NSCLC 1997
I had lung cancer, NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer! And I needed to stop smoking! I would need a right lower lobectomy, for my lung cancer. It would mean the removal of that entire lobe of my right lung.
I have struggled with this particular post. My mind doesn’t want to go back “there” anymore. It’s like that part of my brain has put up a gate and I have forgotten the password to open it. There were no recommendations for chemotherapy or radiation, but I would need to have follow – up CT scans and Xrays for the next five years.
I could tell you all the facts. I had a stage 1b with no node involvement. But facts don’t tell it all. It was a confused and petrifying time mixed in with lots of medical tests and scans. Each tests seemed new to me and each one fueled my greatest fears in anticipation. It was so bad that I became worked up, even before a blood test. What would it show? Was my blood still red? Would my cancer show up in these tests? What would they tell the doctor that he didn’t know already? Would it show that I still smoked? Did I have NSCLC?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS4PvBxY6Es
And with every day I shamefully, guiltily continued to smoke creating more tension between Dave and me and within myself. Dave had quit shortly after we moved into our home in 1983. But I continued to smoke. Now I had to quit, it had to come to an end. Lung Cancer was not an invitation to continue to smoke, especially after a particularly involved test that could have collapsed my lung. I was desperate to have the nerve to quit, as a rabbit to be released from a trap around its foot.http://146.66.99.90/~lallo400/my20yearscancer/smoking/
So I called the head rabbi at the Temple that I used to go to. He referred me to his wife Julie, a sociologist. I thought that if I knew how to pray again it would help me deal with NSCLC and smoking. She told me that maybe this wasn’t the time to concentrate on this, but to take care of myself with rest, and lots of water. She also said nothing really defined a prayer. But it could be as simple as getting up in the morning and just saying a word, “sun” or “flower”, and that would be my prayer.
And that’s what I did, I repeated “sun” all the way to the pharmacy and bought a month’s supply of Nicoderm patches. That night I smoked my last cigarette. I put on my first patch and went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning I said “SUN.”
https://www.healthline.com/health/smoking/nicotine-withdrawal#treatment
Merry! I had NO idea! What a moving piece this is – cuts to the very soul. How terrifying this must have been! Sharing it will help SO many more… one never knows. Bless you!
Thank you!!
Merry I wish for you is for the Sun to continue to shine brightly on you! I had not realized that it had been 20 years! God bless you for your strength and positive outlook and your sense of humor!
Thank you so much!! There will be more posts in the future!!
Simple words of inspiration from your rabbi’s wife- so…….inspiring. You certainly were an inspiration for me back then. You were going through such a difficult time but when John became ill you were always there for me.
Of course I was!! I think that survivors make great friends. lol
Oh how I relate. Even now, any new pain might mean a return. I love your honesty with yourself. I have 3 friends in treatment now and will forward your blog to them. Hugs, Casey
PS. Best wishes for the New Year and good progress reports, good health again.
Thank you!!! I am right there with you!! Once with the big “C” is enough to put you on tenterhooks!! Happy, healthy New Year!!
Merry I love this blog and salute your courage to change and to adapt to new ways to pray to to image healing. ❤️
That’s exactly how I think of prayer! I think I love your Rabbi’s wife! (and you!)
Lol- She actually died within a year of talking to me. Her name was Julie. even her words, the way she spoke were like prayers. I’ll never forget her!!
And now she’s had an impact on me…so she does live on. I’d always thought prayers were like biblical verses, or formal. I’d wonder how people did it. When I began to deeply explore my faith, I decided, as Julie did, that prayer was anything I wanted it to be. A simple word. Gratitude, Nature. A request or plea, good thoughts….
Great. She would be very touched, I’m sure.