July 29Jul 29 Thank you for sharing the update, and glad the doctor is confident the treatment will be successful. thinking of you, and sending positive vibes.
July 30Jul 30 Thanks Reci for sharing. I am sure like everyone here I think of you and this situation often. Sounds very positive that the treatment will do the trick. I hope the side effects go easy on you. Sounds like you are blessed with a wonderful family that will provide all the help and love that you could ask for. Let them smother you with care, you do deserve it. All the best. Stew.
July 30Jul 30 Thanks for the update @Reciprocity. It sounds like you have a good team and a smart game-plan. Everyone here on the Train is pulling for you, too. I agree with the suggestion about a driver for your last couple of sessions. When I had radiation, my fatigue was definitely cumulative, and I had to ease up on my schedule for a while. They may ask you to hold your breath for periods of time during treatments. It may help to casually practice that a bit beforehand. I found a couple of well-paced songs to replay in my mind, and that helped a lot. Weirdly, The Wellerman sea chanty was the perfect tempo, LOL. You got this!!
July 30Jul 30 Thank you for letting us know the update @Reciprocity and I'm sure it's a lot to take in. Thinking of you and wishing you as smooth of a process as possible.
July 30Jul 30 Author Thank you all for your well wishes ... it's a little overwhelming actually as I didn't expect that sort of support. I've been posting a detailed account of what's happening to me in case others find themselves in a similar situation at some point. It's of course all new to me so I thought it might be of interest to others as well? I received a call this morning actually with the time & date of the "Mapping" process. I will receive my radiation appointment times as well when I go to that appointment so it's all moving along at good speed. I'll probably get someone to drive me to the first radiation appointment in case there's any immediate negative effects then I'll perhaps know better for future appointments what to expect. I'll keep y'all posted!
July 30Jul 30 Haven't checked in for several months and this post was not something I wanted to see. Wishing you all the best in your treatment and recovery my friend. I work as a PA in a California hospital and I can tell you with extreme conviction that annual low dose CT scans are one of the most important things you can do to detect lung cancer at the earliest stages. That early detection, along with revolutionary advances in targeted treatment, have significantly improved outcomes in recent years. I hope QT members take your journey to heart and sign up for annual LDCT scans if they haven't already done so. I just had my 10th one. Thanks for sharing Reci. Best wishes with your treatment and healing process!
July 30Jul 30 Thank you Reci for the updates and Hi and thank you BKP for your positive post Its good to hear from you 🐸
July 31Jul 31 Author Yeah, Thanks much @BKP for your input from inside in industry, so to speak. This is what I'm sensing as well that early detection is key and that treatment results then are more often than not very good and your words only confirm my thoughts! As you say, it's really critical for people like all of us who smoked for many years to get those low-dose CT Scans annually if possible because when cancer is in it's early stages, there's no symptoms at all so you will never feel it coming on like you would with a cold. By the time there are noticable symptoms, it will be much more difficult to treat and likely poorer treatment results.
August 2Aug 2 Reci. Heading out on another trip, I don't know if there will be service but will be thinking of you. I hope the treatments go well and the recovery from them isn't too difficult. Stew.
August 3Aug 3 You have got this mate. You're attitude and approach is half the battle. Your openess is an inspiration and lesson to us all. You have people from one and of the world to the other sending thoughts and prayers your way for a quick and easy battle.
August 3Aug 3 Hi Reci Not been here for a while sorry to read about your troubles but glad to see you've discovered it early. Best wishes for your treatment glad your staying positive.Your doing a great thing documenting your experience for others I've just had my first low dose CT scan which was negative your experience highlights the need to get the scan.Luckilly mine was free as England is rolling out a cancer screening programme for those at risk of lung cancer. All anyone has to do is ask their GP for a referral to the scheme.The scan is painless and only takes a few minutes. Keep your chin up recip I hope all goes well for you.
August 3Aug 3 Author Yes @despair not getting those low dose CT Scans are critical for all of us quitters as we age, Just because we quit before we had a serious health issue means little if we don't follow up with checks on our lungs going forward. Can't stress enough how important early detection is! Again; thanks SO much to all of you for the support! You're all like family in that sense. Support while quiting and now, support through my personal battle. Onward tomorrow to my "mapping" appointment 🤞
August 5Aug 5 Author Went to the mapping appointment today. It wasn't that long, at least the time I was actually in the room where they do it. Maybe a half hour or so. The time spent at the registration desk then waiting to be called in was longer, as you might expect with anything medical. They had me lay flat on a hard surface of the CT Scanner with supports under my head & under my knees and they were doing other stuff that I couldn/t see cuz I was laying flat and wasn't supposed to move. They put me into the CT Scannner tunnel a couple of times then back out. They were also doing some measurements on my body as well. I didn't want to start asking questions while they were working so I kept quiet. They ended up putting 3 tattoos on my chest. I thought they'd be some sort of cool tattoo but no, just 3 fairly small dots. one on either side of my chest and one right in the middle. I could barely see them. A little disappointed to be honest. The thing that impressed me most was how kind and patient and willing to describe some of what was happening the two medical team ladies were. I could tell they understood that this was all new and a little scary to someone who'd never had radiation before so they went out of their way to make me feel at easy which made the whole process quite pleasant actually. I got my radiation schedule as well. My first appointment is next Monday. We'll see how that goes. They're giving me a treatment every 3 days, except for weekends as they don't operate the radiation clinics on weekends or statutory holidays. Good news though as the Doc cut the teeatments down from 10 to 7 now so ... I suppose that's good? Onward & upward!!
August 5Aug 5 So glad your “mapping” went well, to make sure your “zapping” is on target! And yes, it’s a good sign that they have reduced the number of exposures. You got this!
August 5Aug 5 Gday with those tattoos…… What you do is say you’ve got a full chest tat of an eagle. Wings spread claws fully extended. You open your shirt and show the dot, and explain that it’s at 10,000 feet….. Edited August 5Aug 5 by Cbdave
August 5Aug 5 Glad it went well! Definitely a good sign that they cut down the amount of treatments!👍💪
August 5Aug 5 So glad to hear it went well, and the reduction in treatments. Hopefully all over and done with soon, if only 7 treatments. Is that 2 a week, so about 4 Weeks!
August 6Aug 6 Author 2 hours ago, catlover said: So glad to hear it went well, and the reduction in treatments. Hopefully all over and done with soon, if only 7 treatments. Is that 2 a week, so about 4 Weeks! Yes @catlover. Every 3 days and they don't work on weekends so that's gonna work out to 2 sessions per week. I'll be done then treatments in early Sept.
August 10Aug 10 Get some plastic cutlery for eating... or wooden. I know when I did radiation keeping the calories up was hard and using metal utensils made it harder because it tasted crap. Also, if you can, drink protein water or shakes. Being tired and sometimes food not tasting the best makes eating not a priority but protein drinks and water are a great way to boost your protein. Protein is vital for healing.
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