Hello, I have been fighting Lung cancer since 1994, But up to now was lucky
In 1994 I went to my Doctor and told him my back hurt, He sent me to get it x-rayed, 2 days later he called me at home and said the x-ray tech spoted
something in my left lung and wanted to take another look, I went the next day and had a few more x-rays, my Doctor called me and said he felt I had cancer and wanted to do a test. Useing a CT scanner they stuck a needle through my back, Into my Lung and got a smaple, The test came back as cancer, It was very small, So I had an operation to remove it and part of my left upper lung, After 5 years they said I was cancer free, But in 2006 it came back in my right lower lung, At the same time they found I had a rare problem with my hart, And the cancer was very small again, They wanted to give me 2 operations and I said NO, I look around and found a Doctor that felt he could do both operations at the same time, So I said ok, I went in the Hospital on a Monday had open an open hart operation and the lower part of my right lung removed and was home in 7 days. In June of 2007 my doctor found cancer again in my left upper lung, I had another operation and had it removed. I had another CT scan about 6 weeks ago and they found cancer again accept this time it has spread to my liver, And they also found blood clods in my right leg, They put me on blood thinner for the clods and wanted to give me chemo for the cancer, At first I said yes to the chemo, But after doing a lot of research and finding out all I could about chemo and my type of cancer I have decided although I may die in a few months I'm not going to have it. I'm also disabled because of my back. I feel I want to have at least the quality of life I have now for as long as I can and not be sick and wish I was dead a few days after taking the chemo, That the Doctors says may only add a few months to my life. I called Hospice and they are going to start taking care of me in a few days. I'm not scared of dieing, I have made peace with God, The only thing that bothers me is my son is 22 and we are very close and I know he is going to have a hard time with my passing.
I feel since 1994 has been bowered time which God gave me to see my son grow up into a very good person.
God bless you all and if you have any type of cancer I wish you the best.
I couldn't read and not respond. But yet I don't know what to say other than I admire your attitude and resilience. I don't think I could be so gracious.
Last edited by Pittsburgh_Flye; 11-03-2009 at 01:17 PM.
Thank You, But it's not being gracious, It's just that I know Chemo ( my only choice ) may length a persons life with lung and liver cancer but it can't cure it and the quality of life while on and after is not what I want to look forward to, With out Chemo my doctors tells me I have 6 to 9 months, With Chemo he says he might be able to stretch that an extra 6 months to a year, And on top of that I have found that more people die sooner while on chemo from a hart attack or infection then people that don't take it. At least on Hospice I will receive very good care when I need it.
God bless you.
Follow up on lung and liver cancer, I just got off the phone with the Pulmonary Consultant I went to see way back in July for shortness of breath, He knew all about my History of lung cancer, He had his staff take x-rays of my lungs on 2 different visits, I asked him if he could see any possible cancer and he said know at the time and just kept giving me medication to try and breath better. When I found everything he tried didn't work, I went to my Family Doctor in late Sept. He sent me right out for a CT scan
He told me as soon as the Scan was complete to come back to his office so I did, When I got there he had the CT report and told me I had the cancer again in my lungs and it had also moved to my liver and it was terminal, He sent me to another doctor to check into chemo, Which as stated above I turned down. But to get back to Pulmonary Consultant, The couple of times I say him he was running around trying to take care of me and 3 other people, As I said I asked him if he say any thing strange in my x-rays and he had said know, Well people that may have lung cancer start with a Pulmonary Consultant and they are suppose check for cancer when you come in with shortness of breath, Well I called his office last week and told them the problem so they would have time to get a copy of my CT scan, When I talked to him today all he could say was he was sorry he missed the cancer since the reason I came in was a breathing problem he though it was due to me having so much of my lungs removed when I had the other cancer operation, He said now that he takes another look at the x-rays he does see something and should have sent me for a CT, But now all he can say is he's sorry. I said well at least he could refund the money I spent in his office and he said he was sure his accounting dept. would not go for that, He said asking to due a refund would be like getting blood out of a rock, I asked him who owns the Practice him or the accounting dept? I called a Lawyer and he said I had a good case of mal practice but I would be dead before he could get it into court.
