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Kath's story Kath writes about her experiences through the diagnosis and treatment of her primary and secondary tumours and the important role played by the support of family, friends and cancer support groups.
Updates February 2001 Tammy, Kath's daughter, has written about her experiences. Read Tammy's story. April 2001 Dear Nola, It is with sad feelings in my heart that I need to inform you that Kath gave up the fight at 2:15 am on the 11/4/01. Fred Vale, Kath. Well done. - Ed.
Hi! I am 39 years old. I am female. I am married (second time round). Between us we have 7 children. Two live with us, a 12 yo and 4 yo. I was diagnosed with non small cell lung cancer in August 1998. I was devastated. I knew nothing about cancer really. I was told over the phone that I had a lump in my chest. My husband wasn't home and I had visitors. I had to smile and pretend nothing was wrong. It was horrible. In the beginning, there was test after test. The lump was a long way over and they couldn't get a biopsy. I had PET scans, bone scans, I had my throat cut, broncoscopy, etc. We seemed to be waiting and waiting for them to discover what kind of cancer I had. We couldn't get information easily. The Cancer Council helped a bit and nurses helped a bit. Doctors were useless. It was like they only know how to talk to you if you are asleep on an operating table. It was very frustrating. They finally discovered what kind it was and that it had spread to my mediastinal lymph nodes also. I was placed on a high dose of chemotherapy. The doctor said on a scale of 1 to 10 it was about an 8. We were living in Melbourne when I was diagnosed and I had my first course of chemo there. Then we moved to Wodonga for the last two courses because we have family up here. We have a great medical oncologist, you can talk to him. We have a great team all round now but we had to chop and change until we were happy and not accept the myth that doctors are gods. Some think they are. Once we finished the chemo they did more tests and the chemo had reduced the tumors heaps. They said they had never seen a better result so it was decided to do an operation to remove the top lobe of my right lung and part of the second lobe as well as the lymph nodes in my chest. This operation I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. After the op, which came back saying they had it all, I was given 6 weeks of radiotherapy and had to have it done in Melbourne because we didn't have a radiotherapy unit at home yet. It was opened about 2 weeks after we got home. That was a very stressful time. It was about this time that I went to our local cancer support group. Boy, do I wish I had done that sooner! We were to wait a couple of weeks for my system to build back up after the radiotherapy and I was to repeat the chemo just to be sure, an experimental thing. We went in to have my blood test organised for the chemo and Fred (husband) mentioned to the doctor that I was waking up in the morning with headaches. He sent me for a CT scan as well as my blood test the next day. He rang Fred the next day and asked us to come in that afternoon. He informed us that I had a metastasis in my head. The chemo was forgotten and I was sent to our Radiotherapist. We were devastated again. We thought we had kicked the cancer in the butt and here we were starting all over again! We went to the radiotherapist a couple of days after receiving the news. He told us that he could only see one tumor and sent me off for an MRI to get a better idea The MRI came back confirming only 1 so he sent us off to a neurosurgeon to be given our options. He is great. He explained what the likely scenario would be for doing nothing, surgery, and a new process called Steriotactic Radiosurgery. We opted for the new process. Approx. 6 weeks after the procedure I had a fit. They did another MRI said the fit was caused by swelling in the region of the tumor and I went and had it surgically removed. I then underwent a 12 day course of full brain radiotherapy. When they did another MRI they found another small tumor too small to treat effectively. I was told to go home and let it grow for 6 to 8 weeks and we would have another look. I got really sick about 14 weeks before Christmas last year and was given the option of more surgery and the risks that go with it or quality time with my family and being treated with medications. We chose the latter and I was given approx 12 weeks to live. My steroids for the swelling were increased to the maximum dose and I was basically forgotten about! Well I'm still here! I started decreasing my steroids after Christmas and we made an appointment to see the oncologist. They have put me back in the land of the living and I have just had steriotactic radiosurgery done on the second tumor. They can't find anymore so I am keeping my fingers crossed this time we have it beat at least for a couple more years. I am lucky to have a loving. supportive hubby and the kids. Family and friends plus all our support groups make this thing so much easier. I am also a stubborn yet positive person and if I can help anyone I would like to! There is a whole lot more, I have just given you a brief rundown on things. Hoping I can be of some help. Kath, |
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