| Round 3 - Cancer of the LungIt took me a couple days to get over this shocking news.
I wasn't even completely out of shock when my condition worsened.
I was at Princess Margaret Hospital doing a CT scan so they could plan radiation treatment when after the scan I blacked out. After reviewing the scan it was discovered that there was liquid surrounding my heart not allowing it to completely pump. I was immediately sent to emergency and admitted into the ICU. My heart rate was around 130-140bpm and when I coughed I would almost black out.
That night they removed the liquid from the heart. Radiation began the next day and Kemo a week later. If the liquid was not removed my heart would have stopped within a week.
Scary...
2 weeks later and i'm discharged from the hospital continuing with radiation and kemo as an outpatient. This battle is far from over.
So 29 years of age, I have lung cancer.
Over 100375 cigarettes smoked in the past 11 years.
If you are reading this and do smoke take this moment to save yourself this unfortunate fate.
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| Another 38 Days LaterYes. It was the most disheartening feeling learning I had to be re-admitted to the hospital again for an extended period of time.
A cat scan of my chest in November showed that the liquid effusion had returned and a lymph node was swelling and the size of an orange pushing against a major vein leading to my head.
Due to this 'orange' i was told to not sleep completely flat. Also when I cough my entire face would go red with veins popping out and I would feel like i'm about to black out and get dizzy.
- 8 doctors
- 3 biopsies
- 3 2nd opinions
- 2 hospitals
- 1 university
- 1 surgery
- 1 more scar
All that and 6 weeks in the hospital finally produced a reason why my body relapsed into effusion again. The Cancer word was thrown around again in the 1st couple weeks as there was some unusual samples taken. That was finally ruled out. Apparently I had a inflammatory reaction to the TB medications. We are waiting for one final pathology report to return and I will start a steroids treatment to get rid of the inflammation in my body.
I've been cleared from being infectious so I'm no longer in isolation.
The hospital i stayed at was the new one in B town. Its so new that guess what? NO TVs
The food got even worse. It was so bad I couldn't eat it.
Because of the lack of movement my legs look like a fob girl's chicken legs.
I feel so drained from the 2nd hospital stay I'm just summarizing my bitter experience.
Family members would call and pray for me. There were times that you feel so weak that you need some sort of support from somewhere. I'm not religious but I do believe there is a higher power out there. I didn't pray for myself but I prayed for the others i saw in the hospital because I think they needed more help than I did.
I was finally released from the hospital on NYE. I'm so happy to be home.
Thank you to everyone for all the support you've given me during these times. It really means a lot to me.
The road to recovery continues...
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| *WARNING GRAPHIC PICTURE* 3 Weeks at Home - The Slow RecoveryIts almost been 3 weeks since I was released from the hospital. I must say that recovery has been a very frustrating at times. My body is still very weak from lack of movement however due to my surgery wounds I'm not able to move around too much. My cough continues to lay siege on me throughout the day with my chest throat and sinuses feeling alot of discomfort and pain at night. I think i tricked myself into thinking I would be up and about in no time once I returned home.
Here's a picture of the wound from surgery:
The 2 lower wounds are where the 2 tubes were stuck in me to drain the fluid out of my body. The big slice has staples in it before. That whole area is still very tender. I just found out yesterday from the surgeon that he had to remove a rib during surgery to work on my lung area. He also informed me after taking an xray yesterday that my lung has expanded to 50% and will most likely expand to 2/3 its normal size. Unfortunately it doesn't look like I will ever regain my full lung function however I'm lucky to have function at all in the collapsed lung.
I'm pretty thankful with the news that things are going smoothly since I haven't felt that great each day coughing all the time and feeling chest pains.
Tomorrow I'm heading to see the TB specialist to see how the drug treatment is going. I'm going to be taking drugs for a minimum of 6 months.
From the way my body feels it doesn't seem like i'll be out of the house for some time. I was looking forward to Importfest this Saturday but I need to get better 1st before doing anything.
Anyways just a brief update from me.
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| 28 Days LaterAfter 28 days in the hospital I am finally back at home tonight. The road to recovery has been far from a walk in the park. Alot has happened from my last entry.
I was transferred to another hospital due to politics involved with the surgeon. There was a difference of opinions between specialists, doctors, and surgeon about the future of my right lung. The surgeon believed that my lung was lost and surgery would not make a difference. The specialists and doctors believed that my lung still had a chance to inflate once again. This difference in opinion sparked my transfer to another hospital and immediately after the transfer I was in the operation room having surgery.
My case is a special one. The membrane of my lung has hardened and increased from a normal thickness of a couple mm to 3 cm. The surgery consisted cutting me open, peeling the membrane down to normal levels and draining the liquid around my lung so that my lung could expand again.
The surgery had complications. I lost alot of blood during the surgery, my blood pressure was very low, I had a fever, and a high white blood cell count. The following week in the ICU was a blur with alot of images and perhaps some illusions from morphine. The wall kept moving and had faces and I kept seeing music videos on the ceiling. The good news was that the lung did expand again, not completely but did expand.
They move me upstairs after one week and TV is back to return my sanity. Slowly my right lung continued to expand while the 2 tubes continue to drain fluid from my body. I've had problems sleeping since the surgery due to pain and I guess anxiety. They popped out one tube and continued to monitor my conditions. Thursday this week they removed the other tube and the stables from my skin.
I got the good news Thursday night that I would be returning home on friday. I'm still feeling a fair amount of pain from the surgery and continue to cough a fair amount which is a good thing (helps expand the lung capacity) but the surgery seems like it has been a complete success.
Complete recovery is still very far away. At least 3-6 months more of medications and a few more weeks of quarantine. Thank you for all the emails, messages, and well wishes from everyone! I just read some of your messages today but they mean alot. The hospital is one of the darkest places a person can be for one month. X-rays, CTscans, blood work samples, IV needles, blood thinning shots, hospital food, and the waiting...the waiting is the worst...you have to wait to get something done...then you need to wait to move back to your room...
This experience has helped me realize how lucky I am. Over 10 years of smoking and it wasn't cancer. One great byproduct of my stay in the hospital is one month being smoke free. Its made the road away from smoking much easier than trying to quit on my own.
The recover continues. Thank you everyone once again for everything.
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| Shortness of BreathA hospital room is not where i expected to be for Thanksgiving Sunday. Its day 9 of my vacation back Toronto and its day 8 of my visit to the hospital. Two days ago I was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. My right lung is completely collapsed.
This is a normal chest x-ray of a healthy person:
Now my x-ray the entire right side is completely white. You cannot see lung.
I'm feeling alot better about the situation since I was diagnosed. Not knowing what I had was much worse. There are some complications with my case however. There is a chance my right lung will not work again. This fact is a scary one. I've been living on one lung for at least a couple months and the shortness of breath is really apparent. Going up one flight of stairs I need to catch my breath.
I'm out of words to say at the moment...
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Lifetime
