Good Morning on this most beautiful day in southeast Texas. The sun is out for the first time in many days and it is perfect. The windows are open to bring fresh air into a house that has been closed off to the outside world for way too long.
Many have asked how we know Richard was sick. Well, we didnt. Not until he was complaining of severe pain on his right side. On November 17, 2014 we attended my cousin's sons wedding in Austin. We were at a venue that was in Austin. It was rather rocky. The party had moved outdoors for the couple's farewell with thousands of bubbles. I was blowing bubbles when my cousin, Elizabeth said, "Mary, Richard fell." I turned around and he had fallen and several of the men were helping him up. The next morning he didnt complain of any pain and said he felt fine. In mid December he was at work and went to pick up something and he felt something pull in his back. A few weeks later, during the Christmas holidays, the pain was still there so he went to see his PCP, Dr. Aquino. He took x-rays and said there was inflammation in the fascia between the ribs and spine. So he prescribed a pain medicine and a anti-inflammatory. And said he should be better in three days. We didnt question it because it seemed reasonable with what had happened in the last month or so.
On January 22, 2015: There was a horrific storm. Driving was awful Rain and thunder and lightening were all around us. Richard called and said he was driving home and for me to get the truck ready to go he needed to go to the ER. I paniced because he was driving, in pain and in a storm on the beltway. I told him to pull over and I would come to him. He didnt want to wait and said he would be home in 10-15 minutes. 30 minutes later he pulled in the driveway. By the way he passed the ER on the way home. Isn't it strange the way the brain works when you are in pain? I got him in the truck and we went back to the ER in this horrible storm. They got us in right away and scooted us off to a bed in the hallway because on this horrific day in the middle of the afternoon CLRC hospital's ER was at capacity. A doctor came to us shortly and order a CT scan. I was sure he was having appendicitis or his gall bladder was inflammed. They got him all checked in while we waited on the scan results. A little while later the doc came back to tell us his appendix and gall bladder were fine but that he had lesions in his abdomen. I had never heard that term used for anything on the inside of the body so I asked him to explain and he simply said cancer. We couldnt believe it.
Richard was admitted for a full cancer work up and referred to Dr. Suanne McClure with TX Oncology by his PCP. Within the next 12 hours he gave loads of blood, more scans were done, a biopsy done and an inital diagnosis of stage 3 lung cancer was given. The biopsy would be back in a few days and we would go to Dr. McClures office for that. In the meantime go home with pain meds and relax. We didnt panic but decided we would get a second opinion at MD Anderson after we met with McClure. I went online to MDA's webpage and started that process.
When we met with McClure she was great. Educated us on the different types of lung cancer, prognosis, general treatments for lung cancer and answered any and all questions we had. She told us the biopsy and all the tests revealed EXTENSIVE SMALL CELL CARCINOMA IN THE LUNG. A tumor about 3/4" in diameter was in the upper right lung. It had metastasized into the ribs and pleura of the lungs. Richards worst pain was in the upper right back where Dr. Aquino had seen the inflammation two weeks prior. She said she believed that was were the majority of the lesions were and it had housed in those bones which was causing the pain. Her recommendations were to start chemo 3 days a week every 3 weeks the following week. And a radiation referral to Dr. Walker at TX Oncology. We told her we were going for a second opinion and she said we could do that but impressed on us it needed to be soon because this type of cancer is very aggressive and would not slow until treatments began. The most heart breaking opinion she gave us was Richard's prognosis. 3 month survival rate without treatment and 6-12 months with treatment was the average. I had been doing research on stage 3 lung cancer. This is very close to what I had read about small cell lung cancer. 5 year survival rate is less than 1%.
So we went to our appointment with MDA and met with a young doctor who we really liked. She told us almost verbatim what Dr. McClure had told us. When we told her we would be staying with Dr. McClure as a result of them being on the same page she said Dr. McClure was very well respected in the field and we would be in great hands. She also said MDA's doors were always open.
To be continued...
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