My cousin is 47 years old and has just been diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer.

[driver8]

Her prognosis is not good -- she has been told she has about a year to live. She does not smoke, by the way.

She is divorced with two sons. Her boys are both in high school.

She is the same age as me, and this news has knocked the wind out of me.

Life really sucks the big one, sometimes...

[mnhtnbb]

1. It does, indeed, suck sometimes. I have a college friend whose

husband, an orthopedic surgeon, went in for a routine chest x-ray to renew
his hospital privileges. They found a spot on his lung. He had never smoked
(was, in fact, a world class swimmer in high school/college) and within a couple
of years he was also dead at less than 50 years old from lung cancer.

I am so sorry for your cousin and her family.

:hug:

[Kat45]

2. That does suck. Someone I knew in grammar school was also diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer

We're in our fifties. I just saw her a few months ago and she was quite lively and doing fine at the time. Her sister and a couple of friends are throwing a tribute to her to raise money so she can do something she's always wanted to do while she's still alive.

It seems like lately I hear about a friend or peer being diagnosed with cancer. I just heard about two more today.

[LisaM]

3. I had this happen to a friend

he was a former smoker, who had not smoked in years. He didn't make it, but I think that even in the last two years there have been some advances, so I wish her the best.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. I am so sorry :^( *hugs*

[mwdem]

5. I so hate this disease.

It took my grandfather and my father. I'm a 4 year survivor of breast cancer. I'm so sorry.

[driver8]

10. I lost my father to lung cancer in 2008.

He had been a smoker when he was young, but quit when he was in his early thirties and had not smoked for almost 40 years.

He was always healthy as a horse and we all expected him to live well into his nineties.

I guess it doesn't matter how healthy you are -- cancer will get you if it wants to.

[mwdem]

12. My dad quit smoking 2 years before he was diagnosed.

He was a pipefitter, worked in asbestos most of his working life. His clothes were washed along with the families, nobody knew how this would be affecting them down the road. I feel like I'm the canary in the mine, with 2 cancers in 4 years. I'm okay for now, just have to keep getting tested every 6 months. You can only guess how the insrance feels about this. I'm unemployed, my husbad works now for a small co. It totally sucks, but you do what you have to do.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. My dear driver8...

Oh, boy, that's a tough one...

I'm so sorry to hear this.

I hope she can use the time to settle her affairs and get her boys into a situation where they will be cared for...

My deepest condolences to all of you...

:hug:

[Omaha Steve]

7. So many lost to lung cancer

Sending good karma your way.

[myrna minx]

8. I am so sorry.

:hug:

[applegrove]

9. vibes.

[driver8]

11. Thanks for the kind words, hugs, and vibes.

They really mean a lot.

[Swede]

13. That's a tough hand to get dealt.

I wish the best to you and your family.

[hippywife]

14. I'm so sorry for you, your cousin and family.

That had to be a terrible shock for everyone. :hug:

[Arugula Latte]

15. I'm so sorry.

I don't really know what to say except :hug: :grouphug: