make us feel better but come away feeling worse after stumbling on worst-case scenarios.
When you feel ready it would be great if you could pop something about your diagnosis and treatment into your profile as it really helps others when answering or looking for someone with a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
If you have any difficulty navigating the community just drop me a reply and I'll be pleased to help.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
