I just found out that my husband has small cell lung cancer. It was a total shock to us both. We are live a very healthy and active lifestyle. My husband is a workaholic and has never been sick in over 16 years that I have known him. 4 weeks ago he complained of shortness of breath and congestion in his chest after walking the stairs at work. He always takes the stairs. He has been going to the same physican for over 10 years. He gets his physicals each and every year. This year in particular he had gone back at least 4 times to complain of aching joints and back. He was given a high dosage of antibiotics and told to relax for a week. He went back to the doctor's office and they finally decided to x-ray his chest. They saw one white lung and one very dark lung. His right side was filled with liquids and the doctor thought he saw a kind of mass. My husband was then referred to a pulunary specialist to address his chest issue. My husband was scheduled to have the liquids drained and inquired as to how to prepare for the procedure. No additional prep work on his part was needed. All he needed to do was show up and have the fluids drained. Upon arrival, he was questioned about any medication taken the night before. He said he had taken asprins for the pain. They immediately said that he would need to reschedule his appointment for another week out because they did not want to take the risk of him bleeding to death. The specialist pulmonary immediatedly ordered the drainage to be done. He went in on Wednesday instead of the next Friday. They drained 1700cc of old blood from his right chest. His lungs completely collasped during the procedure. He was in so much pain but he wanted to have the fluids removed. The liquids were tested for cancerous cells. We eagerly and painfully waited for the test results. The doctor never called. We spoke to his nurse and she was not much help either. We finally had an appointment with the doctor. He delivered the news as delicately as possible. I could not believe what I was hearing. Plural effusion is what they called it. His lower right lung was collasped and fluids were leaking from his chest wall. He would need to have surgery and have a biopsy done. The surgey was done on Monday, November 21, 2005. They sprayed some talc inside to attached the lung back to the chest wall. In addition, they placed a tube in his side to drain the fluids from his lungs. He is draining 300cc of fluids everyday. He desparately wants to start his chemo treatments. They have also placed a permanent I.V. in his left arm. I try to keep him upbeat and happy at all times. We have two beautiful children. My daughter is 7 and my son is 8. We both have our own businesses to run and currently I am helping with both. We have not told his family yet. I am still very afraid of the unknown. I was glad I found this website to know that I am not alone with my battle for a longer extended life with my soul mate. I try not to think about the future because it hurts too much. I just think about the now and how can I make each and everyday a special and happy day for the entire family. This is such a shock. We are holding true to our faith and entrusting that God has a plan for everyone and that we should not question why? Just know that all things happen for a huge reason. My husband is a great father, husband, provider, friend, and soul mate. We have lived a stress free life for the past 16 years. He is 43 and I am 39 years old. He makes me happy 99% of the time. God himself hand picked him for me.

I am thankful I found this site. It gave me great comfort last night for the first time in 4 weeks. May God Bless each and every one of you. Your stories have helped to heal and boost my inner strength.

Thank you.
prayful and hopeful

pjoi4,
Sorry to hear that lung cancer has invaded your families' lives. Try to stay positive, and never lose hope! I will pray for your family.
Jax

I am so sorry to hear about your husband,my hubby is 44 and he was dx in June with SCLC.Like your hubby mine was never sick a day in his life,always active,we have been together 18 years.

When he was dx he had a bad cold and cough,the cold went away,but the cough remained.
I nagged and nagged and I finally got him to go to our family Dr,he did a chest x-ray and found a rather large tumor on his right lung.Well needless to say they dx him with SCLC,he has had 9 cycles of cisplatin and etoposide plus 39 radiation tx.
All was well until three weeks ago when he was having facial "tics",his oncologist ordered an MRI of his head and they found 14 plus tumors on his brain,now he is undergoing whole brain radiation.
Yesterday we saw the oncologist again and he believes my hubby's cancer is now active again in his chest,so back to CT scan we went and we will have the results hopefully monday.
I do not want to scare you but hold on you are in for the ride of your life!!
Always hold out hope and try to be positive,believe me I KNOW how hard that is at times.
I will pray for your family
God Bless :angel:

