I was diagnosed in January of 2001 with lung cancer at the age of 36. I was a foolish pack a day smoker unless I was out drinking, it could be 1 1/2 to 2 packs.
I was having some stress in my life and a considerable amount of pain in my neck. One day, I bent down to pick something up and I got a sharp pain. The slightest movement caused the pain to worsen. It went from the top right side my chest near my sternum all the way through to my back not far from my shoulder blade.
Before my doctor even saw me she sent me for a chest x-ray. During my appointment, I noticed the doctor looking at my hands and she asked me to hold them out. She said I have clubbing: my nails were humped and that is a sign of a pulmonary problem. She scheduled me with a pulmonologist.At my appointment with the pulmonologist, I began to cry when we looked at my x-ray because there was a large mass showing. He told me that this could be a cyst, tuberculosis etc… This was the last day I ever smoked. I got so mad at myself that I cracked the cigarettes in half & threw them away.
When we got home I asked my friend Greg, who is a nurse and had accompanied me to the appointment, what he thought of my x-ray. The next day, he called me and made an appointment for me to see a thoracic surgeon that same week. At the appointment with my thoracic surgeon, they told me straight out that the mass was lung cancer. I was devastated. I was told that my cancer was curable because it looked like it wasn’t in my nodes or bones. We scheduled surgery and a list of tests to get done. I completed all of my tests and just wanted the tumor out of me because it was becoming very painful. A friend of mine had a cousin who had lung cancer and surgery done at the University of Pennsylvania. He was only in his early 40’s. I met with him and he told me about his surgery and explained everything involved. He told me how painful it was but also had a sense of humor about it. I think having a sense of humor is what gets you through times like this.
My surgery was quite extensive. They ended up taking my right top lobe, chipped my spine, took my sympathetic nerve from my right arm, took 3 ribs, moved my clavicle and wired it to my shoulder, re-sectioned my chest wall and did some work on my superior vena cava. I was told that I didn’t need radiation or chemotherapy.
I think you have to have a sense of humor to get you through the rough times. I joked with my friend’s cousin that we could dress up for Halloween together as a set of lungs. He joked about spare ribs because he also has some ribs missing. Some of the best medicine in life is laughter and it’s FREE.
As far as tobacco is concerned it should be banned forever because I'm living proof that TOBACCO DOES CAUSE CANCER, but I'm one of the lucky ones who got to survive it. There's nothing positive about tobacco - just negatives. I personally cannot stand the smell of tobacco products. Nobody will ever tell me any different about smoking because I'm the one who went through the excruciating pain.
As far as cancer goes, I am lung cancer free for 8 years and looking to be for the rest of my life. I really don’t think about the cancer returning; as far as I’m concerned it is gone for good.
I was having some stress in my life and a considerable amount of pain in my neck. One day, I bent down to pick something up and I got a sharp pain. The slightest movement caused the pain to worsen. It went from the top right side my chest near my sternum all the way through to my back not far from my shoulder blade.
Before my doctor even saw me she sent me for a chest x-ray. During my appointment, I noticed the doctor looking at my hands and she asked me to hold them out. She said I have clubbing: my nails were humped and that is a sign of a pulmonary problem. She scheduled me with a pulmonologist.At my appointment with the pulmonologist, I began to cry when we looked at my x-ray because there was a large mass showing. He told me that this could be a cyst, tuberculosis etc… This was the last day I ever smoked. I got so mad at myself that I cracked the cigarettes in half & threw them away.
When we got home I asked my friend Greg, who is a nurse and had accompanied me to the appointment, what he thought of my x-ray. The next day, he called me and made an appointment for me to see a thoracic surgeon that same week. At the appointment with my thoracic surgeon, they told me straight out that the mass was lung cancer. I was devastated. I was told that my cancer was curable because it looked like it wasn’t in my nodes or bones. We scheduled surgery and a list of tests to get done. I completed all of my tests and just wanted the tumor out of me because it was becoming very painful. A friend of mine had a cousin who had lung cancer and surgery done at the University of Pennsylvania. He was only in his early 40’s. I met with him and he told me about his surgery and explained everything involved. He told me how painful it was but also had a sense of humor about it. I think having a sense of humor is what gets you through times like this.
My surgery was quite extensive. They ended up taking my right top lobe, chipped my spine, took my sympathetic nerve from my right arm, took 3 ribs, moved my clavicle and wired it to my shoulder, re-sectioned my chest wall and did some work on my superior vena cava. I was told that I didn’t need radiation or chemotherapy.
I think you have to have a sense of humor to get you through the rough times. I joked with my friend’s cousin that we could dress up for Halloween together as a set of lungs. He joked about spare ribs because he also has some ribs missing. Some of the best medicine in life is laughter and it’s FREE.
As far as tobacco is concerned it should be banned forever because I'm living proof that TOBACCO DOES CAUSE CANCER, but I'm one of the lucky ones who got to survive it. There's nothing positive about tobacco - just negatives. I personally cannot stand the smell of tobacco products. Nobody will ever tell me any different about smoking because I'm the one who went through the excruciating pain.
As far as cancer goes, I am lung cancer free for 8 years and looking to be for the rest of my life. I really don’t think about the cancer returning; as far as I’m concerned it is gone for good.
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