Joined this site after 4 years Stage 4 lung cancer. Great to have a good Australian site and am keen to hear other stories and tell me own! Gail ... View more

Realised I probably need to cut the long story short and focus on the lowlights and highlights! Having gone through the X-ray, ultrasound and CT scan, and having the doctor ri going me urgently (always a worrying sign) it was fairly clear that it was suspected I had lung cancer. Time to start talki g to partner about it, having kept quiet for the precious 2 weeks. So during dinner on the Friday night I turned off the tv and uttered those scary words 'we need to talk'. A few tears were shed, the only ones ever shed in fact. Standard round of appointments the following Wednesday, where I had tests I didn't even know existed. Partner was with me, and after the completion of tests we went to my very new workplace to break the news that I wasn't a good long term employee. When all was said and done my career with the new organization lasted 6 days! But, that being said, they remained supportive (my bosses had sought me out after working with me elsewhere), and my sick leave gave me a good safety net. Not having taken more that 2 days sick certificated sick leave I. 28 years was now proving to be a lifeline. Still had the biopsy to go. And this was o e of my first annoyances. Having gone through the biopsy and all the anxiety of waiting for the results we attended the appointment (we live 2 hours out of Melbourne so a far bit of driving is always involved) to be told by doctor (who clearly hadn't read the reports earlier) that the biopsy did not get sufficient samples and a new, different, biopsy was required. Damn and drat. New biopsy schedules, this time successful, with results being non small cell lung cancer, stage 2 most likely. Excellent candidate for surgery, with chemo and radiation probably unnecessary. Whilst obviously delighted I was also feeling like a bit of a fraud. All the drama of telling people I had cancer, and I was going to be cured! In terms of telling people we worked on a graduated scale. We first said I had a something in my lung, then a lump in my lung, then a tumour. People slowly made the connection to cancer. And so surgery was scheduled, for mid March 2009. I had never had any surgery previously but was thinking, bring it on! As I have learnt, most of us feel better if we are doing something/anything. And emotionally I reckon I was coping really well. We don't do tears, are fairly pragmatic, and have a good dose of black humor, which is not always appreciated by others! ... View more

Well, I'm 4 years in with Stage 4 lung cancer. And we all know there is no stage 5. I have been tempted a number of times to start a blog but it always seemed too hard. Plus I wondered whether I had anything useful to say. But this site seems to make it easy, and I guess after 4 years, heading into my 5th, I must have something useful to say surely! But what are my motivations I wonder? I guess like all of us I have a story to tell. And the need to reach out to others who understand that this new 'normal' can be a very strange place. So I guess I will start my story (I hate the use of the word journey - its more like a circus act without a safety net) and see what happens. But, so I dont bore anyone I will tell the story in chapters, trying to keep you interested in what happened next! Not that my story is different to anyone else's, other than it happened to me. Chapter One begins........ 54 years old. Regular runner, having just completed my first 15 k run (with my daughter). In the midst of changing jobs, but with a niggley pain in shoulder and on coughing. Helpful psychiatric nurse husband suggests liver cancer.... Gee, thanks. On an extremely rare visit to doctor mention that as one possibility, the other being hypochondria! She suggests there may be a few alternatives and sends me off for a chest X-ray. Followed by an ultrasound, followed by a CT scan. Mention none of this to husband. Change jobs in the middle of all this. Have over 30 new staff, all desperately needing a new manager and some direction and structure. Stay tuned for Chapter 2. ... View more