Good news...

22Oct2013 Jim’s appt, short answer: GOOD NEWS! Long answer: My husband Jim had his consultation today regarding his Lung Cancer status. We did not receive any bad news today. Jim’s most recent CT and PET did NOT show any worrisome activity. Jim’s pericardium and pulmonary vein looked good. There is a small area on the right lung that will be closely monitored, but we are not alarmed. The doctor feels, and we agree, that they have done all the chemotherapy and radiation that they can do at this point. The doctor would not say “remission”, we did ask him directly. The doctor did say “guarded optimism”. The doctor stated directly to Jim that he “expects the cancer to come back within two years”. This timeline falls in line with the information that we received at the time of Jim’s pneumonectomy. *Stage 4 NSCLC that has invaded the heart has its own set of parameters. During this phase we will have a “wait and see policy” with Jim having serial CTs and PETs. We are pleased with this update. This news is good news.

This status post comes just nine short months (to the day!) after I announced on my facebook that Jim had cancer. It is just ten short months (to the day!) from Jim’s very first appointment that began this journey. We had no idea at that time that it was cancer. Our lives have certainly changed during 2013. 

Waiting...

My husband, Jim, is still waiting for tests and test results to see if his stage 4 lung cancer is still active. These results will let us know if the cancer treatments were successful or not. Once we have the information, Jim can make a plan and move forward. The weeks of waiting are stressful. Hopefully, we will have information by the end of this month. 

On my feet...

Finally, I am back on my financial feet again. It was a long and difficult summer, financially speaking. My husband Jim only received 50% of his June short-term disability check, due to calendar dates. Then his payments switched from short-term disability to long-term disability. I soon found out that Jim’s short-term paid at the front end of the month, and long-term paid at the end of the month. Jim had no disability check at all for July, or for August. I only work during the school year, so I had no income at all during the summer. I had to manage the entire summer on half of one month’s payment. I went the entire summer on a wing and a prayer, on credit cards, and on the kindness of others. Jim had already emptied his entire savings account and I had nothing left to fall back on. It was scary. It was humbling. It was hard.

It was a difficult time for me, financially speaking. It was also a difficult time for me, emotionally speaking. It was difficult to tell my son that he could not participate in various activities. My daughter did not participate in any extra activities. We were unable to go visit adult children. It was difficult to do activities with my family that required money. It was difficult to ask for help. 

I am now happy to say that this month I am back on track. I was able to meet our financial obligations once again. I had to tell my son that he could not participate in football this year, but sports are a luxury that I cannot justify right now. There is no savings account yet and there are no extra funds, but our obligations/bills are paid. 

I am thankful to friends that have helped us along the way. I have received gifts from gardens, gifts from kitchens, gifts of money, gifts of clothing, gifts of school supplies, gifts of camping, and gifts of time. I will one day to pay it forward.