Donna Knox

 This is where my most recent reality in life begins. In July 2018 I found out I had a nodule on the left side of my thyroid. I went to my General Practitioner Dr. who ordered a diagnostic scan of the thyroid nodule. Then from there he suggested I make an appointment with my ENT Dr. to have him do his own scanning and get his professional diagnosis. Everything checked out good! There was no concern for cancer and the thyroid nodule was just that a nodule nothing more! My ENT wanted to follow up with me in six months just to keep an eye on the nodule. He did say if I noticed any change that I needed to let him know right away. Well anyone who knows me, knows he would be the very first to know of any changes I may notice. In early November being the run/walker I have been for more than six years I started noticing that it was taking me longer to run/walk my normal weekly 5k. Then I noticed I was getting winded on our stairs at home. I called my ENT and made an appointment to see him on November 19th  2018.  Upon his examination of my thyroid the nodule still was good, the same. Then as the scanning progressed I told him I felt a bit entangled inside. He went to the left of my thyroid and then to the right. All the while I am watching the scanning, once the Doppler was placed over the left lymph nodes and then the right lymph nodes the color changed from blue to red. This, for those who are not privy to the significance means that blue in color is cold and good no cancer. Red is hot and not good; cancer. He recommended and decided at that time to take three needle biopsies. It was a comfortable procedure and my Dr. is a wonderful caring man! He would send off the samples and get back to me when they returned.  Thanksgiving was a few days away and I wrapped myself in the love of family that came in from Florida & Georgia to be with us. The Monday after Thanksgiving, November 26th I received a call personally from my ENT doctor. He said he was on vacation and wanted to call me with the biopsy results, he said it is (what we all never want to hear) cancer! Staying strong, I asked him many questions and from our conversation I knew it pointed to lung cancer and that it was aggressive. My doctor ordered a PET Scan to be done on November 30. Man talk about things changing in the blink of an eye. Remaining strong and grounded in my faith for our Lord God Almighty trusting in his plans. Bill & I did not share anything at this point. On Friday 11/30/18 Bill took me in for my PET Scan, to say I was nervous is a huge understatement. Being Donna, I asked the nurse technician who was filling my veins with radioactive sugar water, why do I have to wait until Monday to find out the results? She said, "You don't"! I said "Really"! She said would you like to see the doctor today after your scan? I said please. She said he is one of the best and I asked her to inform my husband in the waiting room that indeed we would learn today what the results would be. After the scan we waited for about twenty minutes and then we were invited into an office and met the Radiologist. He had a screen that was filled with my 3D image Pet Scan and several other CT images. He showed us the tumor in my left lung, quite large! Then he showed us various places in my bones that the lung cancer is in. Then he showed us the lymph nodes on the left & right side  of the neck. His words were: "It doesn't get much worse". Well to me that just meant it was better than it could be! The radiologists suggested that I cancel my result visit with my ENT since we already know the results. He also said your ENT is a very influential person in this community and you need to get in and see Dr. Davey Daniel (lead lung specialists) at TN Oncology.  Knowing that time was of the essence I heeded his advise. I started working on cancelling the Monday appointment and working on getting in to see Dr. Daniel hopefully Monday. Mind you it was Friday afternoon after 3:00 at this point. I called my ENT spoke with his nurse and asked her to PLEASE have my ENT call me. At around 6:00 pm my ENT called and we spoke for a while, I asked him to call his colleague Dr. Daniel  and get me an appointment for Monday. He replied that his nurse was working on it. I replied no one has called me back today to schedule an appointment for Monday. After more friendly conversation between he * I, I said" Dr. PLEASE call Davey and tell him you know this really nice girl who has cancer and needs a cure! Our call concluded at that time. In less than an hour my ENT doctor called me back and said Donna you have an appointment with Dr. Daniel Monday at 8:00 am!!!