This may seem slightly out of text but to me cancer is cancer. I have one question and it is about the use of plastic in either freezers or in the microwave. I had read that using plastic in the microwave can be dangerous as well as freezing in the freezer. What I am curious about in that respect is is it just as dangerous to use the so called microwave safe plastics? the article I read did not specify so that is why I have this question. I would assume that plastic is plastic but assumptions as we all know can lead to other problems. So, I ask again does it also mean that microwave plastics are all dangerous?

Sincerely

Vivien B.

My dad died from Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer - squamous carcinoma. He first got sick Dec. 25, 2005. He died June 1, 2006.

I learned that:

1. We should not have assumed that he had a cold, allergies or bronchitis 2. That you can go about a daily routine & not know you are that sick 3. That you can have good blood work (cbc) in the first few months of being sick. 4. That you can take an x-ray & not have it appear with minor abnormality 5. That you should follow up on your health. It is your responsibility, more than your doctor's. 6. That you can quit smoking for over 28 years and still get lung cancer 7. That our ability to breath is precious & yet I/we take it for granted 8. That our lungs, heart and kidneys work together and affect each other 9. That you can get sick from lung cancer and die while trying to validate that lung cancer is what you have.

Your article about lung cancer symptoms states that patients should take symptoms more seriously. My wife died of stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer only three weeks after finally being diagnosed by her doctors. She had complained about a chronic cough in mid Aug 2004 and was diagnosed as having pneumonia. X-RAYS taken in Sept showed only signs of pneumonia. In Oct. she started having trouble walking and the cough just got worse. We begged our family doctor to send her to a pulmonary specialist and he said he didn't see any evidence to warrent doing that. He did finally order a C-scan and based on the results of that sent her to a pulmonary doctor who immediately diagnosed her as having stage 4 lung cancer. She died 3 weeks later. She was an ex smoker, stopped in 1989 but was by all definations at high risk for lung cancer. Our family doctor was following protocall establised by the NCI by not ordering routine C-scans annually for lung cancer or even when she started showing symptoms. Its not only patients who should take symptoms of lung cancer seriously, family doctors should also. The NCI should establish a protocall for people at high risk for lung cancer to get a C-scan at least annually.