<p>LTS…keep playing to win. Keep looking ahead and plan for the future. As others said, still try to live for the moment as well. We never know what the future holds…none of us do. But forge ahead and plan it anyway and keep playing to win. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, allow yourself to be normal with fears and feelings. That is only natural. </p>
<p>We’re all on your side and you keep defying the odds and you are a winner.</p>
<p>LTS,</p>
<p>From what I’ve read of your life it is evident that you defy the odds in many arenas of your life and are a statistical aberration! I think your doctor’s sharing the 80% statistic with you reflects his confidence in your medical status and your toughness. He certainly knows that you will not tolerate platitudes or groundless reassurance. You have such tough standards for yourself that it might be a change to indulge in moments of doubt or worry, but such moments are not a sign of weakness or defeat, nor are they permanent. You will get past them.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to ask your loved ones to provide you with the extra TLC you need right now. (Could your daughter fly up for the weekend?)</p>
<p>Take care. You are a winner.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>–Martin Luther</p>
<p>This got me thinking… Impossible is such a weird concept.</p>
<p>Half the time that I hear someone say “that’s impossible,” either something “impossible” is in the process of occurring, or has just occurred. The other times that I hear “that’s impossible,” someone does the impossible right after it. (Jumping three buses with a skateboard, building a skyscraper that’s twice the height of the world’s current tallest building, eating an entire bag of marshmallows in thirty seconds…)</p>
<p>Kind of makes me think that the concept of “impossibility” is incredibly skewed. I hereby reject it, and shall hereon substitute the word “challenging.”</p>
<p>“Doing the impossible” seems like such a large thing to have to embark upon, but since the meaning of the word has been so overused and so washed out, I’d look upon this as going head-to-head with a challenge. It would seem that so far, you’re doing a darned good job of winning the challenge, LTS. The odds are moot, and they look ridiculous in comparison to what you’ve conquered so far. All you have to do right now is to keep winning, right now, today, and look at your continued status as a survivor down a long road.</p>
<p>Keep on keepin’ on. We’re rooting for you, thinking about you, and praying for you, just as we always have.</p>
<p>and another</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Memoir</a> recalls educators hardships, success in Iran | Education | Jewish Journal](<a href=“http://www.jewishjournal.com/education/article/memoir_recalls_educators_hardships_success_in_iran_20080618/]Memoir”>http://www.jewishjournal.com/education/article/memoir_recalls_educators_hardships_success_in_iran_20080618/)</p>
<p>Hi LTS,</p>
<p>I’m a long-term, big-picture thinker, too. </p>
<p>Suggestion: When I’m wallowing in the present, my best therapy is to plan something out there a little ways to look forward to. You’re planning meetings for fall. Plan something (with your daughter?) for a few months from now that you’ve really wanted to do. Live like you’re planning to be here, and to be healthy. </p>
<p>This thread never fails to remind me of the power of hope. Thank you, LTS and friends.</p>
<p>LTS,
Count me in as another long-term planner. After I was dx’d I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish – and it’s a timeline far beyond what the initial timelines might have led me to expect. That list is in my Day-Timer and I use it for hope.</p>
<p>Are you able to do any walking on the treadmill? Was thinking that getting those endorphins pumping might help your mindset, esp. now that the new treatment is helping your breathing a bit.</p>
<p>Be sure your hemoglobin numbers are strong – low counts there can make you feel winded.</p>
<p>I hear you about not wanting to be on the last hairy edge of treatment protocols. I believe in keeping one more card in my back pocket. For now, the new treatment is relieving your discomfort and is enabling you to contnue on the chemo cocktail, which we all hope and pray will give you good results.</p>
<p>LTS, the reason for you to be optimistic is that you already know that you are an “outlier”. So you don’t fit into the middle of the statistical curve no matter what. I don’t just mean that you happen to be alive after 10 months – I mean that you also are much, much healthier than typical cancer patients, both in terms of your physical condition going in and the fact that the cancer itself has not made you very ill. (My sense is that the misery you’ve gone through the past couple of weeks was induced by the treatment, not the disease). </p>
<p>Keep in mind that statistics are not scientific “proof” of anything. If you had a set of statistics that showed that a treatment had only a 2% success rate… a good scientist might still want to know what it was about those 2% that made the treatment work for them. I think the statistics provide a useful guide to doctors when making choices as to treatments – it makes more sense to start with the treatment regime with a 60% success rate than start with one that has only a 10% success rate – but it may be that the treatment with the lower overall rate of success is precisely the one that works most effectively for patients who don’t benefit from the first treatment. There could be very strong, scientific reason for such a pattern – based on individual genetic makeup – and at the same time those reasons could be as yet undiscovered. </p>
