Richard Mannix

On Monday, June 26, our family’s lives changed forever. We didn’t know it at the time but were soon to find out. That night Richard was awakened by a pain in his arm that spread to his face and right eye. We saw the doctor next day who said to watch for visual changes. On Thursday the double vision started. Friday morning, after seeing the doctor, we were sent to Emergency at Strong. There the doctor suspected a stroke. A CT of his head did not show a stroke but did catch a bit of his lung which looked suspicious. He was admitted.

A CT of his chest was taken and a 2 centimeter tumor was spotted in his right lung accompanied by a lemon sized lymph node. A bronchoscopy was ordered to biopsy the lymph node. This revealed that he had small cell lung cancer. At the time they believed it was contained.

Rich had been complaining about pain in his hip and lower back for some time. So they ordered an MRI of the area to check for cancer in the bone. It was then that they discovered 4 lesions on his spine. This was not good news. Now the diagnosis advanced to stage 4.

Small cell lung cancer is the most aggressive kind we are told. It cannot be cured. There is no remission. After consulting with the Oncology Team at Wilmot Cancer Center, Rich decided not to have any chemo or further treatment. He is now in home hospice care. He does not want to know any timeline so he can simply take each day and live it for as long as he has. He is really handling this the best of all of us.

There is no way we can ever tell you how much the fantastic outpouring of love and support from all of you has been. It truly is carrying us along. We are so blessed to have all of you along with our team from Lifetime Care. We also have the best primary care doctor in the whole world who is there for us 24/7. The care we received at Strong was also over the top.

Rich is still up a lot during the day and does enjoy short visits. So feel free to call if you would like to stop over. Mornings from 10-12 and afternoons from 3-5 are best. You can call at 585-288-8644 land or 585-469-8249 cell. You can also text me at the latter. You can text Rich at 585-469-8248 for words of encouragement but questions are best directed to me. You can also e-mail either of us. Rich: silverfox8644@aol.com (mailto:silverfox8644@aol.com) or me at girafepm@aol.com (mailto:girafepm@aol.com). We will be updating this as often as we can.