Early stage lung cancer

[Rikki1]

Dear Lolie

thank you for asking after me. I am at the moment waiting for an angiogram as I had atrial fibrillation which I have been given beta blockers for and also a diagnosis of angina. The cardiologist seems pretty sure I have blocked arteries which is why I get breathless easily. I’m in the public system so I’m waiting. I’ve been pretty depressed lately as I still have very bad pain in my breast and sore ribs and under the arm, and just getting sick of it.  I am also losing a lot of hair now and it needs to be cut. My doctor hasn’t seen it but on the phone he said to keep my hair as it will take 3 months at least for it to grow back. Anyway, so sorry to complain as I know there are people a lot worse than me.

How are you going with your treatment Lolie and what is the prognosis for you as I know you were going to have more treatments. Let me know how you are, I care for you and would like to know how you are.

Best wishes Lolie, Rikki 🌸🌺🌸

[Lolie]

Hi Rikki

I finished my radiotherapy on Monday and now it's waiting time.  I won't really know how successful it was for a couple of months, but there's a 90% chance of it giving me a cure.

I'm sorry to hear you're having unrelated health problems.  It seems so unfair at times, doesn't it?

I'm mentally exhausted at the moment but I'm hoping that being able to focus on things other than my health over the next couple of months will alleviate that.

I shaved my head when I finished chemotherapy and my hair is now about 4cm long.  It's too short for my taste but the little hair I had left was in very poor condition from treatment and not worth keeping.

I hope the cardiologist is able to sort you out so you can get some relief from the chest symptoms.

Take care.

[Rikki1]

Hi Lolie, it was good to hear from you and to hear you have finished your treatments. Hopefully it will be a good outcome for you. It’s so hard to wait for a couple of months to find out, I guess we’re all the same with that. I won’t find out until late November. I feel for you being so exhausted, it’s mentally and physically challenging, I was so tired when I finished my radiotherapy and you’ve had chemo too. So you’ve shaved off your hair, I don’t know how old you are but I think it would be hard for an older person. My niece who had breast cancer when she was in her thirties looked gorgeous without her hair. My hair is really thinning now and you can really see the bald areas, but I have some hats now, so I can always do that, and I’m old, but will see what happens. I am waiting for an angiogram now as my cardiologist thinks I have a or some blocked arteries. Not having private health cover I’m on a waiting list, but my cardiologist thinks it shouldn’t take more than a month and that was about 2 weeks ago, so hopefully I’ll hear soon. I still have days where I’m in a lot of pain in the breast, under my arm and around the ribs, so I’m still on painkillers.

i wish you all the very best Lolie and please keep in touch. I care for you and hope you recover from your treatments soon. Take care and sending you hugs ❤️

[Lolie]

Hi Rikki

I'm 60.  My daughters both liked my head bald but I didn't.  Shaving it was partly symbolic but also for comfort. 

I have a ton of scarves and turbans to donate to my cancer care unit once my hair gets a little longer.  I have no intention of holding onto them "just in case".

My hospital has been farming out a lot of stuff to private providers so I didn't need to wait long for interventional radiology.  I hope you're able to get the angiogram done soon.  The constant waiting for tests, then waiting for the results wears you down.

[Rikki1]

Hi Lolie,  nice to hear back from you. Yes, I have some turbans now so when I go out I’ll where one now too. Like you I considered cutting my hair off but I haven’t yet. I’ve just turned 70 so it’s not a good look, and I think a turban looks better.

i hope you are taking it easy, I know tired you were, so do take care of yourself.

I’m hoping to have the angiogram as soon as I can, just a waiting game. 
thanks for getting back to me and look after yourself Lolie, 🌸🌺🌸

[Junebug]

There are also lung cancer nurses that you can arrange to talk to. I have found them so helpful and caring. There needs to be more of them but reach out to them if you can. Here is the number 1800 654 301

[Junebug]

I have found that it's so important to be very proactive with your care.  I too have lung cancer and was stage 4 when diagnosed and told that I had only 6 months to live if we did nothing.  I was not really given any other options other than Chemo.  But I had a very bad reaction (allergic) to the chemo they gave me.  I decided not to continue with that treatment and if there was no other option I would start palliative care.  But then the oncologist suggested Immunotherapy and that has been working so well for me.  We are now 14 months down the road and tumors have shrunk, cancer has not spread and I feel well.  I have had little to no side effects with the immunotherapy.  I was not ill when I found out I had cancer and I refused to be sick or live a life with no quality.  Of course this is different for everyone but I wanted to have a happy fulfilling remainder of my life not be bed ridden 2 weeks out of every 3.  I did change oncologists just due to travel -  I wanted to be closer to home.  That was a seamless transition.  But I also have an amazing GP.  I pretty much talk to her about anything that is not directly related to the lung cancer, but she is interested in that and is taking a proactive approach too.  Good luck with everything.