Everyone say what about lung cancer?

As one who has survived 8 years since having operation for lung cancer I rejoice for all the lives that shall be saves. But, please, x-ray rarely catches lung cancer in the early stages. One needs a CT Scan. By the time the symptoms show up on an x-ray it is often too late.
And I know several people who never smoked who developed lung cancer. It is not always a smokers disease.
Lung cancer is a particularly nasty disease where for the last week, a sufferer gasps for every single breath. It is mainly a smoker's disease and can take ten years to reach the point where it begins to affect health. An early sign is coughing up a drop of blood at which point the person should visit a doctor and make sure they get an x-ray.
What a shame that these tests could not have been developed sooner, and maybe saved more lives.
As someone who's lost his entire family to lung cancer (Mother, Father, Brother, Sister) this is welcome news, as the worry of this disease is never far from my mind with our family history.
Three cheers for these hardworking scientists! I do hope this works. It has the potential to save many lives.

New test for lung cancer 'could save thousands'

British scientists have developed the first blood test for lung cancer which could save thousands of lives. The revolutionary test picks up proteins in blood that are only produced as a reaction to the presence of lung cancer cells.

These proteins will appear long before tumours develop, meaning further investigations in the form of scans and biopsies could be started at a much earlier stage.

Diseased: The image shows cancer within the lung of a 73-year-old female smoker

Specialists say this will greatly improve survival rates because lung cancer is typically discovered late when tumours are relatively advanced. Cancer is currently diagnosed only after a sample of lung tissue is collected during an invasive biopsy procedure and then analysed. Nearly 40,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with the disease every year.It is one of the country's biggest killers - on average someone dies from it every 15 minutes - and only ten per cent of patients will still be alive five years after diagnosis.

The new test was created by cancer experts at the University of Nottingham, who set up the commercial company Oncimmune to develop it further, and launched it in the US last week. It should be available in Britain next year.

It would involve patients giving a conventional blood sample and could become a routine part of NHS care for people considered most at risk, such as smokers, those with respiratory diseases and those with a family history of the disease.

It is thought that patients will be able to get the test on demand if they go private.

Professor Stephen Spiro, head of thorcic medicine at University College Hospital, London, and one of the UK's leading lung cancer experts said the tests would undoubtedly save lives.

Radical: The new drug will change the way lung cancer is diagnosed

'While I cannot predict whether someone is likely to develop lung cancer, it does identify patients before they ever have symptoms,' he said. 'The smaller the cancer is when diagnosed, the better the chance of survival.'Nothing like this test exists at the moment so it is really very exciting. It's better than a CT scan and will save lives.'

Geoffrey Hamilton-Fairley, chairman of Oncimmune, said: 'As soon as there is an immune system response to cancer, we can pick up the antibodies which teh body produces.'The overall performances of the test compared to a CT scan is better, because a scan produces so many false positives.'The antibodies produced by the body in response to the presence of cancer cells are different for each type of disease.Mr Hamilton-Fairley says Oncimmune has identified the antibodies specific to breast cancer and is in the final stages of developing a test for the disease, which will be available in months.But he hopes that a single blood test, which would be able to identify any cancer type, will be available within five years.

Lung cancer shame exposed

A cancer warning has been issued on No Smoking Day

Lung cancer patients in the UK have a much worse survival rate than those in France, according to figures released on No Smoking Day

The Cancer Research Campaign puts the blame on "unacceptable" delays before the patient reaches a specialist - and worse care once they are there. They have released an audio tape and CD about lung cancer to prompt patients to push for the best careCancer survival is measured in terms of how many patients are alive five years after being diagnosed. In France, 14% of lung cancer patients are alive - in the UK this is 7%.
Professor Gordon McVie, director general of the CRC, said that not only were there not enough lung doctors in the UK - but many of the current crop were not well informed about the latest treatments for lung cancer.
He said: "They generally have a negative view about the outcome of treatment with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. "Chemotherapy for lung cancer is really quite a recent phenomenon. Much of the evidence has emerged since most of the physicians left medical school."
Opportunity to quit
However, outcomes in France, while better, are still poor, and the CRC is urging people to use No Smoking Day as an opportunity to quit. Smoking causes nine out of ten cases of lung cancer, and there are 40,000 each year in the UK.

