lunhs cancer

PROFILES IN LUNG CANCER Lung Cancer Awareness Month 2015 Day 30: Jamie Shull, advocate "Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer." I am happy to connect you all with lung cancer advocate Jamie Shull. Jamie will be quite thrilled when lung cancer is a manageable, chronic disease, that keeps people living and living well. She feels strongly, �Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer.� That is the message she spreads. The cancer bomb exploded into Jamie�s life when her husband of 18-years, Kurt, was diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer in December 2010. She took on the roll as primary caregiver doing what ever it took to ensure the best care for her husband and their 14-year-old son. First line treatment took nearly everything out of Kurt. Unwilling to accept the way things were headed, Jamie, using her superior �get-shit-done� skills, found a clinical trial at a local teaching hospital � a turning point for Kurt as well as lung cancer as a whole. ...continue reading...

PROFILES IN LUNG CANCER Lung Cancer Awareness Month 2015 Day 29: Genevieve de Renne, caregiver "Never underestimate the power of love, and the power of your own thoughts." How long have you been a caregiver? "If you are just talking about being a lung cancer caregiver, it has been a little more than nine years since you were diagnosed the first time. If you define being a caregiver as being there for someone unconditionally, it started when I was a single mom, and then when I was a caregiver for my parents in their later years." What was it like in the beginning? "I was in an emotional haze. It�s gut-wrenching to see your loved one go through something like this, and to know that there�s nothing you can do. I had no control, and it was challenging for me. I wasn�t prepared for how quickly I could go to straight to fear." ...continue reading...

PROFILES IN LUNG CANCER Lung Cancer Awareness Month 2015   Day 15: Dr. Lucy Kalanithi, Lung cancer advocate and former caregiver �Lung cancer happened to Paul, but it�s something we did together.� Twitter handle: @ rocketgirlmd Who are you? I am Paul Kalanithi�s widow, I�m a doctor, and I�m Cady�s mom.  My husband was Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon and writer who was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in 2013 and who passed away this year at age 37. Paul and I met and married in medical school at Yale and moved to California together 8 years ago to start our residencies. When he was diagnosed, our top priority (apart from the best medical care) was to clarify what was truly important to us and help him seek meaningful time. That included going back to work and, for him, writing (including the essay �How Long Have I Got Left?� in the NYT and working on a memoir). We�d always thought we�d have a child together at the end of residency and when he got sick, it was abou...

WANTED: Someone who will let me speak my mind about this terrible disease, without having to be brave or positive or sun-shiny. Someone who will let me blow off steam and rant, someone who will let me feel negative and speak my fears about what lies ahead.   DESPERATELY SEEKING: Someone who will let me say that I am scared about what might be. That this disease freaks the crap out of me. Someone who will let me not be tough for a few minutes, but break down and cry about my anxieties. I may get some static for this post, but I think that there is too much pressure on cancer patients to stay upbeat and cheerful all the time, dancing through treatments and smiling during scans. "You can beat cancer with a positive attitude!" Bah, if only that were true, I wouldn't have lost so many friends to cancer. On the contrary, it is perfectly natural � even healthy � to allow yourself to imagine various possibilities of what could be. If you have ever watched children play, you...

Last night renewed my admiration for caregivers. My husband and I were getting ready for bed when we heard a strange noise coming from our daughters' room. We ran downstairs and found one of the three-year-olds standing outside her room, mouth hanging open and making a horrible gagging, coughing sound. At first we thought she was throwing up, but then she kept trying to suck in air, and it almost sounded like she was choking. "Can you breathe?" She shook her head and tears rolled down her cheeks. My husband donned his superhero cape while I grabbed her coat and hat. He whisked her into the car. I scraped the ice off the windshield while he buckled her into the car seat. And they were off. I stood there and watched them drive away, feeling totally helpless. How do caregivers do this?!? Her sister had woken up, so that snapped me back to my senses. Okay. Focus. Get her sister back to sleep. Run through nightmare scenarios in my head. Check on the kids. Feel like throwing up...