Dick's chest tubes were removed this morning, which gave him a "new standard for pain." All week he has been telling nurses his pain was a "2" on a scale of 10, but his assessment this morning is that if the chest tubes weren't a "10", he doesn't want to ever experience one.
Dick's surgeon, Dr. Glaser, also shared the pathology results. Unfortunately, the cancer was found in the surrounding lymph nodes, making it Stage III-A lung cancer. At this point, this raises a lot of questions that we hope to answer in the next day or two. We are in the process of setting up an appointment with the oncologist, who should be able to supply those answers. What we do know is that there will be follow-up treatment of chemo or radiation as soon as Dick has recovered from surgery. The good news is that surgical recovery is still going very well, but it's certainly not the end of the road. Obviously your continued thoughts and prayers are appreciated, and we will continue to post more details as they become available.
On a lighter note, Dick also wants to share that we now officially have a lawyer in the family. Bryan got his bar results in an e-mail timestamped 2:14 a.m. He is now a licensed attorney in the state of Illinois and will begin work at his law firm in November.
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The Clark Family
About Dick
This section provides background on how my cancer was discovered and a few key dates associated with the 2-year journey.
In mid-August 2008, I was taking a shower when I coughed up a small amount of blood. I would probably not have gone to the doctor for that alone, but I already had an appointment for allergy problems. I mentioned it to the doctor at the end of my exam. He thought it was probably nothing, but recommended that I go for a chest x-ray.
An HOUR after the x-ray, he called to say that there was a mass and I should schedule a CT scan immediately.
That led to a visit to the pulmonary doctor, who did a bronchoscopy and a PET scan. On Sept. 10th, he diagnosed me with "non-small cell" lung cancer. The tumor is somewhat larger than a golf ball.
For perspective, I have NEVER smoked. Only 15% of those with lung cancer are non-smokers, and less than half of those are men. Needless to say, I am in the minority in terms of people that get lung cancer. Never the less, it is very real and must be treated aggressively.
On Sept. 29th I had surgery to remove the upper right lobe of my lung, as well as three lymph nodes. The surgery took 2+ hours. I was in the hospital for four days.
On Wednesday October 1 we learned that the pathology report was not good. In addition to the cancer in the upper right lobe of my lung, there was also cancer in at least one lymph node. The pathology clarified that the cancer is adenocarcinoma. While lung cancer is normally associated with smoking, about 10% of the people with this particular type of cancer are non-smokers.
Following surgery, I had chemotherapy from Nov 2008 - Jan 2009, then radiation in Feb & Mar 2009. Scans from May 2009 - Feb 2010 were "clean" with no cancer. On June 2, 2010, an MRI showed a brain tumor. The older updates to this blog track the progress during recovery from surgery, as well as initial chemo and radiation treatments. The more recent entries provide updates on the 2010 brain tumor and treatments.
In mid-August 2008, I was taking a shower when I coughed up a small amount of blood. I would probably not have gone to the doctor for that alone, but I already had an appointment for allergy problems. I mentioned it to the doctor at the end of my exam. He thought it was probably nothing, but recommended that I go for a chest x-ray.
An HOUR after the x-ray, he called to say that there was a mass and I should schedule a CT scan immediately.
That led to a visit to the pulmonary doctor, who did a bronchoscopy and a PET scan. On Sept. 10th, he diagnosed me with "non-small cell" lung cancer. The tumor is somewhat larger than a golf ball.
For perspective, I have NEVER smoked. Only 15% of those with lung cancer are non-smokers, and less than half of those are men. Needless to say, I am in the minority in terms of people that get lung cancer. Never the less, it is very real and must be treated aggressively.
On Sept. 29th I had surgery to remove the upper right lobe of my lung, as well as three lymph nodes. The surgery took 2+ hours. I was in the hospital for four days.
On Wednesday October 1 we learned that the pathology report was not good. In addition to the cancer in the upper right lobe of my lung, there was also cancer in at least one lymph node. The pathology clarified that the cancer is adenocarcinoma. While lung cancer is normally associated with smoking, about 10% of the people with this particular type of cancer are non-smokers.
Following surgery, I had chemotherapy from Nov 2008 - Jan 2009, then radiation in Feb & Mar 2009. Scans from May 2009 - Feb 2010 were "clean" with no cancer. On June 2, 2010, an MRI showed a brain tumor. The older updates to this blog track the progress during recovery from surgery, as well as initial chemo and radiation treatments. The more recent entries provide updates on the 2010 brain tumor and treatments.
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8 comments:
Hey, Dick,
I knew you'd figure a way to get the cookies! Sorry the news from the pathology report was less than great. You know we're praying.
we'll see you this afternoon.
Sue J.
HI Brian, tell him that all P&G in LA is praying for him and that he need to be OK at the end of October because all the BE´s will be there to look to him. Also congratulations for the good news about your results =). Tell him that I will bring a big chocolate, chocolates can cure everything!
Bryan - congratulations on becoming a Lawyer! I know that has to make Dick happy which can only help his recovery. Did I lose track of time or has it really been only 3 days and Dick is already walking and eating cookies!!! Dick proves the adage, "You can't keep a good man down!" Really appreciate the updates ;-) Get some rest Dick!
So glad to hear that the tubes are out and can speak from experience re; the pain.
So sorry about the lab results, but they have improved the treatments avaialble.
And.... a big hearty YEA to Bryan on his test. Congratulations.
Duane & Bettie
I am so sorry to hear about the results of the lymph nodes. Just know that we are all praying that the next step in your treatment will do the job. Keep up the speedy recovery that you are doing.
Bryan, congats on the bar exam. We will definitely give you a call if we ever need to lawyer up in your field.....
We send our love to all of you,
Monica, David and Jordan
Dick, Sharon and Bryan,
Thanks for keeping us updated! We know you are in good hands and we'll trust that your recovery goes as well as the initial surgery. We'll look forward to continued news and in the meantime, we'll keep praying!
Love,
Cindy, Bill and family
Hi Dick,
The cookies were a special treat yesterday. Bryan got so much abuse for rewarding you, that we're sure the blog will not provide updates on the bar exam cellabrations. We'll have to use our imaginations.
Sorry to hear about the lymph node results. The path to full recovery is based on taking one step at a time. Rest and getting your strength back are the key steps for now.
Our thoughts & prayers are with you.
Much love,
Connie & Peter
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