Modern chemotherapy offers a chance against lung cancer

Smoking is also a prime contributory factor to heart disease and stroke - and causes frequently fatal and disabling diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. A survey carried out by the BBC suggested that many men are unaware of another smoking-related problem - impotence. Less than a third of male smokers interviewed on behalf of the "Kick the Habit" series were aware of the potential problem. The government is spending £100m on anti-smoking campaigns over the next three years. And £16m is to be invested in "smoking cessation clinics" across England. Public health minister Yvette Cooper said: "No Smoking Day provides a great focus for smokers to try giving up." Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "As a non-smoker I will not pretend to understand how difficult it must be for people who have been smoking for 20 or 30 years - most of their adult lives - to stop. "I certainly do not underestimate the courage and determination it must take to seek help in the first instance and the willpower that is required not to subsequently relapse." The British Medical Association warned that switching from cigarettes to cigars or hand-rolled tobacco did not cut the health risks, and advised people trying to quit to use nicotine replacement therapy, such as gum and patches. Dr Robert Winter, from the British Lung Foundation, said: "Even heavy smokers can significantly reduce their risk of serious disease by stopping smoking sooner rather than later." The Stroke Association is also urging people to quit, as smoking increases the risk of a stroke by 400%. A spokesman said: "We hope that people will use No Smoking Day as the ideal opportunity to kick the habit."

I just can't stop loving you! Madonna pays emotional tribute to pal Jackson and prepares special dedication to dead star

Madonna has made a heart-felt tribute to Michael Jackson saying: 'He was the king of pop who inspired us all.'In an interview with The Sun, the 50-year-old superstar revealed she will be dedicating her forthcoming concerts to Jackson, who died last week. She said: 'I am so terribly sad about Michael Jackson's death. I don't know what artist wasn't inspired by him.'To be able to do what he did at such an early age was unearthly, everybody grew up in awe of him.

All time greats: Madonna is preparing to pay an emotional tribute to her long time friend Michael Jackson who died last week

Tribute: Madonna is set to sing a medley of Jackson songs at her concert on Saturday night'To work with him and become friends and hang out with him was exciting for me.'Both singers became huge solo performers in the 1980s and each performer was renowned for their on-stage dancing, huge fan following and extravagant lifestyles.Madonna said: 'He was a real paradox, one of the world's greatest performers and obviously very confident on stage, but in real life he was very shy and you really felt for him.'Madonna will pay her own unique tribute to he long-time friend when she goes on stage at London's O2 arena on Saturday night - the venue where Jackson had been preparing to wow the crowds with 50 dates.She said: 'When I heard he was going to be performing at the O2 I offered to do something with him.'I don't know what we could have done together, I could have carried his bags for him maybe.'Madonna will interrupt her own set of songs to play a medley of Jackson classics at her O2 concert on Saturday night. In the show's finale the superstar is set to take to the stage with her dancers wearing Jackson-style white gloves.She will also tell the crowd: 'Give it up for one of the greatest artists the world has ever known - long live the King!'

Meanwhile Gene Simmons says he has had enough of celebrity tributes to the late singer and wants to hear from the kids who accused him of molestation. 'I want the kids who've accused him, to be blunt, of molestation, to have their say, the former Kiss singer told Canadian press. 'I want to hear what they have to say. Not celebrities. Let's celebrate the talent and everything later, let's just figure out if there are any victims here.'

Cigar smokers 'risk lung cancer'

Lung cancer risk from cigar smoking, claim researchers

Cigar smokers increase their chances of lung cancer by five times over non-smokers, claim researchers. And the risk of the potentially fatal disease rises to as much as 11 times that of non-smokers for those who inhale the strong smoke from cigars. Previous studies have shown cigar smokers to be more at risk of mouth, throat and oesophagus cancers, but the latest research by the American Cancer Society suggests the danger of lung cancer is also high. More than 137,000 men in the US took part in the study with more than 7,800 saying they smoked at least one cigar daily and had never regularly smoked cigarettes or pipes. A further 7,800 men were categorised as former cigar smokers.

