I was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer on October 2021. This was a complete shock and it came following severe pain and collapse after experiencing a stitch like pain under my left rib cage. After collapsing in pain at the our farm at Kojonup WA I ended up at Fiona Stanley Hospital. They managed the pain and sent me home. I had thankfully already had a CT scan and blood tests that were ordered by another Dr and this showed that I had a mass on my adrenal gland.
Following a PET scan and a referral to an Adrenal Specialist he identified that I had lung cancer and adrenal cancer and a lymph node with cancer.
I was then booked in to hospital for a biopsy on my lung and a meeting with an oncologist.
I was told that at 58 I had stage 4 lung cancer and would die within 6 months if I did not have treatment.
I started treatment in November 2021 and had a massively strong allergic reaction to the chemotherapy. I refused to have more. My feeling was that as I was not "sick" when I arrived at the oncologist then I refused to have something that was going to make me feel sick and awful for goodness knows how long. I was then told that the other option was immunotherapy but there was no guarantee that it would work with the type of cancer I had. I have been on immunotherapy for 14 months now and feeling really well. I have a little bit of joint pain. Otherwise I have been able to maintain a normal life and I feel well. I have been able to travel and enjoy all the days that I have. It has beena game changer. I am so thankful for the research that has made immunotherapy possible. It is just so awesome.
I am doing all the things that I have wanted to and continue to. I know that I will not be cured of the cancer, but I want to live my best life for as long as I possibly can. I have been married, since the diagnosis to my long term partner Steve. That was on my bucket list. I have been able to retire from work after 22 years in the Public Service. I have seen one of my sons buy his first home and one of my others by a farmlet which has been a long term goal of his. I went on a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth. There are lots of other things that I would like to do. A trip to Scotland and one to New Zealand is in there but I wonder if there are other things small things that I should add to that list.
