I've been putting off talking about this. But I found out last month that my cancer has returned. The facts are that it is still local to my right lung and has not spread beyond that in any detectable way. I've spent the last month getting tested, I've been to UCSF, and last week had a biopsy to finally confirm everything. The plan is to attack it with chemo and a target drug designed to starve the tumors. There are about three tumors. One is bigger than the other two, but is still fairly small. About 3 centimeters. We caught it earlier than we normally would have because I was not supposed to get a CT scan until June. But I had one this check up just to check and hopefully ease my mind for the holidays. Unfortunately they found what they found, but fortunately they found it now. This is more serious than the first time. Recurrences are not ideal, but I'm hoping that it will respond to treatment. Surgery is still an option, but they want to see out the treatment works first. I'm also seeing a nutritionist and am trying to do everything possible to attack it. And not freak out. My doctor at UCSF said that there are several options and that I have "a lot of years left."
So that's where I'm at. I hopefully start treatment this week. You all know that I've never smoked in my life. Lung cancer has a stigma attached to it, and I don't want any part of it. The reality is that if you have lungs you can get lung cancer. That's it. I need to breathe now.