Inhaled

The risk of lung cancer was found to be five times higher for those who smoked cigars, almost eight times higher for those who smoked three or more a day and 11 times higher if they inhaled the smoke, reported the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. It is common for cigar smokers not to inhale the smoke into the lungs when smoking cigars, unlike cigarette smokers. Eric Jacobs, a senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society, said: "We expected to find some increased risk of lung cancer, but we found that cigar smoking is much more lethal than we thought." Cigar smoking has risen in the US by 50% between 1993 and 1998, reversing two decades of declining sales, according to the Department of Agriculture. More than 5.3bn cigars were sold in the US in 1998.

Amanda Sandford at ASH - Action on Smoking and Health - said: "The traditional view has been that people who smoke cigars and pipes had more risk of throat and mouth cancer. "This just confirms the previous research - there is no such thing as a safe tobacco product. There is nothing to be gained by smokers by switching to cigars. "It is further evidence, if it was needed, of the dangers of smoking."

Lung cancer screening call for smokers

More than 40,000 lung cancers are diagnosed each year

Screening potential lung cancer sufferers for the disease could save many lives, says a report.But other experts say the high costs involved in screening smokers make such a programme unjustifiable.And, they add, the death rate could actually increase as the "safety net" factor made smokers more relaxed about their habit.The study, published in The Lancet, suggests that modern CT scanning is more likely to spot tumours than old-fashioned chest X-rays or sputum testing.Researchers screened 1,000 heavy smokers over the age of 60.

Survival depends on early detection

The stage at which lung cancer is diagnosed is critical in deciding whether the patient will survive.Most of the 27 cancers detected by the CT scan could be tackled by surgery, giving survival rates of 70% after five years.If the cancer has grown widely enough to rule out surgery, the survival rate can fall to less than 20%.

Smoking causes nine out of ten lung cancer cases

Dr Ian Smith, from the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, wrote in The Lancet: "We are nowhere near curing advanced lung cancer and the smoking legacy will be with us for a long time, whatever the outcome of prevention programmes."Lung-cancer screening with modern technology should again become a top research priority."However, there were problems with the CT scanning trial - although 27 patients actually had cancer, 223 scans were identified as possibly cancerous, but turned out to show benign nodules.

'Non-starter'

But a British Lung Foundation Expert said that the astronomical costs of scanning every heavy smoker once a year would be prohibitive.Dr Robin Rudd, who specialises in lung cancer, said: "Every CT scan costs between £250 and £450. Even if you could bring that down to £100, I think it is probably a non-starter in Britain at the moment."My guess is that it could cost as much as £100,000 for every life saved - for breast and cervical cancer screening it is much less."He suggested that large sums ploughed by the government into anti-smoking initiatives, such as the free nicotine patch plan announced in this week's public health white paper, would probably save more lives.

He said: "Screening gives people a false sense of security and may be counterproductive. We might well find the mortality rate goes up."Currently lung cancer, nine out of 10 cases caused by smoking, is the UK's most common cancer, with 42,000 new cases diagnosed each year, many of them fatal.

The breast and cervical screening programmes are currently the only two in the UK, although the effectiveness of screening for colon cancer and prostate cancer is being investigated.

Memoirs of a Lung Cancer Survivor

Nineteen and in love, college sophomore, 13-year competitive athlete...non-smoker. On December 4th, my daughter - Brittany Elizabeth Coppedge - was diagnosed with BAC and just three weeks later she lost her battle with this monster. Yet in those three weeks she showed more amazing strength and grace than I'd ever seen in anyone else. Within minutes of being told of her diagnosis, Brittany looked at me, then at the doctors and said "let's do something". She was a fighter, and an inspiration to her friends and family. In the ten months that have passed, Brittany's Battle, Inc. was formed and we are determined to continue her battle for her. Once we found the alarming statistics, there was just no way we could walk away and not do something. She deserves every ounce of effort and whatever it takes to change the numbers. No one should have to fight lung cancer, least of all a 19 year old.

Lung cancer may be one of the most common cancers in the UK - but it is also one of the hardest to treat.

Leslie Ableson is one of the lucky few - his cancer was caught early enough to make treatment a possibility.Cancer specialists are optimistic that the numbers of those who will beat the disease in the future will increase as drugs become more advanced.He tells his story to BBC News Online:"I gave up smoking when I was 56 or 57 for social reasons. Then, at 60, I was out of breath, had a pulsating sensation in my throat."Leslie also found some blood in his spit: "Being in touch with my own body, I immediately went to my GP and had some x-rays taken."

