Living with Lung Cancer

My dad, at age 52, was diagnosed shortly after my wedding in 1995 with stage 4 lung cancer He had been a 3 pack per day smoker of Pall Malls (no filters). He was treated aggressively with radiation & chemo. The doctors gave him 6 mos to 1 year (more likely 6 mos). After a couple of years, we were told he was cancer free. He eventually just stopped smoking (cold turkey). In 1998, he started to slur his speech, the right side of his body/face seemed to be paralyzed and he was easily confused. At first we thought he had a stroke but an MRI of his brain told us something we didn’t expect…he had a brain tumor. We were initially told it was a completely different cancer than his lung cancer but now we’ve been told different. He was given a matter of days maybe a couple of weeks. Definitely, no longer than 6 mos, even with treatment.

Well, its now 2007 and much to his oncologist’s surprise, he’s still with us. Unfortunately, he now has early onset of Alzheimers which was diagnosed in late 2004. On one hand, we’re very fortunately to still have him in our lives and to enjoy his grandchildren. But on the other hand, he’s not going to remember them and they will only remember papa as being “sick”.