A lot has happened this year.
My truck is not running, and I am currently getting it looked into. Not going to get into details about that, as it is a minor stressor compared to this post.
Back in January, I got pretty sick. After a few weeks of caughing up stuff i went to the Dr. They treated for bronchitis, and were going to send me on my way. I decided it was time to do something about my blood pressure, so I forced the issue. During the routine work up on my BP, we found a mass in my lungs. A CT scan later, and I was sent to a specialist as it was feared to be lung cancer. The specialist just did not believe the radiology report as it contradicted everything else he saw in me as a patient. So I was treated for Pneumonia and sent home to wait for 6 weeks. 6 weeks later, I lost my best friend and supporter, and I am back at the Dr office only to find that my radiology still reads the same way, "Worrisome for Pulminary Carcinoma." So i am scheduled for a Broncoscopy. Basicly they stuck a tube through my mouth and into my lungs to pull out bits and pieces.
All of the biopsies came back cancer free. That was great news, for sure. But nothing about the biopsies explain what the masses are, or why all my lymphnodes are enflamed. And several of the tumors were not able to be biopsied via the broncoscopy. So even with clean biopsies, we can not definitively say I will not be a cancer patient. So on Tuesday i go in for another test. This one has a high degree of accuracy on finding Cancer. So I will know on Thursday morning what it looks like.
The good news, is as of right now, I am not a cancer patient. I have made some lifestyle changes. I am eating healthy. My BP is being controlled. I have lost 25 lbs since January. I am exercising. I have ridden my bicycle 75 miles this week alone. The potential bad news is, if it is cancer, it is already stage 3. Lung cancer is a very deadly form of cancer. And survivability statistics are scary.
What makes this tuff for me, is I assumed lung cancer was a smokers disease. I have never smoked. It has been 20 years since I was really near 2nd hand smoke. I have never done any drugs, and I rarely drink. I want to think that these things will ultimately affect my final prognosis.
My truck is not running, and I am currently getting it looked into. Not going to get into details about that, as it is a minor stressor compared to this post.
Back in January, I got pretty sick. After a few weeks of caughing up stuff i went to the Dr. They treated for bronchitis, and were going to send me on my way. I decided it was time to do something about my blood pressure, so I forced the issue. During the routine work up on my BP, we found a mass in my lungs. A CT scan later, and I was sent to a specialist as it was feared to be lung cancer. The specialist just did not believe the radiology report as it contradicted everything else he saw in me as a patient. So I was treated for Pneumonia and sent home to wait for 6 weeks. 6 weeks later, I lost my best friend and supporter, and I am back at the Dr office only to find that my radiology still reads the same way, "Worrisome for Pulminary Carcinoma." So i am scheduled for a Broncoscopy. Basicly they stuck a tube through my mouth and into my lungs to pull out bits and pieces.
All of the biopsies came back cancer free. That was great news, for sure. But nothing about the biopsies explain what the masses are, or why all my lymphnodes are enflamed. And several of the tumors were not able to be biopsied via the broncoscopy. So even with clean biopsies, we can not definitively say I will not be a cancer patient. So on Tuesday i go in for another test. This one has a high degree of accuracy on finding Cancer. So I will know on Thursday morning what it looks like.
The good news, is as of right now, I am not a cancer patient. I have made some lifestyle changes. I am eating healthy. My BP is being controlled. I have lost 25 lbs since January. I am exercising. I have ridden my bicycle 75 miles this week alone. The potential bad news is, if it is cancer, it is already stage 3. Lung cancer is a very deadly form of cancer. And survivability statistics are scary.
What makes this tuff for me, is I assumed lung cancer was a smokers disease. I have never smoked. It has been 20 years since I was really near 2nd hand smoke. I have never done any drugs, and I rarely drink. I want to think that these things will ultimately affect my final prognosis.