Leslie Ableson

A subsequent biopsy revealed the cancer."The following day I was rather brutally told that I had no expectancy at all and not to buy any long-playing records."Total, utter, complete shock. A total sense of disbelief - you just go totally frozen, the mind refuses to operate, you can't take anything in."The next day was acceptance. I came to terms very quickly with it."Then a stroke of good fortune - the opportunity to take part in a clinical research trial testing out the latest chemotherapy drugs.His cancer was localised and hadn't spread beyond the lung."It gave me expectation, I really didn't have hope. I was conditioned that once you had lung cancer or any form of cancer you're going to die."I am living proof that that isn't true, that there is life after cancer - even lung cancer."Extensive chemotherapy followed, then strong radiotherapy."The chemo was tough, but I was fortunate. I got through the treatment because getting through the treatment was what mattered."I kept going because there was nowhere else to go."As time progressed, it became apparent that Leslie's condition was improving.

He said:"At one stage in my chemo my consultant told me I was a 'star', which evidently is an in-house expression meaning that things are looking up, things are improving."The treatment carried on throughout the cricket season of that year."I was concentrating mainly on the fortunes of Middlesex, who were doing exceptionally well - and not only did I have a successful season in terms of beating cancer, but Middlesex won the county championship!"He said that any patients offered the chance to take part in a clinical trial should grab the opportunity with both hands."In the end, I owe everything to Cancer Research," he said.

'No running'

"My health today is perfect. I'm able to do everything with the exception of running up inclines or running up hills, because there is some lung damage because of the chemo."But I can walk 10 miles without any problem at all."Another change is his attitude to the tobacco companies.

He said: "I have become vehemently anti-smoking - blaming to tobacco companies after they discovered and were fully aware that cigarettes carried health problems and didn't tell the public what they were.

"The tragedy of course it's the young people who are smoking - it looks like we've lost the battle with the young people at the moment."

Memoirs of a Lung Cancer Survivor

I was diagnosed in January of 2001 with lung cancer at the age of 36. I was a foolish pack a day smoker unless I was out drinking, it could be 1 1/2 to 2 packs.
I was having some stress in my life and a considerable amount of pain in my neck. One day, I bent down to pick something up and I got a sharp pain. The slightest movement caused the pain to worsen. It went from the top right side my chest near my sternum all the way through to my back not far from my shoulder blade.
Before my doctor even saw me she sent me for a chest x-ray. During my appointment, I noticed the doctor looking at my hands and she asked me to hold them out. She said I have clubbing: my nails were humped and that is a sign of a pulmonary problem. She scheduled me with a pulmonologist.At my appointment with the pulmonologist, I began to cry when we looked at my x-ray because there was a large mass showing. He told me that this could be a cyst, tuberculosis etc… This was the last day I ever smoked. I got so mad at myself that I cracked the cigarettes in half & threw them away.
When we got home I asked my friend Greg, who is a nurse and had accompanied me to the appointment, what he thought of my x-ray. The next day, he called me and made an appointment for me to see a thoracic surgeon that same week. At the appointment with my thoracic surgeon, they told me straight out that the mass was lung cancer. I was devastated. I was told that my cancer was curable because it looked like it wasn’t in my nodes or bones. We scheduled surgery and a list of tests to get done. I completed all of my tests and just wanted the tumor out of me because it was becoming very painful. A friend of mine had a cousin who had lung cancer and surgery done at the University of Pennsylvania. He was only in his early 40’s. I met with him and he told me about his surgery and explained everything involved. He told me how painful it was but also had a sense of humor about it. I think having a sense of humor is what gets you through times like this.
My surgery was quite extensive. They ended up taking my right top lobe, chipped my spine, took my sympathetic nerve from my right arm, took 3 ribs, moved my clavicle and wired it to my shoulder, re-sectioned my chest wall and did some work on my superior vena cava. I was told that I didn’t need radiation or chemotherapy.
I think you have to have a sense of humor to get you through the rough times. I joked with my friend’s cousin that we could dress up for Halloween together as a set of lungs. He joked about spare ribs because he also has some ribs missing. Some of the best medicine in life is laughter and it’s FREE.
As far as tobacco is concerned it should be banned forever because I'm living proof that TOBACCO DOES CAUSE CANCER, but I'm one of the lucky ones who got to survive it. There's nothing positive about tobacco - just negatives. I personally cannot stand the smell of tobacco products. Nobody will ever tell me any different about smoking because I'm the one who went through the excruciating pain.
As far as cancer goes, I am lung cancer free for 8 years and looking to be for the rest of my life. I really don’t think about the cancer returning; as far as I’m concerned it is gone for good.

