Duane Nelson

Duane -- known as Sveinn Njalsson to our friends in the SCA -- has had asthma all his life, so he wasn't too concerned when he had trouble breathing while on his delayed honeymoon to Hawaii in November 2016. But the increased coughing and breathlessness was interfering with his "activities of daily life": martial arts, riding, boating, cliff-hiking... You know, the usual stuff for a 55-year-old man.

So Duane talked with his allergist and scheduled a CT scan for Monday, January 9, to see if there was scarring in his lungs from chronic asthma.  To everyone's surprise, the CT found that his upper right lung was filled with a massive tumor, 8x6x6 centimeters, along with enlarged lymph nodes, spots in the other lung, and spots in the liver. He has never smoked, and has always been careful to avoid anything that would irritate his lungs.

The diagnosis is stage 4, high grade, small cell neuro-endocrine carcinoma. There is no prognosis yet, because this particular lung cancer is so very rare among nonsmokers that no one can predict what will happen. But chemotherapy and radiation can do great things. We're hoping for miracles.

Please follow our story, and help out as you can. Your prayers and messages of encouragement are most welcome!