Karen44

I am so sorry to hear all you have gone through. It sounds about the same my husband has gone through. I am sure you have read what I have written in other posts but my husband is 51 with sclc. My heart aches for all having to deal with cancer. (or any other disease) The holiday season is upon us and it is so hard for me to deal with it for fear it is our last Christmas together, but then I snap out of realizing how lucky we are to have each other right now. My dad is also very sick right now and is only 68 and is in renal failure. It is so heartbreaking seeing 2 people I love fighting for their lives. My husband has opted not to proceed with whole brain radiation as he wants quality with us during the holidays. We have a 16 and a 9 year old who are fully aware of their dad's illness. I wish I could offer more comfort to you, but I think the best thing I can offer is...enjoy every moment you have together. We also own our own business so know what you are going through trying to keep everything running smoothly. Is the cancer just isolated to his lungs? When will he start chemo? My husband received chemo that was Cisplatin and Etopside. I wish you the best and stay strong. My prayers and thoughts are with you...
Kim

I am so sorry about what you are going through. My hubby has nsclc but it is so aggressive that I wonder sometimes whether it has mutated. He went through 5-6 months of Carboplatinum and Gemzar with very good results. Then only one month off of chemo, it all started to grow again and now he is on Tarceva. I had good optimistic thoughts of that drug. But like in all things...it might work and might now. I don't think it is in our case. But this is in the Lord's hands. But still, I wonder. My hubby is doing very poorly right now. I am very blessed that he is with us this Christmas and today we put up our decoractions. I try to remain hopeful about next year, but I have decided that this Christmas will be one of a lifetime. Full of love, memories, laughter, joy and hope. If it kills me. :)
I cried again tonight, and my heart aches, but he does now know about it. I tucked him with lots of kisses and lots of blankets... (he seems to be cold all of the time lately..althought he is the warm-blooded of the two of us) for a few moments while I take care of a few household needs. I thought I would stop by and read a bit. Sclc and nsclc are both really nasty. Different, but totally NASTY. I pray for you and have added you to my evergrowing list. As a caregiver, I can say this: stay strong, take care of yourself. Eat right, try to excercise to release the tension. Make memories, live and love each minute with your hubby. Write a journal. Walk the dog...A LOT. And come here whenever you need to. We are all in this together and we will help you.

Take care,
Jan in Evansville, IN

Thank you all for your replies. Again it is very comforting. December 7, 2005. My husband received his first round of chemo (Taxol and Carboplatin). Afterwards, he was a little tired but overall he felt great. He remained awake the entire day and we talked and prayed throughout the night. He is very positive at this time. I really did not want to ask his doctor to give me a time frame but I felt the need to know because of our small children. The doctor told me 1 year max. I find this hard to believe because my husband looks like the picture of health and his will is so very strong. He is supposed to do chemo every 3 weeks for 8 weeks. The doctor has ordered an MRI next week to take a look at his brain and later check his bones. We are still dealing with the leakage on his side from where they inserted a tube to drain his right lung. The lung is still collasped on the bottom lower part. On Friday, they will attached a tube so that he may drain the liquids himself. Everytime he coughs, liquids fill up the three pads I place around the small hole that was made to insert the tube. He just wants that problem to go away and focus on the chemo. We still have not told any immediate family members. We just wanted to see how the first two rounds of chemo goes. My husband is still loving and we have been able to joke a lot. He was worried about loosing his eyebrows and the little specs of hair on his head. Mind you, I shave his head almost bald every Sunday before church. I have been doing this for the past 10 years. I promised him that if his lost his eyebrows, I would use my eye pencil to draw him some.

Thanks for your many prayers and I will also keep you all in mine.

PJOI4

I can understand your feelings. My husband also has SCLC and we just found out the first week of October 2005.

He had been in the hospital twice and we are both having a hard time understanding all the things. Neither one of us are medically inclined so I have been trying to find help online.

He has good days and bad days.

I hope you can get the answers you need and I will be looking for help and advice on here also.

Hello, when I was dx with SMLC it was the most frightening day of my life. I am one of the lucky ones so far. My scan in July was clean so I 'got to' go through the precautionary brain radiation in August. I did chemo and readiation through May and June. Looking back, it was not as terrible as I was prepared for, though at the time there were some crummy days. What I want to say to you is I have read all I can find about the cancer. The survival stories are as uplifting as the losses are heartbreaking. I was told and I firmly believe it, that a good attitude and all the prayers have gotten me through so far. I am aware of the poor percentage of chances of making it five years cancer free but it happens. Try to find some humor wherever you can and share it. I have read stories of people who had SCLC so advanced there was no hope, and they have been in remission for ten years. There are also the stories on these boards of losses that make no sense to us. Stay strong and live each day to the fullest. My prayers are with you and your family. Pat from Vanceburg, KY

What type of cough are you referring to? Is it a dry cough?? Is it a productive cough....