<p>Anyway: keep the faith. Your oncologist probably has noticed that most of his patients are flat on their backs in bed for awhile before they die. (Not so true for the cardiologist’s patients, unfortunately …) So I think that is why he is more optimistic. Right now, from his perspective, you are in really good shape. And if he’s selected a treatment program with an 80% response rate, then that is all the more reason for him to be optimistic.</p>
<p>LTS, an 80% ORR for refractory SCLC is remarkable and would have generated enough buzz that would have been hard to miss.What regimen are you referring to?</p>
<p>Padad, I did not bring home the details, but, it’s a Japanese study from 1997, 17 participants, 5 had an objective response, 12 had a complete response. It is a four drug chemotherapy: cisplatin, etopisode, vincristine, and adriamycin. The drugs are delivered weekly, in cycles. </p>
<p>A few things that sort of mitigate the 80% number in my mind: one, Asian studies always seem to report better results, I am guessing because of the biological differences between Asian and westerners; two, the study didn’t specifically say patients who failed multiple prior treatments - it just said refractory disease; three, the numbers are of course very small. </p>
<p>I also asked, well, I have already progressed through cisplatin and etoposide (after initially responding); we think it’s going to work now because WHY? and he said it’s because of how the drugs are administered together. He’s right in that sense; you get the cisplatin and vincristine in the same day; it takes hours…then the next week you get the other two drugs together.</p>
<p>It’s a very powerful mix of chemicals - I can definitely feel this treatment, and need to rest on treatment days. </p>
<p>So the 80% is a real number, and, he also said today that there are combinations we can try even beyond this…</p>
<p>Epistrophy, where in the world do you find this stuff??? 20 years of fighting lung cancer? You’re kidding, right??? I will run out of money. I am going to have to get to work. No way do I have the resources stockpiled for a 20 year fight. LOL.</p>
<p>Marite, Soozievt, you’re right; ten months ago I signed a lease on new offices, etc. It was the right thing to do and I feel good about my decisions and actions so far. </p>
<p>Zipyourlips, my daughter calls me every day and has offered to fly up asap; she will come here any time i request; but, I don’t want her to. I want her to continue to build her new, happy, interesting and fun life in Miami, and, I want her to get her career on track - she wants this too. She has been offered broader responsibility at her job, and, her supervisors have promised her that they will support her and work around my illness, and give her whatever time off she needs, as often as she needs, to help me. She has a reasonable income - enough that she is supporting herself - and full benefits. She doesn’t like the career path though, and, she wants to be with me at least through the rough patches. But she needs to build her life, and i have simply worked too hard to give her excellent positioning, and I will NOT see my hard work - or hers for that matter - diminished by some stupid, cowardly disease. I love her and miss her but I want her to be free.</p>
<p>I agree with calmom. LTS, you’ve demonstrated that you can outlive people’s expectations for you. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>–variously attributed</p>
<p>CountingDown, thank you for your post; I cannot get on a treadmill right now. I am hoping that I can soon…blood counts are normal, for which I am thankful. I will have chemotherapy again starting next Tuesday, so, four days to rest and get ready for it again…</p>
<p>Aibar, nothing in my life has ever been normal. Everything has been a battle of sorts it seems and I have always found a way to win. That’s what perhaps troubles me about his statement “you have already done the impossible” - what if we run out of “impossible” cards? Do you imagine each person is handed a finite number of winning cards, and, when they’re all gone, they’re gone? Logically, I should be elated by his comment…</p>
<p>Calmom, you’re right of course. I just need to get my head back on straight…</p>
<p>LTS, do you know when you will know how YOU respond to this new line of chemo (scans, etc.)? Just curious… I imagine it must be hard waiting (it’s hard for me to wait, by proxy, and I don’t have to go through one billionth of what you are right now [I hope I [or anyone–I wish you didn’t!!] never has to–not to mention I could never have your grace, strength, or class–you astound me…)</p>
<p>Hugs and prayers,</p>
<p>question_quest</p>
<p>Q, typically it’s through scans, however, I think that by now I have a pretty good sense…</p>
<p>That’s one of the reasons I hate steroids. Very deceptive drug, it can mask all sorts of things (pain, loss of appetite, etc.) that I think are very important clues to pay attention to and that are early warning signs that things are not going well. On steroids, it is possible to be walking around feeling very, very good, when in fact you’re sliding into some serious trouble.</p>
<p>and another</p>
<p>
[quote]
**“CanCare relies on volunteers to extend messages of hope to cancer patients”</p>
<p>When Dr. Janet Hoagland volunteers her time with cancer patients, she becomes the person they can talk to without worrying about what they’re saying.**</p>
<p>She’s the person who talks about hope, even when the patients’ doctors paint a less-than-promising picture.</p>
<p>The Memorial-area resident is one of nearly 500 CanCare of Houston volunteers who tap into the experiences as cancer survivors to help others navigate their own journey with the disease.</p>
<p>“It’s a privilege to talk to people who are frightened and hopefully make them less afraid and to give them an avenue to vent,” said Hoagland, a lung cancer survivor. “Sometimes the catharsis of talking about it helps you solve a problem, feel less pressure, not feel so alone.”</p>
