On February 14, 2019 my dad finally agreed to go to the ER to get checked out for a cough that progressed over 1 month and stomach cramps. While in the ER they wanted to check his d-dimer to make sure he was not having a PE. The bloodwork shown the d-dimer a little elevated and proceeded with a Chest CT. Around 11:30 at night the doctor came up to us and said “you have a mass in your lung, we don’t know what it is but I want to admit you so we can do a biopsy.” Two days later they did a biopsy on my dad and found a mass in his left main stem bronchus. Another two days after that they diagnosed him with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.
Everything then moved so fast! They did a bone scan and MRI of the brain, thankfully those came out clear. They placed a mediport in him and then discharged him. Since then it has been constant phone calls and doctor appointments. We were able to get his PET scan done and they then told us he was stage 3B NSCLC. The doctor said he is inoperable due to the location of his tumor. Nine weeks later and he is on week two of his treatment plan. He is doing radiation five days a week and chemotherapy once a week for six weeks minimum then we will see where he is standing. Some days are better than others but he is fighting and doing an amazing job. I know my dad is going to beat cancer!!! I participated in the 2017 LUNG FORCE 5k because I was in respiratory therapy school and I needed to do community service hours. My picture is my dad supporting me while I participated at the 5k in Orlando. I will now continue to participate because lung cancer affected us and there needs to be a cure!
