It's Been Quite a Year

Sunday, September 13, 2009

It's Been Quite a Year

It is hard to believe, but it has been 13 months since my lung cancer symptoms were first discovered and 12 months since I was officially diagnosed. Needless to say, part of the year were very scary and challenging, but in the end it is amazing how fast the year went and that I'm doing so well. There have been no additional scans since June. However, this coming week I will have a CT scan and blood test, followed by an appointment with the oncologist on Friday. I will post an update next weekend based on what I learn.

A quick recap of activities over the past three months;

Lots of time at work. Somehow it feels good to be working long hours again.
In late June we attended a wedding reception in St. Louis. It also provided an opportunity to see Bryan & Leslie as well as long-time friends from St. Louis.
We spent the 4th of July weekend in Branson, MO with Dick's college roommate Clifford, and his wife Karen.
In late July and early August Dick & Sharon spent two weeks in Europe. Dick work about six days, but there was still plenty of time for sightseeing in Germany and Switzerland. They especially enjoyed good weather and hiking in the Swiss Alps around Wengen.
In mid-August Dick & Sharon visited Bryan & Leslie in their new house in Naperville, IL. They have a great house and are getting settled, along with their dog and cat.
Labor Day weekend we relaxed at home, but enjoyed seeing the end-of summer fireworks with a special package sponsored by the Wellness Center (a cancer support center). The event included dinner at the Reds baseball stadium, a tour of the stadium, and outstanding seats in the upper deck of the stadium. It was great to be able to relax before the fireworks and to have good seats without fighting the crowds along the river.
This past weekend Bryan & Leslie came for a short visit. It was great spending time with them and the "Quad" friends.

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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.

Dick Clark - Cincinnati

Sunday, September 13, 2009