In August 2014 , I woke up and I could hardly breathe , So I called my primary care doctor at the VA , he told me to get to an emergency room immediately, or see him If I could , seeing that I have no insurance. The VA is finicky about what constitutes an emergency , if it is decided by them that it was not an emergency you will end up paying.
When I arrived to see the doctor , believe it or not I was seen in 3-4 minute , less than 15 minute later I was inside an ambulance , and the VA paid because it was directed by my doctor.
They took me to a local hospital and immediately performed a CT , They thought at first it was congestive heart failure , but they discovered my left lung's pleural cavity was full of fluid. They then performed a Thorsten Tee-son and removed 1800 ML of fluid , they then transported me to the nearest VA hospital , They removed the fluid on Thursday and then they removed another 1800 ML, 5 days later , Finally on Friday before they sent me home , they used a bronchia scope on my left lung and removed 4 small pieces of my lung to perform a biopsy on what I had. The following week they sent me to a larger Hospital to have a PET scan done , it showed No dark spots on my lung , but there was a dark area on the bottom of the lung where the fluid was running from.
Two days I met with an Oncologist and he told me up front It was Stage 4 Lung Cancer and that normally I would only have 6 months to a year to live, I was literally stunned , I did not say anything for about 30 minutes . I had to weigh what was said to me and then accept the results and go on with what I believed in is that I had less than a year left. They then installed an IV port and a drain tube , the drain tube was installed after they performed nine Thorsten Tee-sons on me. Four months later they removed the drain , but by then my lower lung had healed and was not producing anymore fluid.
On my birthday in September I received my first dose of Chemo-therapy , I was scheduled to receive the Chemo in three week increments , when I went back for my second treatment , the Oncologist called to stop the Chemo to be given to me, he said there was another treatment I could take.
I talked to the Oncologist and he told me that I could take this new pill called Erlotinib , It would attaché itself to the specific cancer gene and it would inhibit the growth of the cancer , but it would not kill it , I looked at the study report that was provided and it showed effectiveness of the pill to Twenty-four and as long as thirty-three months effectively. But taking the pill which has serious and nasty side effects , I weighed my options and told the Oncologist lets do this, I said I would accept and tolerant the side effects.
So now I have been on Erlotinib for twenty-eight months , so far all of my CT's shows no active cancer in my left lung area , but I am running out of time, I am reaching the effective limits of Erlotinib , Thirty-three months, I have researched and have found that my cancer will change into the T70M cancer gene and that two different pills have proven effect on suppressing it.
I know there is NO cure for Stage 4 Lung Cancer , all every one has left is a little time , I have learned to be positive about the situation and have accepted the fact I will die from Lung Cancer.
I do believe I am a survivor , I had less than 3-7 % chance of gene matching and my left lung reflated, Over 75% do not.
All I can say to you is be and think positive.
Robert
