Living with Lung Cancer

I will never forget it, on Memorial Day 2006 I woke up with this sinking and uncomfortable feeling. I was unable to process a good breath. At first I thought it was a heart attack and 911 ambulance emergency room the entire gamut. We ruled that out, but thank God I had a young doctor who refused not to know what was causing this discomfort. Becuase I only experienced the discomfort when I tried to breathe, she ordered a CT Scan of my lungs. When they ruled out the heart attack I was ready to go home. It never occurred to me that it could be anything else! When the doctor returned to find me preparing to go home, because I felt better, she looked at me with a concerned look that indicated whatever she found wasn’t good.

She told me she was concerned that she found two nodules both measuring 2.0 and 2.5 cm on my left lung. I was in shock. Cancer, no not me! How could that be!! Never mind that I had smoked for most of my adult life quitting for periods of time only to start up again. Oh of course never mind that my father, whom I took care of watched draw his last breath, died of lung cancer Of course denial is not that river in Africa, it is the inability to hear and accept the truth! I had thrown caution to the wind and here I was getting the news that possibly I had lung cancer

Within weeks with a biopsy it was confirmed. I had stage 3A lung cancer! Everything that I read on the internet and all the literature on survivors of cancer, lung cancer had the fewest amount. It didnt’ look good at all. Matter of fact it looked pretty grim. Ten days after my diagnosis was confirmed, I began chemotherapy and then the journey began for me. They sent me to a team of people that by God’s grace helped to save my life. The day I received my diagnosis, by wonderful brother bought me a book entitled, “Natural Strategies for Cancer Patients.” Ironically I was assigned a dietician who helped me sort through what I could have, what would assist with the fighting the nausea and moreover, the kind of diet that I could establish that would assist the chemotherapy as opposed to feeding the cancer.

I bought myself a juicer and began preparing my food in a special way. No processed foods and nothing that had preservatives. Lots of frutis and vegetables and berries lots and lots of berries. With that kind of support the most devastating thing I had to endure was the thought loosing my hair. You got to understand the mind set of the African American woman who has worn wigs weaves and any other form of somebody else’s hair for the last forty years. I thought I was going to die just at the thought. Funny thing though, when my hair began to fall out, I buzzed it off myself.

I amped up my eye shadow and started wearing false eyelashes. I got more compliments as a bald and beautiful exotic than I did for all of the years and money I spent covering up what I thought was ugly. I started showing up at the infusion center with brightly and beautifully designed nails and toe nails. I wore flowing bright clothing to match. Somewhere between the diagnosis and my first chemotherapy I decided to fight for my life. My husband at the time was extremely abusive and not supportive emotionally, I think that is when it happened. You see there was a life insurance policy to which he was the beneficiary and he expected me to die. He almost acted as if he would have rather I did. When I was scheduled for surgery in Oct ‘06, I found out he had a girlfriend on the side and had written me off. I changed the benficiaries on my life insurance and while I was in the hospital, he found out. He didnt’ visit me one time.

The surgery was a success and much to the excitement of my surgeon he was able to get every bit of the one ( there was only one mass left and cancer was gone in one lymph node and had shrunk half the size in the other) nasty ol’ tumor. My husband picked me up from the hospital dropped me off at the back door and kept going until late that night. Yea the fight was on and so far I was winning every battle that I embarked on.

My story goes on to divorce and bankruptcy and that is probably another web site hmmmmm maybe a Lifetime Movie, we’ll. The point is that today I am thriving emotionally, physically and spiritually. I asked my doctor how much longer it would’ve been for the fight to have possibly had a different outcome. He said maybe 4-6 months. I began to thank God that I was rescued just in the nick of time. Cancer is an insidious and sneaky disease. You can have it and not know it until it has you. I urge regular check ups and good diet in between. Above all, keep a good attitude and positive outlook on life for your self. You can bet your life you’ll win