As a retired firefighter and fight veteran, I’ve been in some fairly powerful conditions. However the hardest factor I’ve ever performed was sit my 4 youngsters down and inform them I had stage IV lung most cancers.
Two weeks earlier, they’d watched me lay considered one of my co-workers to relaxation after he’d died of stage IV pancreatic most cancers. He was solely 33. He was additionally a detailed household good friend, so they’d a front-row seat to his decline. They had been nervous I used to be subsequent.
Luckily, I selected MD Anderson for my lung most cancers remedy. And in six months, I went from having tumors in my lungs, lymph nodes, ribs, and stomach to displaying no proof of illness.
My lung most cancers analysis
I used to be solely 41 after I was identified with lung most cancers in September 2022. My first symptom was a dry cough that hung round after I recovered from a chilly. My spouse requested me repeatedly to get it checked out. After I lastly did, the physician thought it could be pneumonia and prescribed steroids and an antibiotic.
Nothing modified after a number of weeks, so my physician did some blood work. The assessments stored coming again unfavourable. In the meantime, I used to be beginning to really feel worse. An X-ray revealed an space of concern within the decrease lobe of my proper lung, so my physician despatched me to a pulmonologist for a CT scan and a biopsy. These outcomes confirmed I had adenocarcinoma, a kind of lung most cancers.
MD Anderson has experience in lung most cancers with my particular genetic mutation
I initially sought remedy for lung most cancers in Milwaukee. That’s the large metropolis closest to my dwelling in Wisconsin. However after getting a second opinion at MD Anderson, I made a decision to obtain all of my care there.
With stage IV lung most cancers, I already knew I used to be behind the eight ball. I used to be preventing for my life. So, as soon as I discovered the greatest place within the nation for most cancers care, it was laborious to depart that and go anyplace else.
At MD Anderson, I met first with Dr. Carl Homosexual, a medical oncologist specializing within the remedy of thoracic cancers. He’s additionally an knowledgeable in a genetic mutation referred to as anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusion, which my lung most cancers had.
After I first came upon concerning the mutation, I believed, “Nice. Now, I’ve examined optimistic for one thing else.” But it surely turned out to be a blessing. Ailments with mutations typically have extra particular remedy choices out there than those who don’t. So, it was one of the best factor that might’ve occurred to me. It meant we might use the genetic mutation towards itself.
Ultimately, I discovered each the mutation and Dr. Homosexual’s experience reassuring. Regardless that my docs in Milwaukee had been heading in the right direction, none of their 5 thoracic medical oncologists had been ALK specialists. And at MD Anderson at the moment, 9 out of 15 had been.
My lung most cancers remedy
Dr. Homosexual and his colleagues reviewed my care plan after confirming my analysis. All of them agreed: they wished me to discontinue the chemotherapy that I’d began in Milwaukee and keep on an oral focused remedy agent referred to as alectinib as an alternative. They’d seen some actually good outcomes with it and wished to order chemotherapy as an choice for later.
I took their recommendation. After solely two months on that drug, the tumors in my lungs had shrunk by 50%. I might breathe lots higher. All of my lymph nodes had been returning to regular dimension, too, and the world in my stomach that had beforehand proven most cancers exercise didn’t gentle up on scans in any respect.
Surgical procedure isn’t often an choice for sufferers with stage IV lung most cancers. However MD Anderson has been a pacesetter in providing surgical procedure when applicable, even with stage IV illness. And, they’ve monumental expertise in performing operations on metastatic lung most cancers. I did so nicely on the focused remedy that surgical procedure grew to become an choice for me. I jumped on the alternative. It felt like my first probability to do one thing to strike again on the most cancers, as an alternative of simply reacting to no matter it was doing.
Thoracic surgeon Dr. Mara Antonoff has a particular curiosity in surgical procedure for stage IV lung most cancers and numerous expertise in performing it. She eliminated the center and decrease lobes of my proper lung on March 24, 2023. I spent three days within the hospital and one other week resting. When the pathology report got here again, even my docs had been shocked. The most cancers was fully gone. No dwelling most cancers cells may very well be present in any of the tissue samples taken from my lungs or lymph nodes. It was unbelievable.
Why I inform everybody to go to MD Anderson
In my thoughts, going from a stage IV lung most cancers analysis to no proof of illness is nothing in need of a miracle. So, I really feel blessed.
I needed to take a medical retirement from firefighting, although, as a result of the dangers of smoke and chemical publicity had been simply too excessive for somebody with my medical historical past and lung capability. However I really feel so good now that I’ve been savoring my time with household and mates. I’ve additionally been coaching once more for an IRONMAN triathlon. I count on to compete in my second a type of on Sept. 8, in Madison.
That’s why I inform everybody to go to MD Anderson. With a stage IV analysis, I didn’t suppose I might ever be cancer-free, a lot much less that quick. And I’m so extremely grateful.
Request an appointment at MD Anderson on-line or name 1-877-632-6789.
