In April 2017 our Dad (Tommy) was diagnosed with Stage 1 Non -Small Cell Lung Cancer - he was not nor had he been a smoker! A few weeks prior, he had gone to the doctor's after having a cough that would not go away. He was diagnosed with bronchitis and left with antibiotics and was told to come back in if it did not clear up within the next several days. He continued to have a cough and, following the doctor's orders, went back to the doctor's. They decided to give him a chest scan to make sure that the bronchitis was not turning into pneumonia. The scan came back with a suspicious spot on his lung. At the time, they had suggested that it was probably fluid in the lungs but, to be sure, they wanted him to get another CT scan at the hospital that afternoon. The scan came back and there was a "mass" found in in the middle lobe of his right lung. After a subsequent PET scan and a biopsy, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. The only reason the lung cancer was discovered at all is because he had a chest scan done due to bronchitis. He did not have symptoms of lung cancer - it was too early!
In June 2017 Dad underwent a lobectomy to remove the middle lobe of his right lung and was determined"cancer-free". Several months later he was back to work and, besides feeling tired at times, was back to himself. His treatment plan for the next two years after the diagnosis was to undergo a CT scan every 6 months.
Fast-forward to October 2018 - a year and a half after his initial lung cancer diagnosis and two clear CT scans later: Several spots were found on his third follow up CT scan. On November 15, 2018, after a PET scan and a biopsy, our Dad was, once again, diagnosed with Stage 1 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. The options for treatment will depend on the gene mutation of the cancer.
We hope that this journal will help you keep up with his journey this second time. We will share any messages, on here, with Dad.
