In short, my cancer looks like Pneumonia in X-rays. I have three different types of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Adenocarcinoma, Bronchioloalveolar Carcinoma (this is the one that shows up as Pneumonia on chest X-ray's) and Squamous Cell Carcinoma. I have mixtures of different types of lung cancers so that is another reason that chemo will not work on my cancer. I have to have what is called Targeted Radiation Therapy. I am slowly learning more and more about my lung cancer, but I am staying away from reading about the statistics. However; today is the beginning of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and I will be posting some facts about Lung Cancer for the next 30 days in my blog.
Because today is the beginning of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, it is a very important day for me. Lung cancer is the leading cause of deaths in both men and women. With a mere 15% 5 year survival rate for all stages, it is past time that we get this cancer the funding it so desperately needs. Even though lung cancer is the leading cause of death among both men and women, it doesn't get nearly the publicity, support, and media attention that breast cancer awareness month gets. In fact, No-Shave November has taken this month as well for men's health awareness.
Well men, I have some an interesting fact for you....lung cancer will kill more of you than any other cancer.
As a lung cancer fighter, I am appalled at the lack of support by the American Cancer Society compared to breast cancer, and how they refuse to help fight the stigma. Smoking causes a ton of different cancer besides just lung. I want to fight for them to move the Great American Smoke Out to January so we can focus on the cancer killer and not the stigma. January only makes sense since it is New Years and can be used as a New Years Resolution.
I want people to know that ANYONE can get lung cancer. That it's the number one cancer killer of both men and women and that the funding is extremely disproportionate compared to other cancers.
When I was diagnosed with lung cancer, I was numb. Then, I started seeing my life flash before my eyes. I was scared of what would happen, scared of treatments, scared of not living a long and full life. And yes, I still have my really bad days. Yesterday was one of them. I cried myself to sleep (of course my pain meds helped), but it was the first time I had ever slept on my couch the entire night. I have to continue to have hope..and that has proven to be quite a challenge for me. I try so hard to be positive, but to perfectly honest, I see no positive in lung cancer. I have learned so much about who I am since I was diagnosed, but I hate cancer...and I really hate lung cancer.
I am oxygen dependent at 35 years old. I cannot walk from my car to the entrance of the grocery store without gasping for air. I did a six minute walk test at CTCA and could not even get past the first 3 minutes. God! That is so frustrating. I feel...anger. Yet, here I am...still writing these words and praying that someone finds hope in my writing. I believe God is working through my fingers to help others since I cannot do much else..and He knows how much I love to help other people.
It is getting late, so I am going to call it a night. I am putting all of my blogs in a word document and turning them into a novel for NaNoWriMo. I am super excited that my friend Liz got me into that. I have never finished the 50k word count, but this time, I already have with as many blogs as I have written. I am going to post some facts on Lung Cancer below...and will do so for the next 30 days. Remember, No-one fights alone! Stand beside me if we are friends on Facebook and change your profile picture to support lung cancer awareness for 30 days! Thank you guys for taking the time to read my blogs and pray for my family. I love you all!
Lung Cancer Fact Sheet
- Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women in the U.S. In 1987, it surpassed breast cancer to become the leading cause of cancer deaths in women. 1
- Lung cancer causes more deaths than colorectal, breast and prostate cancers combined. An estimated 158,040 Americans are expected to die from lung cancer in 2015, accounting for approximately 27 percent of all cancer deaths. 2
- The number of deaths caused by lung cancer has increased approximately 3.5 percent between 1999 and 2012 from 152,156 to 157,499. The number of deaths among men has plateaued but the number is still rising among women. In 2012, there were 86,740 deaths due to lung cancer in men and 70,759 in women. 1
- The age-adjusted death rate for lung cancer is higher for men (56.1 per 100,000 persons) than for women (36.4 per 100,000 persons). It also is higher for blacks (48.3 per 100,000 persons) compared to whites (45.6 per 100,000 persons). Black men have a far higher age-adjusted lung cancer death rate than white men, while black and white women have similar rates. 1
- Courtesy of American Cancer Association: http://www.lung.org/lung-health-and-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/lung-cancer/learn-about-lung-cancer/lung-cancer-fact-sheet.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/
- gofundme,com/hope4shanna
- https://www.facebook.com/hope4shanna/
- https://www.booster.com/kickinglungcancersassforshanna
- http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/shannabrock2/journal/view/id/563572d0a689b4de1837cc70
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