The Colon Club

Hi JDinNC,

Thank you for your thoughtfulness

Will research more on this. I'm trying to find blogs or personal feedback about it

Your kind gesture placed a genuine smile on my face, which I found myself rarely do nowadays given my dh's situation. My smile nowadays are mostly 2 kinds, one kind is the one I flash to my kids and loved ones to reassure them that I am okay and that "the" situation is being handled, and my other smile, which I show my husband to hide my own tears and fears, as I have to be well-composed and courageous for the both of us.

@ALL
again to my responders here, Mark, Sophy, Cb and Jd, thank you for your kindness.


Bernadette

ilivebyfaith wrote:Hi JDinNC,

Thank you for your thoughtfulness

Will research more on this. I'm trying to find blogs or personal feedback about it

Your kind gesture placed a genuine smile on my face, which I found myself rarely do nowadays given my dh's situation. My smile nowadays are mostly 2 kinds, one kind is the one I flash to my kids and loved ones to reassure them that I am okay and that "the" situation is being handled, and my other smile, which I show my husband to hide my own tears and fears, as I have to be well-composed and courageous for the both of us.

@ALL
again to my responders here, Mark, Sophy, Cb and Jd, thank you for your kindness.


Bernadette

Hi Bernadette,

PDT is effective if the laser has access to the tumor from the bronchial tubes and associated airways. I had looked into this as well. This procedure is done in the states. In your husbands case it would be unlikely that all lesions would be accessible this way. Continue to be strong for your family as they will benefit greatly as a result.

All the best,

Mark

I had laser lung surgery with Dr. Ladas in London. Fantastic Dr, staff, and hospital. He did one lung in Oct. and the other in Nov., about 4 weeks apart. I flew home in between the two surgeries. Had to stay in London for two weeks from day of surgery without complications. Unfortunately, I had a recurrence in both lungs in mid-Dec. But he was able to resect all that was seen on CT at the time. Cost was twice as much as Germany but well worth it for me. No language barrier and London is very similar to living in the US.

Best wishes,

Stephen

Sophy, you had surgery in jan 2014, I see on your profile your on chemo for life? Is it common to still be on chemo after this surgery? I'm looking for a treatment that would include not taking chemo.
To spend so many on surgery and still need to take chemo, is it worth it i wonder?
I would love to hear from you.
Ella

Ella - I am doing the ADAPT therepy as well as surgery as a 'belt and braces' approach, doing everything I can to prevent the cancer returning. My oncologist said it was completely up to me whether to do it as there isn't any clear evidence whether it is helpful or not, she said the number of people in my situation is just too small for statistics.

I find the regime easy to live with and side effects minimal. I have some fatigue and chemo brain but I can cope quite easily. We have publicly funded health care in New Zealand so the cost to me is about $2,000 US per year for the unfunded drugs I take.

Also quite important in making my decision to continue chemo is that CEA is not a marker for me and never has been. So the only way to know if I have tumour growth is when it shows on a scan by which time it would be much more difficult to deal with. I prefer to take this easy chemo long term rather than a more challenging one later.

Hope this helps you with your decisions.

Sophy... F... so HAPPY to see you : ) xoxoxoxoxo