Hi
My name is Nick Gill, and I have just joined this forum, seeking support as I face the disease of lung cancer.
I'll just let you know where I'm currently at, because just putting it down in words I believe will help me come to terms with my current situation. I am of course full of questions, and i hope that maybe other people on this list will be willing to share their experiences and give me a bit of information and support.
I am 59 years old, and currently living in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
About six weeks ago I developed pneumonia (not entirely unexpected, since I am a heavy smoker and suffer from chronic bronchitis, which I tend to ignore).
After a week of treatment with antibiotics, the pneumonia was showing little improvement, and my physician sent me for chest x-ray.
This confirmed pneumonia, and I was put on a regimen of heavy-duty antibiotics. After a further 10 days, the pneumonia was improving markedly, and I was sent for a second x-ray.
At this point my physician suggested to me that there might be something going on in addition to the pneumonia, as that x-ray showed an abnormality which was not consistent with the resolution of the pneumonia.
I was referred to a lung specialist at the local hospital, who requested a further x-ray and blood work.
The results of this third x-ray confirmed the presence of an abnormality in the lower lobe of the left lung, which was so situated that normal chest x-rays had difficulty in getting a good picture of it.
The lung specialist gave me to understand that there was a significant possibility that this abnormality could represent a malignancy, and he therefore requested a CAT-scan.
The CAT-scan was performed on Tuesday 20th, and yesterday (Wednesday 21st) I saw my specialist.
He confirmed that in his opinion it was a cancer, and has scheduled me for a trans-thoracic CAT-assisted biopsy and a PET-scan next week, after which we will discuss treatment options etc.
Although obviously not all the information is in yet, he was willing to say that in his opinion this was NSCLC, and probably Stage 1B, although the further tests would confirm the type and staging.
Obviously this has been a fairly traumatic process, althogh I am over the initial shock and terror. Basically that happened three weeks ago, when my physician told me about the first observation of abnormality. I accepted then that lung cancer was a very real possibility, and yesterdays confirmation by the specialist did not come as a surprise.
I have of course spent a lot of time in the last weeks researching the topic, and I realise that NSCLC Stage 1B is by no means the worst possible diagnosis, and I take comfort from published statistics on prognosis with this sort of diagnosis.
I am of course highly impatient for more information from next week's tests, and have a great desire to make the right treatment decisions. I particularly want access to good evidence-based research on what treatment regime will give me:
1. The best long-term survival
2. The best quality of life.
Since I do not speak Dutch, although resident in Amsterdam for the last nine months, I am unable to do the sort of library research in medical journals which I would like, and the journal articles I would like to access online are generally on subscription-only websites. I find this frustrating, as I do not have the money to subscribe to all the journals I would like to access. I wonder if anybody on this list can recommend the best two or three subscription sites which will give me access to the sort of peer-reviewed research that I need?
I would be very pleased to correspond with anyone on this list who has been through the sort of experience I am now having, or who can give the sort of advice(?)/information which they themselves have found helpful.
I am not particularly interested in "New Wave" or "Alternative" forms of therapy, although I am trying to keep an open mind .
I am sustained in all of this by my fellows in recovery (I am an 18-year sober member of Alcoholics Anonymous), and by my faith in G_d as I understand Him.
Looking forward to your correspondence
Nick
