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Carol T catipton Lung Cancer update, quit smoking and stay...
Carol T catipton Lung Cancer update, quit smoking and stay quit 2016
For those of you here who know me, this update is a bit overdue, as today is the start of the third week since I once again walked into this fine establishment for what should have been my second lung surgery since June 20 of 2016 to remove a cancerous tumor. I say "should" because my fine surgeon was unable to perform the procedure in the matter in which we had hoped. My daughter was in touch with my dear friends @1q2 S. and @Laura E. but she had no real information to give them, and they chose, for understandable reasons, not to post what little I had told her to say for that scenario. Thank you Laura and 1q2, I so appreciate you both.
For those of you who don't know me, I quit smoking over 11 years ago on 11/2/2005. I was diagnosed with lung cancer last year after a 4.5cm mass was found on my lung during a completely unrelated trip to Urgent Care on Mother's Day weekend. A life saving x-ray for something that I will be forever grateful for. And I hope I have a lot of forever left in me. If you want to know more, you can read my profile. But for now, I need to get back to today's update.
I am still inpatient here, but I managed to get outside yesterday by catching an ambulance ride over to the Disney Family Cancer Center to have a special mask made and scans done to create a map for some seriously needed radiation. What I haven't explained yet is why. I have a very nasty and aggressive lung cancer. It was completely gone post-op, and all films and scans since surgery were triple checked after my 12/20 PET scan that showed another 3.5cm lung tumor. Nothing was missed; everything was still clean as of the beginning of November. What was not visible on the PET scan was the fact that the new tumor had attached itself to the pulmonary artery. It is even possible, and quite likely, that it had not been attached at that particular moment in time. It was too risky for my surgeon to chance removing it as he thought he would be able to. Had he known, he would not have operated at this time, but would have had the radiation oncologist try to shrink the tumor with radiation first.
While recovering from the lung surgery (biopsies were taken for targeted testing, lymph nodes were tested again and were all clean, but no additional lung tissue was removed), some other symptoms that I had dismissed as stress and fatigue surfaced, and a complete neurological workup was ordered. It seems that this beast who decided to take up residence in my lungs again and attach itself to my pulmonary artery wasn't satisfied with that. Oh no, the beast had decided that he needed space to play front and center in my brain as well, so now I have a tumor there that has to be treated ASAP.
Needless to say, the last two weeks have been holy you know what. A lot to wrap my head around and to digest. Answers that only led to more questions, more problems cropping up, more answers, questions and now this additional diagnosis. Four units of blood transfused in under two weeks. Radiation to the brain next week. Then we will think about attacking the beast in the lungs again. And believe me, I'm not done fighting.
If any of this information I have been sharing since I first posted about this helps just one of you quit smoking and stay quit, I've done some good by continuing to share what I am going through. If the information gets at least one of you in for testing sooner than you would have, I've done some good. I've said it before and can't say it enough. Getting checked regularly, as in my case, isn't always enough. But if you have ever smoked, you need to take that first step, no matter how scared you may be of what damage may have already been done.
Life is precious, and sometimes cut shorter than we would like. We have no control. But we can be pro-active. I still hope to add SURVIVOR to my resume, but for now it's one day at a time. I'm still alive, kicking and fighting, and still don't look sick. For that I am grateful as well. I won Round 1, Round 2 is a draw I suppose, but I'm going to take this to the mat for a complete TKO. Quitting is still the best gift I ever gave myself and I hope it is your best gift to yourself as well.
I'm 11+ years quit, still loving my quit, and I always will. I'm fighting this beast again and plan on knocking it out for good. Please take care of yourself, you are worth whatever it takes!
And to Laura, 1q2 S, @Maureen E. @Nicole R. @Menno D. @Jay B. @Tony H @Susan S and anyone else whoever else sent me private messages, prayers and support, thank you from the bottom of my heart; I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If you have any questions, again, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. For now, I'm working with my medical team daily here at the start of week 3 in the hospital. I hope to go home soon and come back for the radiation treatment, which will be ready by Thursday at the very latest; my doctor is insisting on it. Be well, NOPE, and DFS! Sending love and hugs to all of you! ~ Carol