My husband, Joseph, has stage 3 inoperable lung cancer. We have suspected he has cancer for over a year now. A small nodule–1.4 cm–was discovered last April which lit up on a PET scan. This was not easy to biopsy, so he has been having repeat scans. Wait. Worry. Relief. Wait. Worry. Relief. The nodule did not grow. As we waited and worried, though, Joe’s weight kept dropping. He was shrinking in front of my eyes.
In March of this year, the physicians assistant at Moffitt Cancer Center’s Suspicious Nodule Clinic suggested a bronchoscopy and possible lymph node biopsy. God bless her. Two thoracic surgeons had given Joseph the choice of taking out a lobe of his lung in order to see what the nodule was…or watching and waiting. The bronchoscopy, though it could not reach the primary nodule, provided the diagnosis from a lymph node: adenocarcinoma of the lung. The location of the nodule makes it impossible to remove without removing Joe’s entire left lung and since he has severe emphysema, this is not an option.
Tomorrow, Joe starts his treatment. He will have six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy, followed by year of immunotherapy, if all goes well.
As for me, I am taking this opportunity to start writing a blog on living well. I want to keep you up to date on what is happening with Joe and with us–I keep forgetting what I have told to whom. And I want to write about what is good each day. There is nothing quite like a life-threatening diagnosis to focus the attention on what really matters. Joe and I have today. We have the opportunity to make today a better day and string together many good days, I hope, to make the best of our life.
Welcome!