A Little of This, A Little of That

After the radiosurgery on Thursday I had less neck pain and no arm tingling on Friday, which was a great big yay. Saturday we headed down I-95 to Bridgeport, took the Ferry to Port Jefferson and drove to my aunt and uncle’s house for their 50th anniversary party. The party was a blast, the food was outstanding and it was a joy seeing all the cousins and their kids, but by three hours into it my neck was screaming. We bid our farewells and headed home, where I took an early dose of Oxycontin and slept with my rigid neck collar, which gave me some relief. I called the radiation oncology resident on call the next morning and started a little bit of steroids, figuring that I was experiencing some edema from the surgery. That has helped and I would say I’m almost back to my presurgery pain level and the arm tingling has settled down. I’m off steroids and using the collar as needed.

Friday I also experienced some very sharp pain in my left calf. I called the spine surgeon to ask him to look at my most recent CT scan to see if there was anything worrisome in the lumbosacral spine. Monday I developed tingling in the back of the left leg so he ordered an MRI, which was done yesterday. It doesn’t look like there’s anything (tumor or degenerative disc disease, both of which are present) pressing on spinal cord or nerve roots so I’ll just take the scan with me when I see the radiation oncologist next week and see if we can figure out what’s up.

I still get abdominal bloating and discomfort when I eat and have low grade nausea not completely controlled by the Reglan. It’s finally starting to make my drive to and from work a bit challenging. For now I can handle it and plan to just keep an eye on it. I don’t particularly want my husband to have to do four hours of driving every work day to get me to and from work. I’m also very weak. Two flights of stairs completely do me in. I’m not sure what all of that’s about. I’m pretty sure the abdominal symptoms are from the Navelbine, which basically just puts the brakes on the entire GI tract. I’m hoping it’s also causing the weakness and that should get a little better as this week off Navelbine progresses.

We had a lovely visit with our North Carolina friends on Sunday and are now fully engaged in the planning and anticipation for our Texas trip. I’m going to cave and ask for a wheelchair for the airport activities. I just don’t think I can stand long enough to make it through a security line any more.

Next Tuesday I follow up with the radiation oncologist (I’m expecting that it will take a couple of weeks for the post surgical inflammation to settle down before I can really see what kind of benefit I might have derived from the surgery) followed by my oncologist for Zometa and Navelbine. Quilt work continues and I can’t believe it’s July already!

Lung cancer grows among women

Health

Lung cancer grows among women

The rise is blamed on changing habits in the 1950s and 1960s

Lung cancer is increasing among women and falling among men, according to provisional figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The figures also show that prostate cancer has for the first time overtaken the colorectal form of the disease as the second largest killer of men - with 63.5 cases per 100,000 men in 1996 compared with 43.5 in 1987.Specialists have said the rises in incidence could reflect both better detection of cancers and the increasing number of women smoking - more often from a younger age.The news follows a number of studies indicating that women smokers are at an increased risk of the disease compared to their male counterparts.

Common disease
The ONS figures showed that about 35 women per 100,000 were diagnosed with lung cancer in 1996.When the figures are fully processed, this was expected to show a five per cent increase on 1993 - a rise blamed on large increases in the number of women smoking in the 1950s and 1960s.

Although 77 men per 100,000 were diagnosed with the disease in 1996, this was expected to show a drop of five per cent on 1993 - although it remained the most common cancer among men.However, men suffer the poorer survival rate for the disease.Women are most likely to be affected by breast cancer, with 101.4 cases per 100,000.

Dr Peter Goldblatt, chief medical statistician for the ONS, said: "The continuing rise of the incidence of lung cancer among women is worrying and a cause for concern, especially as this looks set to continue."Also worrying is the fact that rising numbers of young women are continuing to smoke, and this is an issue that needs to be addressed."Cancers of the lip and mouth - which are linked to smoking and excessive drinking - were also on the increase.