<p>CanCare of Houston, 9575 Katy Freeway, Suite 428, connects cancer patients and caregivers to one-on-one support from volunteers who have survived cancer or given care themselves. The organization relies on a volunteer staff of nearly 500 people.</p>
<p>“I get to work with some of the most special people,” CanCare president Nancy Tucker said.</p>
<p>“They’ve gone through a difficult time in their lives, and they’re willing to relive it to help other people.”</p>
<p>Earlier this week, the nonprofit organization wrapped up registration for its summer volunteer training session, set for Friday and Saturday.</p>
<p>Now it’s encouraging potential volunteers to register for its Sept. 5-7 session.</p>
<p>Volunteers must be cancer survivors who are at least six months outside of their treatment or cancer patient caregivers.</p>
<p>The mandatory 17-hour training is designed to equip volunteers to be a source of support.</p>
<p>“The focus is to, first of all, teach active listening skills,” said Tommy Thompson, CanCare executive vice president and chief operating officer.</p>
<p>Volunteers are encouraged to help patients feel hopeful, lessen fears, talk effectively to family and friends, and to ask their physicians effective questions, said Thompson, who has a doctor of ministry degree.</p>
<p>Participants hear from oncologists who explain what cancer is, how it spreads and how it’s treated.</p>
<p>They attend a panel discussion with doctors, patients and family members, each with a different perspective to share.</p>
<p>**Hoagland, a physician who specializes in breast cancer treatment, said her experience with the training not only prepared her to be an effective volunteer, it gave her more insight as a doctor.</p>
<p>“I realized how much I didn’t know about supporting patients,” said Hoagland, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer in 1994.</p>
<p>She came to the program after two years of illness and three years of recovery, along with a positive experience as a CanCare client.</p>
<p>Today, she said, she treasures the experiences she’s had with CanCare clients.</p>
<p>“I learn from every referral I talk to,” she said.</p>
<p>“I probably shouldn’t have survived my cancer, but I’m glad I did so I can give back to other people.”**</p>
<p>Tucker has seen CanCare at work as a client, a volunteer and a staff member.</p>
<p>She was 40 when a routine surgical procedure led to a thyroid cancer diagnosis. When her church told her about a new local ministry for cancer patients, she decided to investigate.</p>
<p>“When you’re first diagnosed with cancer, it’s like going to a foreign country,” said Tucker, 58. “You don’t know the language. You don’t know anything.”</p>
<p>Tucker met with her CanCare volunteer six times during her treatment. She had friends to turn to, but when she looked into their faces, she saw fear.</p>
<p>“When I looked into my volunteer’s eyes, I saw hope, humor and the grace of God,” she said.</p>
<p>After recovering, about five months after her initial diagnosis, Tucker decided she wanted to extend the same kind of support to others.</p>
<p>She started volunteering for CanCare and assisting its founder, Anne Turnage, who today is a 35-year survivor of colon cancer.</p>
<p>Turnage, who was leading CanCare on a part-time basis at the time, asked Tucker to write a grant for a part-time staff member. She wrote it, got the grant and got the job.</p>
<p>After Turnage retired in 1997, Tucker was elected to be the organization’s president.</p>
<p>Today, CanCare has 11 full-time employees, works with 81 partner congregations and sends volunteers to about 10 area hospitals. It also works with 10 partner corporations, which offer CanCare’s counseling as an employee benefit.</p>
<p>“We’re all about hope,” said Tucker, who continues to provide one-on-one volunteer services.</p>
<p>“We’ve been there, and we want to help others with the journey.”</p>
<p>For more information about CanCare, call 713-461-0028, or visit [CanCare](<a href=“http://www.cancare.org%5DCanCare%5B/url%5D.%5B/quote”>http://www.cancare.org).
[/quote</a>]
</p>
<p>[CanCare</a> relies on volunteers to extend messages of hope to cancer patients | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle](<a href=“http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/memorial/news/5842126.html]CanCare”>http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/memorial/news/5842126.html)</p>
<p>I think of you often. I hope you have a rest full (*** will show up if spelled correctly) weekend. There are some good quotes in here compiled by CC cafe
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/432805-favorite-quotes.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/432805-favorite-quotes.html</a></p>
<p>and if you need a laugh – CC parents show off their wit <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/524602-5th-foot-found-off-b-c-coast.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/524602-5th-foot-found-off-b-c-coast.html</a></p>
<p>LTS, are you saying that you have a feeling or insight that negative things are happening?</p>
<p>ADad, no, I don’t. I still strongly believe that if there is anyone who can beat this thing, I am that person. And, for a person fighting small cell? I am at my desk this morning, working. Or rather playing on CC. I have serious commitments today, including a Fortune 100 company who I have been in dialog with for a year on a matter related to FCPA. From all that I have read, it’s unusual for a person diagnosed with small cell extensive ten months ago to even still be alive now, let alone working full time and functioning. </p>
<p>I do have some issue though with drugs, in that they mask physical signals that I would like to be able to listen to.</p>
<p>LTS, I’m always glad to hear how great you are doing! </p>
<p>It sounds like your concern right now, then, is that, because of the steroids, it is hard to stay as on top of everything as you would like.</p>