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"Who's My Quarterback?"...Navigating In-patient Care

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     My recent surgeries and extended stays in the hospital were an eye opener into our in-patient healthcare system.  Despite the doctor missing my fractured femur, I feel I otherwise got good medical care.  But, I sometimes also felt confused and overwhelmed.  There was a team of physicians who saw me during my admissions: Hospitalists, (5 different ones) Surgeon, and surgical residents Oncologist/Hematologist Infectious Disease specialists, (5 different ones)      The hospital is a large medical center and teaching hospital, so I expected there to be residents and medical students.  What I didn't expect was the number of different attendings that would be involved in my care, and my resulting confusion...I needed a medical point person. With so many physicians coming to see me every day, I started to ask them each, �Who's my quarterback?"  Interestingly, there wasn't one answer.  Most said it was the hospitalist, b...
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Quick Update: Hip and Cancer

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Spring at Wynn and Luna's      As of yesterday, I've been home six weeks.  In this time, I've gotten significantly stronger, but I still have a ways to go.   No more walker and the rental wheelchair has been returned.  I need to use a cane, but am trying to get around the house without it for increasing longer periods.  (My limp is  significant, however.  Gotta work on that.) Wound vac...gone two weeks ago.  This was a big step forward for me.  No more being attached to a 4 lb. pump by 4 feet of tubing. The incision is slowly healing and I only have to see the wound care PT once a week now. IV antibiotics...done last week.  Now I'm on three oral antibiotics, but with the end of home IV treatments, I'm done dealing with tubes.  The hospital bed was returned three weeks ago because I am strong enough to make it up our stairs.   After a few practice runs, I'm back to driving.  PT 3x/week continues to...
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Because Stage 4 Cancer Isn't Enough-Part 3

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     I did my best to present Part 3 as concisely as possible.  I am aware that my family and friends, who have been incredibly supportive to me, may be approaching the point of "Luna Fatigue".  As exhausting as my health complications have been to me, I see that supporting my recovery is taxing to them, too.   Our Conversation with Dr. R., (my first surgeon) :           -Several days after my second, reconstructive, surgery, Dr. R. came to my hospital room.  It was around 7pm and Wynn was with me.  We had looked forward to meeting with him.            -One of the reasons I chose Dr. R. as my surgeon was because he has a gentle manner.  Although that night he did not say the words, "I'm sorry,"  his demeanor was that of contrition.  Appropriately so. Whatever he said to us that night, it has been enough for me to work toward finding my peace w...
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Because Stage 4 Cancer Isn't Enough-Part 2

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       As I sit down to try to write Part 2, I'm finding it difficult to put my thoughts together.  I haven't yet wrapped my head around the events of Part 1, and even wonder if I don't have some post-traumatic stress going on.  Thinking that, with the home physical therapist's directions, I was walking around, including stairs, with a broken femur for four days makes me cringe .  On top of that, due to the fracture, I bled so much into my hip that my hemoglobin fell to 5.0 g/dL, (normal range for women is 12.0-15.5 g/dL).  The American Association of Blood Banks' guidelines recommend transfusion at  7-8 g/dL. Although I received four units of blood before the second surgery, as I said good-bye to Wynn, Nathan and Nina, I worried that I would not make it out of that surgery OK.            The second surgery with my new orthopedic surgeon, Dr. J., went well.  Here's the X-ray:   ...
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Because Stage 4 Cancer Isn't Enough-Part 1

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       This is a long and windy story so the skinny, metaphoric version is this...I was hit by a Mack truck, and didn't die.  The long version is this...(and it is long so I�ll post it in parts).        For the past decade, or so, I have struggled with arthritis in my left hip.  Given my stage 4 cancer status, I didn't think a hip replacement was possible.  However, because I've done so well on my oral chemotherapy, Xalkori, I've been able to be pretty active...cycling, Pilates, workouts, etc.  My ongoing, progressive pain was starting to get in the way of my life.  After meeting with multiple orthopedic surgeons, including an ortho-oncologist, I was encouraged to get a hip replacement, despite my cancer diagnosis.  I ended up choosing Dr. R. because he offered a minimally invasive procedure (back to work in 6 weeks), has successfully done several friends and colleagues hips, and I liked his bedside manne...
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Learning to Find a Purpose

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     Aside from being a lung cancer ninja, I've been a genetic counselor for 35 years.  I love my job.  I don't have any difficulty getting my morning routine going so I can get to work because I enjoy being there.  Up until 8 months ago, I was working with a medical geneticist in a Pediatric Genetics Clinic.  When the medical geneticist retired last summer, I was moved to Maternal Fetal Medicine.  I now see pregnant women who are at an increased risk for having a baby with a problem.  On most days, I'm able to give my patients reassuring information that their baby appears just fine.  But because Maternal Fetal Medicine practices see 'high risk' pregnant mothers, the nature of our business is a poignant reminder that things don't always go well. However, I feel that the work my team does makes a positive difference in the lives of our patients.        This past week I saw a patient that is making a di...
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Another Birthday...who knew it could happen?

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     Today I am celebrating my 59th birthday!  I woke up with a really bad cold this morning, feeling miserable with typical bad cold symptoms.  When the morning mind fog cleared and I realized that it was my birthday, I was energized to make the best of my day because I never thought I'd make it to 59 years.  One week shy of five years ago today, December 14, 2012, was the day I learned that I have stage 4 cancer.  At that time, the chance that a stage 4 lung cancer patient would ever become a 5-year Survivor was a measly 2%.  TWO PERCENT!  I found a more recent stat from 2016 indicating that the 5-year survival rate is now up to 14%.  With new treatments and technologies, that's a whole lot better, but an 86% death rate is still pretty crappy.        Along with my new iPad, (thank you, Wynn), my other big birthday gift was my most recent brain MRI result.  The small tumor that was CyberKnifed back in...
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