Women at risk

The number of women smoking is increasing

The figures were published as American researchers presented findings suggesting women may be more susceptible to lung cancer because they have higher levels of an enzyme that can turn cigarette smoke into cancer-causing chemicals.

Dr Natasha Buckshee, of New York Presbyterian Hospital, took part in the study and said it offered compelling evidence that women have a greater susceptibility to cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco than men.

Her study found that women smokers have more than double the chance of developing lung cancer.Looking at 459 women and 541 men aged over 60 who were long-term smokers, it found that 4.1% of the women developed lung cancer compared to 1.9% of the men.

Dr David Yankelevitz, a radiologist at Presbyterian Hospital who also worked on the study, said: "It's not good news, especially when you think the smoking incidence in young women is continuing to rise."If you live in Manhattan, just take a walk down any avenue and see the young women smoking. It's pretty shocking."The study was presented at a conference of the American College of Chest Physicians in Chicago

My Mom Defied the Statistics! There is Hope out There!

My mother was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in Nov. 2005. She had one tumor in her lung, and 3 had spread to her brain. She was told the lung tumor was inoperable, and was given 2-5 years to live. She immediately began whole brain radiation. Two weeks later, after seeing a neurologist, she was told if she did not have brain surgery, she had approximately one month to live. We quickly sought a second opinion at Johns Hopkins with a neurosurgeon and oncologist there. One month after diagnosis, my mom had brain surgery to remove 2 of her brain tumors. A month later, she had the gamma knife procedure to remove the third. In January 2006, she began chemotherapy, and in April, radiation to her lung. In October 2006, my mother had her right upper lobe removed (where the original tumor was), even though we were repeatedly told her tumor was probably inoperable. My mother is now in remission. Her doctors say she has defied the odds.

Lessons Learned from my Mother's Experience

My mother, Karen Gallagher, was diagnosed with squamous cell lung cancer in spring 1995, and died in our home on Christmas Day 1996, the day after my 25th birthday. By the time her cancer was finally diagnosed in spring 1995, it had metastasized to her brain and was therefore deemed inoperable. She was only 49 years old. She was a strong, courageous woman who had beaten colon cancer at the age of 37, lost my father when they were in their early 40s, and went on to start a young widowed persons' support group. She endured chemotherapy and radiation, welcomed the nurses and other medical professionals into her life with friendship, and never dwelled on the fairness or unfairness of her situation.

What have I learned from this experience? Unfortunately, some medical practitioners do not pay attention to lung cancer and its symptoms in younger, otherwise "healthy" women. My mother complained of a persistent cough to her general practitioner many months before her diagnosis. I wonder why, given her history of smoking, her insurance company did not immediately authorize a chest X-ray? She was referred to an ENT specialist, who after conducting a series of allergy tests concluded that her symptoms were present "because she lived in New England" (sinister air quality perhaps?) and gave her an inhaler. It was only when I noticed that my mother's fingernails were clubbed (a classic sign of lung disease) that she was able to convince her GP to convince the insurance company to pay for a chest X-ray.

While my mother had access to the best specialists at Yale New Haven Hospital, there were no experimental treatments available to her. Editor's note: Not all individuals are eligible for clinical trials. The type and stage of the lung cancer the individual has, as well as the individual's overall health and previous treatment(s) are factors in eligibility for a given trial. I hope the situation has changed in the last decade, but I fear that the development of new treatments for lung cancer suffers from the disease's not being "fashionable" enough. While my mother was fortunate to have good medical insurance, the insurance company delayed payment on everything from wigs to chemotherapy. Surely, it's not right for patients to suffer this stress when they're facing a potentially life-limiting illness?

My mother had quit smoking a few years before her diagnosis, after many years of being a heavy smoker. When she started smoking in the 60s, it was fashionable and everyone was blithely unaware of the health risks. Who was to blame for her cancer diagnosis? She could have sued a tobacco company or her GP, but would this have helped her, her family, or indeed any future patients? If anything, the Government should do more to force tobacco companies to fund medical research. On the other side of the coin, many individuals, pharmaceutical companies and medical establishments seem to portray the belief that former smokers "deserve" to get cancer and therefore developing screening and treatment for smoking-related lung cancer (or any lung cancer) does not get adequate attention or funding.

