Stories of Lung Cancer

We tell ourselves stories in order to live.     ~Joan Didion

Welcome to Cancer Words!

This is the story of lung cancer and me.  

It’s not a love story. 

It’s part memoir, part medical thriller, and part letter-from-camp, because good cancer days feel like the best days of summer vacation.

I write to keep friends and family up to date. I write to make sense of my experiences.

And I write so that maybe someone else with lung cancer will feel less alone. 

Because lung cancer is one hell of a lonely scary ride….

Just know I’m not a scientist or doctor– I’ll probably make mistakes, and my experience is not my advice. Listen to your medical team. Keep researching until you understand what you need to. 

Scroll to the bottom of the About page and let me know what you think.  

And, please pass this on to someone who might need it.

Thanks for visiting.

February 2021, Soon After My Diagnosis

Start Here...

...Or, Make your own path

Whaddya Mean, I Have Lung Cancer? (below) moves on from Lung Cancer Began In A Blur, with key moments of the early days. 

Or, read the posts chronologically, from the start. 

Or check out “Chapters” of The Story: 

Or, read one year at a time. (See the menu bar, above.)

Sketch of human lungs

Current Posts

Other Recent Posts

Whaddya Mean, I have Lung Cancer?

The first weeks were a tsunami of details and shock.

I was told the process was moving at warp speed for the medical system. It felt more like we were stuck in molasses. 

(Sometimes folks in the lung cancer community say waiting is one of the special agonies of lung cancer.) 

Here are some key moments as we waited for diagnosis.

Current Diagnosis: This is a Big Fucking Deal

Feb 22 2021– The intake meeting with a thoracic surgeon and the unofficial diagnosis.  

 

 

 

A Brain Is a Beautiful Thing

Mar 3 2021– In which I have an MRI to see if there is cancer in my brain. 

 

Two Down, One to Go

Feb 23 2021– Tests, tests, tests. Lots of initials & unfamiliar terms: CT, PET, MRI, EBUS.

 

 

 

 

Ya Can’t Make Me Feel Better By Saying “We Don’t Know Anything For Sure”

Mar 8 2021– No matter how they keep trying to cushion the blow– We don’t know anything until all the tests are in— things are serious. 

Deep & Dirty Into the Airways

Feb 24 2121– Everything you wanted to know about an EBUS bronchoscopy.

 

 

 

Introducing Dr. Oncology

Mar 19 2021– In which I meet my oncologist, plus  talk to other doctors. 

 

At the Coast

Mar 2 2021– The results start coming in, plus coping.

 

 

 

 

Hello, Dr. Radiology

Mar 25 2021– Rounding out the team of amazing women taking care of me is Dr. Radiology. 

 

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