2 years ago I was diagnosed with oat-cell of medistinum and underwent chemo and radiation x 30. Remission 1 year later, oat-cell in right mid lobe radiation x 30. Complete remission. The hospital where I am a staff nurse was so very supportive with hugs, prayers, allowing me to leave when I felt bad and not once complaining, telling me how good I looked, when I felt so bad, just overall being there for me. Even tho’ I was never completely bald, it got thin. I made fun of my wig and they loved it, so I wasn’t the least bit self-conscious. The telephone calls meant so much and the cards too. Coworkers whose names I didn’t even know would come up to me and give me a hug and tell me they had missed me, when I had been out a couple of days. This support was so loving and sincere.
During this 2 years, I really aged. Prior, no one would have guessed my age – 64 at the time – but no one even mentioned the change in my body and stance. When I questioned why I deserved this outstanding treatment, I was told that it was my attitude, which I didn’t realize that I had. I had accepted that I had a fatal type of cancer and would have to get my life in order.
Surprise is not strong enough when I got a clear x-ray of the right lung. I was amazed, because I should have been dead and was still working. Thanks to all my friends, coworkers and acquaintances, I had such loving support and so many prayers from so many, varied denominations that I just couldn’t leave yet.
Now I have been diagnosed with return of the oat-cell to the mediastinum and I am maxed out on radiation, so there is no option open, but I have already been here much longer than anyone expected, which gave me and my family time to get things organized and get used to the idea. I have had a good life and done most of the things that I really wanted to do.
Please have hope and attitude and lots of prayer. It is so important to have these things.
You sound like an amazing person. I wish you all of the best. It is so nice to see some one in the medical field actually say that faith, love and hope matter. I had a very bad experience with the man I was going to marry. I have sense lost a lot of my faith in the medical profession. Thanks for letting me see that there are still a few who believe in the good things that make life worthwhile. I only wish that I had encountered someone like you while my Johnny was going through his treatments. They really helped him until his doctor took hope away from him. In the end that was what cost him his life not the cancer. Hope is something that everyone needs and doctors need to learn that. I know there are times that hope is small but it still needs to be nurtured. Someday a cure will be found and I don't like to think that there will be so many people gone before then simply because hope was taken away from them. Keep up the good fight and God Bless you.
Lilllian