If any of you know me very well, the only time I will stop what I'm doing is when Mom calls. Everyone else has to wait. This is definitely one of those stop on a dime moments.
A couple of weeks ago, Mom left my house around noon and at 3 pm called saying she went to the ER coughing up blood. Not a lot of it, just concerned. She was hoping it was just something in her sinuses. I instantly thought lung cancer. She said she couldn't get in touch with Dad because he was out of town and in an area that didn't have cell phone coverage.
I dropped what I was doing and drove 45 minutes to the hospital, against her protests. In my mind, I didn't want her to hear she had a tumor in her lung when she was alone. 2 hours later the doc came in and told her the CT scan of her throat picked up a tumor in the very top of her lung. The next question - is it the only one and is it benign or cancer?
Given her history of many years of smoking - she quit in 1992 - cancer was most likely. We both looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Well da** it."
Praise God - the tumor was high enough to see it on the initial scan!
After a few more CT scans, biopsies, blood work, etc. Here's what we know -
Mom is very healthy for a 70+ year old. She was very active, too. Her blood work, physique, and attitude were extremely good. Stellar. There is only the 1 tumor. The tumor is very small - only 1.9 cm. There's no fluid in her lungs. There are 2 lymph nodes that have only a 10% PDL1 saturation. (PDL1 keeps the TCells from attacking and destroying infections, disease and cancer.) While the Pet scan noted several tiny flecks in the opposite lung, they aren't sure what they are. These are smaller than a needle.
There is a 3rd node - the supraclavicular node that has cancer in it. This is potentially bad. It is right next to the tumor. This automatically makes the cancer stage 3. Lung cancer most commonly goes straight to the brain, so the next scan will be an MRI of her brain. If the cancer is in her brain, it is stage 4.
The big difference here - stage 3 has a high success rate and excellent long term prognosis. Stage 4 ... doesn't.
So, Pistol and I need prayer warriors. First, we need to keep the cancer from her brain. The MRI will be on the 23rd. But we don't have to stop there - we can ask God to remove all of the cancer.
Second - bring peace to Dad. His reaction is stressing Mom and me. So far, I've been the rock, trying to keep everyone focused on the positive and trying to keep everyone calm. I get that he is extremely worried and wants to control this and fix it, but I think he needs to take a deep breath and keep calm. Mom has already removed everything that she loves to do - shooting, master gardener, herb society, etc. so there's nothing left for her to think about.
Thank you and may the Lord bless you warriors.
Edit - MD Anderson is an 8 week wait and we need to get moving on it asap. Treatments start on the 27th.
A couple of weeks ago, Mom left my house around noon and at 3 pm called saying she went to the ER coughing up blood. Not a lot of it, just concerned. She was hoping it was just something in her sinuses. I instantly thought lung cancer. She said she couldn't get in touch with Dad because he was out of town and in an area that didn't have cell phone coverage.
I dropped what I was doing and drove 45 minutes to the hospital, against her protests. In my mind, I didn't want her to hear she had a tumor in her lung when she was alone. 2 hours later the doc came in and told her the CT scan of her throat picked up a tumor in the very top of her lung. The next question - is it the only one and is it benign or cancer?
Given her history of many years of smoking - she quit in 1992 - cancer was most likely. We both looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Well da** it."
Praise God - the tumor was high enough to see it on the initial scan!
After a few more CT scans, biopsies, blood work, etc. Here's what we know -
Mom is very healthy for a 70+ year old. She was very active, too. Her blood work, physique, and attitude were extremely good. Stellar. There is only the 1 tumor. The tumor is very small - only 1.9 cm. There's no fluid in her lungs. There are 2 lymph nodes that have only a 10% PDL1 saturation. (PDL1 keeps the TCells from attacking and destroying infections, disease and cancer.) While the Pet scan noted several tiny flecks in the opposite lung, they aren't sure what they are. These are smaller than a needle.
There is a 3rd node - the supraclavicular node that has cancer in it. This is potentially bad. It is right next to the tumor. This automatically makes the cancer stage 3. Lung cancer most commonly goes straight to the brain, so the next scan will be an MRI of her brain. If the cancer is in her brain, it is stage 4.
The big difference here - stage 3 has a high success rate and excellent long term prognosis. Stage 4 ... doesn't.
So, Pistol and I need prayer warriors. First, we need to keep the cancer from her brain. The MRI will be on the 23rd. But we don't have to stop there - we can ask God to remove all of the cancer.
Second - bring peace to Dad. His reaction is stressing Mom and me. So far, I've been the rock, trying to keep everyone focused on the positive and trying to keep everyone calm. I get that he is extremely worried and wants to control this and fix it, but I think he needs to take a deep breath and keep calm. Mom has already removed everything that she loves to do - shooting, master gardener, herb society, etc. so there's nothing left for her to think about.
Thank you and may the Lord bless you warriors.
Edit - MD Anderson is an 8 week wait and we need to get moving on it asap. Treatments start on the 27th.
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