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I was first diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer in February of 2015. On March 27, 2015 I underwent surgery to remove the tumor ( thoroscopic wedge resection ). Pathology showed that the margins were clear so all looked good. The lung I had surgery on collapsed on April 9 so it was back in the hospital to get that repaired. While I was in the hospital my emphysema caused problems and I ended up in the ICU on full life support for around 9-10 days. I was finally discharged on April 30 and spent the next 3 weeks recovering and regaining my strength at my sisters house. My sister Meg has been with me from the very beginning going to doctor appointments with me and taking notes, driving me to all my outpatient tests and coming to the hospital every day at 8am and staying till 5pm. After all of that I went for follow up appointments and chest x-rays every 3 months. The x-rays always came back clear and my health in general was very good. That is until January 2016 when one day I felt very weak, light headed and short of breath. I went to the Emergency Room and they found that I was in rapid A-Fib ( heart rate at 150+ ). They did a routine CT scan to check for blood clots in the lungs. There were no blood clots, but the scan did show a new lung mass in the same area and enlarged lymph nodes. Needless to say I was devastated at first since everything was looking so good. But after meeting with my oncologist for the first time she put my mind at ease and came up with a treatment plan starting with 2 courses of chemo and 7 weeks of radiation. I just started the 2nd course of chemo yesterday and have about 2 weeks left of radiation. I consider my myself very fortunate on several things. I have an incredible oncologist and radiation oncologist with a great team of nurses and techs, the side effects have been minimal and manageable ( I used to have LONG blonde hair, now I'm bald ). I have a large group of friends showing a lot of love and support, My daughter and her boyfriend helping out at home and once again my sister Meg has been by my side through the whole ordeal.
