Thanks for all your prayers

Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday! I meant to post earlier thanking all of you for your thoughts and prayers. My Dad did make it home for Christmas and it was an amazing and very special Christmas with him there. He has lost some weight and is fatigued but thats to be expected. He was in the hospital way longer than they predicted (11 days) due to some complications. But he is home now ready for part 2 of the battle.

Basically the surgeons have left the staging part of his dx to the Oncologist he will see this week. His Lymph Nodes came back all clear (which is GREAT!!) But they r saying that since both tumors removed form the lungs were the same type of cancer, it could either be a spread (meaning) stage 4 or if they are both separate instances of stage 1 tumors then it could mean a rapid spreading type of cancer. SO....they have not yet looked at his brain, which they say is a common place for Lung Cancer to spread to. They were hopefull that w/o spread thru Lymph Nodes his Brain MRI would be all clear, but we will get that news this week as well as meet the Oncologist. The surgeon says that either way he will need some Chemo.

I am beginning to truely understand why they call Cancer a battle....

Dad is scared but very very strong-willed. He is a young 56 - very active - but I am worried about Depression. He has made some comments to me about "his thoughts getting away from him" "maybe a counselor could help"....I definitely think therapy is in order. I think I mentioned in my first post on him that he lost his job the same week he was told of the spot in his lung. He worked EXTREMELY hard for that company for 25 yrs. He is dealing with so so much. AND he is SUCH the caretaker of everyone. I can just see how it is hurting him to have all of us worry for/ care for HIM.

So...thats the update. I will continue to post updates here, as you all are truely one of the strongest support systems in my life. Thank You again for all of your kind words and thoughts.

Jessica

P.S.-LoveGia-Thank you for the great story you shared about your husbands aunt. That was a great heartwarming story and I appreciate you taking the time to share that with me.

Jessica, I am so sorry as I know what is like to have a family member battling lung cancer - my dad died of it but he was 77 when he died and very heavy smoker since his youth. So your father still has a great chance, he is not like mine, and I wish him and you all, too that he will win this battle.

I think you are right about wanting him to attend therapy. What can I say from my own experience, this is such a battle, as aptly you observed, and so overwhelming and yet we are so unprepared and so inexperienced we need all the professional help we can get. So, the sooner the better.
In fact it would be beneficial to be in therapy or some kind of support group for the entire family.
To know what to expect, how to deal with things that may or may not come is such a huge difference than to stumble by one self in the darkness, terrified.

Best wishes to your Dad and you.


Risa

Glad you liked it. Hope all goes well for you and your family.
My heart goes out to you.

Continuing to lift your family up in prayer..Please let us know how everyone is doing when you have the time.

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So sorry to hear about your dad. We will pray for him. Just take one day at a time and keep us posted. Take care. Billy

Greeneyes-Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. We are just going one step at a time right now and trying to focus on the positives as much as we can. My dad could not have his brain MRI b/c he got closterphobic (strange cuz he never has before). Then he said, we'll just see, maybe the new doc (Oncologist) will say not to worry about it. When I asked more about him being too closterphobic to get the MRI he said something somewhat alarming about "well yeah cuz I've had this ringing in my ears for a long time from a cold I had" That was concerning...but I didn't say much about it. He has been thru so much and been such a fighter, I will wait for the right time for him to have the MRI. But he is doing GREAT with not smoking and has put back on 5 lbs so thats great. Now If we can get him involved in something to take his mind off of the sickness and the loss of job...we'd be ok.
I am doing good. I have seen that my dad seems to play off of my lead in terms of strength, mood, outlook, etc, so I am keepin it as upbeat as possible-at least when I'm around or talking to him that is.

Billy-Thanks for your kind words. It's great to see you around here more. When I was first Dxd w Migraines and found Rhondas you had just had a surgery on your sinuses and I would follow your posts. I was always amazed too when you'd chime in on one of my posts, as you were struggling so much with YOUR health yet took the time to help others. That was on of the first eye-openers to me that this is really an above-average on-line support forum.

Thanks again guys!!
Jessica