I need to go back a little in time, no, not to Ceasar or Genghis Khan, but just to early 2015.
I developed a cough, not a bad cough but it was there. Being a smoker I put it down to that and carried on with my daily life.
Forward to June and came the news that the company that I have worked for for over 10 yrs was closing its doors and I was out of a job, not good news at any time but when you are 58 your prospects are not that great. I managed to get a casual start at my local Supermarket stocking shelves, plenty of customer interaction which I enjoy, good workmates and a nickname of The Young Fella.
A couple of months down the track and I'm losing some weight (only a few kilos which really did need to come off), all due to the increased physical activity so I thought which would also account for the sore legs after each shift.
Late January 2016 I noticed the occasional trace of blood in what I was coughing up, i was also sleeping with three pillows to try to ease the cough at night time.
Unable to procrastinate any longer I made an appointment with my GP for 8 Feb.
The GP did a lot of listening and a brief examination and then sent me off to one of Brisbane's largest hospitals armed only with a letter. At least the wait in Emergency was only fairly short before I was taken into another waiting room and given a list of tests that would be done that afternoon, Blood Test, Urine, ECG, Xray, Sputum Test.
After all that I finally saw a Doctor, not happy with what he saw on the Xray so he sent me off for a CT Scan. Bloody Hell I thought, this is getting a bit serious.
After the scan and a bit more of a wait it was back in to see the Dr again and this time he went through the symptoms I had been having for almost a year.
1. Cough
2. Weight Loss
3. Pain in the legs
4. Changes to the fingernails, shape and colour known as Clubbing
5. A small lump just above my right Collarbone
Then the bombshell, You have Lung Cancer, I want you here at 6:30am in the morning for a Bronchosopy and Endobroncial Ultrasound
I didn't feel much of anything on the drive home, until I was parking the car and my daughter came to the door and said
well? and then not another word as I recounted the activities of the day and what was to happen tomorrow.
A little about my daughter, she is 28 and has lived with me since my marriage broke down 15 years ago. She is a full time worker, full time Uni student and was about to become a full time carer.
6:00am and I am dropped off at the Hospital, booked in at reception and was sent to Day Surgery. After changing into paper clothes I was wheeled into Theater at 7:30am. I woke up in recovery and spent over a hour trying to cough up a very diseased lung, with very little success I might say. A change back into street clothes, a coffee and a sandwich and my daughter poked her head around the corner to receive her instructions should anything happen after she got me home.
Follow up and results 15 Feb. Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, inoperable to to positioning and size. PET Scan booked for 23 Feb and biopsy of the lymph node booked for the 26 Feb.
Follow up and results 3 Mar. Adenocarcinoma, EGFR and Alk negative, active in 2 lymph nodes in the chest and 1 above the right collarbone. Final designation T4 N3 M0. Lung Function Test booked for 7 Mar.
Well there we have it, I was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, one of the many to be diagnosed each year. I did not ask for a prognosis as it would have scared the hell out of me.
Now comes the time for choice, do I follow the rocky road to I don't know where, or do I say I can't do this and get off at the nearest rest stop.
I can't see into the future so I have no idea of the ramifications of either choice, but I think I will head on down the road a way just to see what is there.
Adeno will return in Treatment
Stay safe to all of you
Jeff