The medical profession--especially doctors--needs to treat patients more holistically, rather than seeing them as a collection of symptoms or problems. In addition to her conventional treatment, my mother saw a naturopath (they are, fortunately, licensed to practice as physicians in Connecticut), who supported her through the ravages of chemotherapy and radiation. I am sure that my mother lived longer than projected because of this support, and it helped me to deal with the situation.

So, 10 years after my mother's death, where am I? I am troubled that breakthroughs in lung cancer treatment have not proceeded as quickly as they should have, because of the attention lavished on more "fashionable" diseases and the Government's seeming indifference to the situation. Surely, the human costs of lung cancer, for patients, their loved ones and society, are too great to ignore?

On a more positive note, I have managed to find happiness in my life after my mother's death. While I could spend every Christmas dwelling on the anniversary of her death, and am still overcome by grief sometimes, I am truly grateful to enjoy the traditions she passed on to me. A few years ago, I was amazed when a single white rose bloomed in my garden on a cold Christmas Day. Surely, that was my mother confirming my belief that there is hope after lung cancer.

Faith, Hope, Love and Humor

The beginning of 2003 found my breathing and respiratory system really acting up. It was a year of continual infections. I'd finish one anitbiotic and start another one. During that year I really became dependent on supplemental oxygen. Starting that Christmas 2003 I developed an allergy to Avalox. My internist decided to put me in the hospital between Christmas and New Year's to find out what was causing all the infections. On January 1, 2004 my doctor came into my hospital room to tell me he discovered a tumor the size of a golf ball in the upper lobe of my right lung. After every test that could be performed in the small valley where I live I was sent to Seattle, Washington's Swedish Medical Center's Cancer Center. After a CT scan-guided needle biopsy the results came in. Stage 2B lung cancer: as the doctors put it "the garden variety type" - non-small cell.

Following the CT scan my lung had collapsed a few times - what fun. Anyway while sitting in the hospital bed listening to each doctor that came to see me, I did some real soul searching. The one thing I could not do was ask "why me" because the answer was "why not me". I was no one special that I should be exempt from the cancer. Now what do I do about it. I could take it out on all the people close to me or I could turn it all over to my Higher Power. After all He is up all night anyway - I did and I slept at night.

For me, mentally, lung cancer was a breeze to handle. Chemo was my treatment of choice as I was not able to have surgery due to the severity of my COPD. The following 7 months I went once a week for chemo (except twice when I ended up in the hospital - bladder infection) and finished with seven weeks of daily radiation. By the end I felt like an absolute wet noodle - but I was alive. Both my medical oncologist and my radiation oncologist are people with great senses of humor and very positive outlooks. Never for a minute did I doubt what I was doing.

It has been regular PET/CT scans since, and of course, a few days of worry but I am now starting my third year of remission. One of the things that I am very committed to is getting the message out that Lung Cancer has a definite stigma attached to it and until we correct that, the funding for research will continue to fall far behind the other cancers. Early detection is another matter that each of us survivors need to emphasize. If we each speak out about detection and research maybe we can begin to change the statistics.

Whaddya mean I have lung cancer? I'm 29!!!

My world turned-up side down, right side up, and round and round. It was a whirlwind of test after test, injections, treatments, and especially not knowing the severity of the condition I had.

I first got chemo in the hospital where my PCP was and he recommended an oncologist I didn't like, so I switched to Amy Lang, whom I adore and her amazing staff.

After being hospitalized twice and close to death the last time, I moved from there to here and decided that it would be in my best interest to leave my hometown in San Antonio and move back in with my mom, who I never really lived with. We get along ok, but I miss my friends. I need to get involved and meet people.

I'm coming across my 2nd year anniversary of Lung Cancer, which is a big thing. The statistics are stacked against me, but I have to rely on faith and that God is the ultimate physician and is merely guiding the works of the doctors.

I don't want this to be a sad bad mopey mourning mood of life because we're not dead yet! You have to keep this faith in your heart and move around some on the days you are feeling great. If you don't keep moving, you won't move, and that, my friend, would suck.

To me, living with cancer is about attitude and a commitment to that. There are not a whole lot of positive books about lung cancer and I'm hoping that will change too. There is a wonderful book called Voices of Lung Cancer: The healing stories for courage, comfort and strength. Read those! (Editor's note: This book is available for purchase from Amazon.com through our website.) And watch "Facing the Giants" if you are in need of a quick fix. God bless you all in each of your journeys.