A question for the NSCLC Community

If your or your loved one’s experience living with this condition were a book, what would its title be and why? And what would you name the chapter you are currently in?

Answers from the Community

I would probably name the book, “Just Breathe.” And the current chapter would be “Acceptance.” I think I’m to the point of accepting my diagnosis and figuring how to win this battle.

The title would be “My Journey Sucked” and the chapter I would be on is “What Next?” I’m trying to find myself all over again and start brand new, reactivating my brain and going back to school and doing things that I haven’t had any practice in over 20 years so that’s going to be interesting to see what happens next.

The title of the book would probably be like “Caught by Surprise.” And the chapter I’m on right now would be “Month 59.”

Well, that’s an on the spot one. I guess I would title the book “Learning to Dance in the Rain” and the chapter that I’m in now is “I Am Not a Passenger on the Titanic, I Am a Survivor and I Will Fight Until My Last Breath.”

I think title of the book would be “Read This Before You Visit Your Oncologist.” The chapter we’re currently in would probably be titled something like, “Following Chemo and Radiation Treatment Remedies and Ways To Deal With Them.”

I think I would call it “Not a Death Sentence” because that’s what everyone thinks. That’s kind of what I thought too when I first was told, until I talked to the doctors and researched more about the new treatments. Given the fact that so many members of my family have already died of lung cancer. So now I know that it isn’t a death sentence, and that with all the new treatments, then it’s perfect that it’s more easily survivable. So today’s chapter, I’ve called “Living Life” because that’s what I’m doing, and it’s much better than I thought it would be when I was told I had lung cancer two years ago.

My book would be called “Silver Linings,” because of all the amazing people I met through my lung cancer journey from my support group. They have become like family. The chapter I’d be in now is called “Living in Limbo,” because I just had my CT scans and I’m waiting for the results. Thank you very much.

The title would definitely be, “I’m Still Here.” Because I am still here after seven years. And I wasn’t supposed to be here more than two to six months. And what would the chapter that I’m in now be called? Well, I guess it would be called “Everyday’s a Blessing.” Because I do consider every day a blessing. And that’s it.

“The Art of Living With Cancer” for the book title, and I am in the chapter called “Gratitude.”

I would probably name the book something like “Finding Hope and Healing After a Cancer Diagnosis.” And the chapter I would be in now would probably be called “I’m More Resilient Than I Thought I Was.” It’s been two and a half years since my diagnosis, and I honestly, in the beginning, one of the things that I kept telling my husband was that I didn’t think I could handle this. That this was too much. I didn’t think I was strong enough to handle this. And yet here I am two and a half years later. I was strong enough in the beginning and I continued to be strong and brave. And I sometimes surprise myself, that I have that reserve in me, that reserve of strength. That’s probably what I would name the book and chapter.

My book would be titled, “One Stinking Lymph Node”. When my lung surgeon told me that my biopsy came back with cancer in one lymph node, I was pretty devastated. He was so sure that it was not in any lymph nodes because they didn’t show up on any scans, and because I had it in one lymph node, I had to go through horrible chemotherapy for three months. I always said if I could write a book, it’d be called, “One Stinking Lymph Node”. My current chapter would be called “Live Every Day Like It’s Your Last”. Enjoy every, every little thing.

If I were naming the chapter of the book that I might be in, I would call it “Treading Water.” And I have been treading water for the last couple of years, since I figured out that my demise is not imminent. On the other hand, as markers and CT scans are changing, there are absolutely no guarantees anywhere. So I continue treading water. I think the title of the book would be “Trying to See in the Future” or “Make the Ouija Board Work.” And as I mentioned before, or “The Glass Is Definitely Half Full, Maybe More”. But I’m treading water in the middle of it and I’ll leave it at that. Thanks.

I don’t know, this was just off the cuff really quickly, the name of my book would be “Making it Work,” which kind of implies that the person with cancer is going to be responsible, is going to have some responsibility for making it work. It’s not just all up to doctors and nurses or social workers. That person with cancer has got to figure it out, make it work, change your life in such a way that it will work for you. So Making it Work is the title and the chapter I’m in right now is called “The Easy Part” because right now it sure is easy. Once a month, I go in for infusion. I know that this won’t last forever and the chemo was awful. I wouldn’t want anyone to have to go through that. Yuck, yuck, yuck. But that was only two months. So now the rest of this has been three years and this is the easy part. I don’t know what’s out there for me when this stops working, that’s frightening.

I think I would just call it pretty simple, “Look at Lung Cancer.” That’s probably just because I never knew anybody with lung cancer, didn’t know anything about it. It would be a little bit of a documentary about what I’ve gone through, but also trying to be factual and include a lot of resource information. I think my chapter would be “Just Breathe.” That’s what I feel like I’m doing now, taking a break from the medications. I’m just breathing and waiting for a next phase. I just feel like something’s going to be happening, so just kind of breathe in and enjoy the moment now.

I would probably name the book, “Just Breathe.” It’s something we take for granted every day, taking a deep breath. I haven’t been able to take a deep breath in over five years, and it’s just something that you want to be able to do. And it doesn’t mean when I’m walking fast or running or doing a lot. Just in general, just sitting on the couch, I want to be able to take in a deep breath and I haven’t been able to do that. It’s actually almost impossible for me to do. So that’s where I am right now.