Making a Way in the Wilderness

We drove to Pittsburgh for my quarterly appointment last Thursday. Everything went well. Nothing new on my scans. Scarring is what distinguishes my lungs from "normal" lungs. When I asked Dr. Villaruz if there are any signs of cancer, she said that if they did 100 biopsies and looked at the cells under the microscope, they could maybe find some cancer, but there's nothing visible on the scan. I do, however, have to continue taking Tagrisso or the cancer will return.  Hearing that there are no visible signs of cancer was fantastic news! I've now graduated to scans and appointments every 4 months instead of 3. This was a bright spot for us in an otherwise bleak, depressing week. Also, last week I started biking without my oxygen for the first time. I was a bit apprehensive, but I didn't feel short of breath, even during my speed workout. So now I'm only using oxygen on flights longer than 1-2 hours! I drove up to Ithaca for the weekend to see grad school and run...

November is lung cancer awareness month. I never knew anyone with lung cancer; I assumed that it only affected people who smoked. But anyone with lungs can get lung cancer. In fact, lung cancer rates are rising among female never-smokers under 55 – particularly Asian and Asian American women. I was diagnosed at age 49; I had no risk factors and had never smoked a single cigarette. The material below is adapted from https://www.lungcancerresearchfoundation.org/for-patients/free-educational-materials/lung-cancer-facts/ Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. -About 234,580 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2024 in the U.S. -1 in 16 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime (1 in 16 men and 1 in 17 women). Lung cancer kills almost 3 times as many men as prostate cancer and almost 3 times as many women as breast cancer. Lung cancer claims about as many lives each year as breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancer combined. But these three canc...