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LUNG CANCER TREATMENTWhat an interesting, all-inclusive phrase!Ivan’s doctor gave him allergy medicines - several kinds - over about a five month period. Then they sent him home with inhalers. Medicine for high blood pressure became the fuse that ultimately set off the rest of the story. Ivan never had high blood pressure in his life. He never even had high blood pressure when his condition was at its worst! EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER ONE "Ivan had never been really sick a day in his life - except for the time he tangled with a snow blower and lost the battle. Oh, he had a few complaints here and there. He would go to the doctor. He would get some pills. He would get better. But never did he go without a fight. To get him to the doctor, I darned near had to truss him up with duct tape and drag him kicking and screaming all the way! This time he decided to go on his own. The pills didn’t work. He told me he was going back. He still didn't feel well. Those pills didn't work. He told me he was going back. He still didn't feel well. The new pills didn't work. He kept bringing samples home. Once he even got a prescription. The unused pills are still in the medicine chest. You go to the doctor. The doctor is trained to find out what is wrong. You trust. You take home the samples. You go to the pharmacist to pick up what they tell you will help. You aren't alarmed, so you don't even ask what the pills are for. You just take them. What Have I Learned? The guessing game played by the doctors along with the sample pills they send home for you "to try" shouldn't last for more than a couple of weeks. If symptoms persist, insist on more tests. Insist that they find out what is causing the symptoms. Don't take pills unless you know what they are for and why they have been prescribed. When they send you home with samples and prescriptions, go to the Internet or talk to your pharmacist. Find out their side effects. In short, get educated. If we had been more proactive, perhaps we would have found his lung cancer sooner and treatment could have begun sooner. We will never know." MORE EXCERPTS: Prologue - Cancer Chapter Two - The Moment Chapter Three - Brain Tumor Cancer Chapter Ten - The Gamma Knife Personal Notes on the Battle with Lung Cancer Chapter Twenty - Cancer Survival  |