On June 18, 2021 I became a part of the one in 16 people in the US that would be be diagnosed with lung cancer. Specifically, I became part of the 1-2% of the people diagnosed with a lung carcinoid tumor or also known as neuroendocrine tumor.

I never would have thought I would have to make this post. Yet here we are.

Searching for a Diagnosis

Over the past year I have had this cough and breathing issues. Like this cough was really loud and constant. I had coughing fits that probably sounded like I was dying. 

So I went to see some doctors first who told me it was just acid reflux and to take pills , next I was told it was allergies.

I saw an allergist and asthma specialist who couldn’t find any cause for my issues. I went through various tests. My asthma specialist referred me to a pulmonologist (lung doctor) who gave me an inhaler and an aerobika device and told me to come back in 5 weeks. So I did, but nothing changed. 

June 18, 2021

The next step my pulmonologist thought was a CT scan. So I did that and the results came back. My pulmonologist called the next day and told me the results. They were that the scans showed a tumor in my lung that was most likely cancerous. 

After we found that, out I was referred to an oncologist (cancer doctor) who did a biopsy that confirmed it was cancer. Specifically a:  typical carcinoid tumor in my airway. 

Finding out More

After a PET, CT and MRI scan we found that the cancer had not spread anywhere else.  However, due to the size of the tumor and where it was located, it was not ideal to surgically remove it yet. We had to shrink it first.

I had a choice of treatment to try to shrink the tumor. Aggressive chemo or targeted therapy.

Aggressive Chemotherapy

Aggressive chemo is the other option and I’m not sure I’m ready to do that either. Chemo makes you very sick first- it kills the tumor cells but also can kill the good cells and weakens your immune system a lot. There are also so many side effects . But it also can work faster. But it also means, I would have either a port, PICC line or central line for the chemo.

Targeted Chemotherapy

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs designed to “target” cancer cells without affecting normal cells.It may seem simple to use a drug for your specific cancer, but targeted therapy is complex, and it does not always work. It is important to know that: A targeted treatment may not work if the tumor does not have the target and having the target does not necessarily mean the tumor will respond to the drug. And with any medicine there are side effects.

None of them seem fun Also,  none of the options had concrete evidence it would even work. The only thing I could do was hope it did. So that was my decision I had to make.

I decided to choose aggressive chemo with a port or so I thought. Until the day before my port was scheduled to be placed, I received a call from my doctors.

Discovering a Study & Everlimous

They had talked to someone in a Texas cancer center  that specializes in my type of cancer and he had a study that showed a percentage of people from the study with Everolimus had their tumor shrunk. Everolimus is an oral chemotherapy drug that can help stop cancer cells from reproducing and by decreasing blood supply to the cancer cells. So that is why we will try, oral chemotherapy – Everolimus. 

That brings me up to speed to where I am currently. 

Cancer Diagnosis Changes You

Now I want to talk about the experience and my feelings about all this. I am pretty good at staying positive in life . I am currently trying to stay positive but that is not always the case. 

When I heard that I had cancer on that phone call on June 18, It was like the whole world came down on me. First, I didn’t want to believe it. Heck, she said most likely (had to wait for a biopsy to confirm) so until then I didn’t really know for sure. However, in the back of my mind, I was just a wreck. I have been through other medical situations so you would think I would have a better grasp at handling news like this, but cancer is something else. 

I was mad that it took at least a year to find the cause of my cough and breathing. I went through so many doctors and waiting periods. 

When I found my answer to my symptoms (cancer)  I thought I would be happy. Heck, I found my cause for my symptoms I had been experiencing for so long.  

No, I wasn’t satisfied. I was just a mess thinking about the treatment with potential side effects, I truly didn’t expect for it to have a profound effect on me. I thought, it’s just cancer. It is slow growing cancer so I should just carry on with life. 

However, cancer changes your life. It changes your body, your health, your family, your sense of stability and with that I will tell you never in a million years would I have thought to be typing a post about me having cancer. Yet, here I am. Cancer can affect anyone it may not be you now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be effected by it later.

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That is my little update on life! Thanks for reading all the way through, it means the world to me! Also new podcast episode went up today so go check that out! Until next time!