I am telling you, I NEVER would have thought that I would be where I am right now at age 42. But the fact is, I am. What am I gonna do about it? I can cover my eyes and pretend like its not happening or bring reality back into the picture, do what my Doc says and look for any and EVERYTHING that I can find to improve my long term outlook and kick this in the ass. I going to put a month worth of stuff into a paragraph or two, but will be HAPPY to give more detail when requested.
Early September - bad pain in back, so bad I took myself to Hockessin walk-in as opposed to just ignoring it, which would usually be the case. Here, a Dr. Duran looked me over, ordered an EKG and a chest x-ray to be done immediately and ordered blood work, urinalysis and CT scan to be scheduled ASAP. EKG was normal, actually, very good. The problem was the x-ray. Dr. Duran explained it as being abnormal, but could be a variety of things. He sent me on my way with a Z-Pac supply and sent all details to my PCP, Dr. David Callahan from Jennersville,PA. After speaking with Dr. Callahan, approximately a week and a half later, he wanted the CT scan to be done immediately. Blood work and urinalysis came back pretty normal and didn't show any evidence of a progressed tumor, infection or anything. I ended up getting into prolonged and rediculous battles with my health insurance company over getting the CT scan....they didn't seem to think that a possible mass in my lung was that critical...those were some interesting phone calls...those that know me well, know what I mean. But anyway, while we were waiting for Coventry (health ins co.) to approve this scan, we did another, comparative chest xray......same thing....shadowy, abnormal. At this point, Coventry agreed to a CT scan which I had done in Jennersville. Bad news, definitely a mass in the lower left lobe, about 6cm. OKAY......here we go!! All along, I was expecting the worst. I try to be an optimist, but be/c of the way I was handling this, I was never really shocked or surprised. Next step was to biopsy this mass which we scheduled right there on the spot for approximately 10 days from that date, bringing us near Sept. 20th. Bronchoscopy came back....Non small cell malignant.....gotta get ya to an oncologist and move from there. A few days later I met with my Oncologist, Dr. Martha Hosford, who was great, up front and honest. She believed that we would need surgery but wanted a routine MRI done first and also wanted to order a PET Scan. A PET scan is very useful after being diagnosed with cancer. even though it didn't show up in ANY of my lab work, the cancer still has affected the biology of my tissues and cells. In cancer, for example, cells begin to grow at a much faster rate, feeding on sugars like glucose. PET works by using a small amount of a tracer drug chemically attached to glucose or other compounds. You are injected with the tracer. It travels through your body emitting signals and eventually collects in the organs targeted for examination. If an area in an organ is cancerous, the signals will be stronger than in the surrounding tissue. A scanner records these signals and transforms them into pictures of chemistry and function. The results of htis scan showed possible affected lymph nodes near the bad part of my lung.....more friggin bad news. So how about that routine MRI Doc? Oh, more bad news? A small 5mm lesion on the left cerebller hemishere of my brain.......Now its time to build "The Team"....wow, Im only 42 and I am putting together a team...next thing ya know, I'll be wearing black socks pulled up to my ankles, with sandals, yelling at the kids in the neighbors yard. But anyway, Dr. Hosford helped me to arrange appts with a Nuerologist for my brain lesion, Dr. Boulos, and a Thoracic surgeon for my lung.....one of the best.....Dr. Thomas Bauer. Dr. Boulos recommended either radiate the brain or surgery, but surgery seemed a bit much for such a tiny area. But he wanted the lung attended to first as it was more of an issue. A few days later, I met with Dr. Bauer, who agreed. He got on the phone with my oncologist, who had just spoken with the Neurologist and everyone was on the same page. Just as we were discussing when, Dr. Bauer's assistant came in to inform him that one of his surgerys scheduled for the next day had to be postponed as the patient had developed the flu and could not go through surgery....he looked at me and said, "How soon do you want to get this done?" I said "yesterday".....so just like that. I went from having my initial appt with Dr. Bauer to being on his operating table, first thing in the morning, the next day! AHHH!!!! Made a bunch of phone calls, friends and family rallied and I was off to what turned out to be a 5 hour surgery, COMPLETE lung removal and week stay in hospital. Please see Journal