The Poseidon Adventure

Do you remember the 1972 movie The Poseidon Adventure with Shelly Winters, Ernest Borgnine and Gene Hackman? If not, let me remind you of the storyline. A passenger cruiser transiting the ocean is suddenly capsized by a gigantic wave. Many of the passengers survive the initial trauma and then try to make their way to the surface in the upside down ship. Of course, most of the passengers tragically die in the process and there is unexpected trouble and disappointment along the way. The route to the surface is debated and different paths are chosen. Only a few ultimately survive, but we learn a lot about the character of each victim along the way.

It seems to me that my cancer experience thus far closely follows the storyline of the Poseidon Adventure. Yoko and I had just begun to enjoy our "cruise" toward retirement, looking forward to the next long and uneventful passage in our lives, when suddenly everything is turned upside down by my unexpected diagnosis of lung cancer. The diagnosis was like getting hit by a gigantic wave. After the initial shock and confusion, the panic subsided and we settled down to think more clearly. It is a crisis that tests our faith in God, but we have come to realize we are not in immediate danger of drowning and that we can manage our lives in an upside down ship for quite some time. Just as we began to get our bearings and make our way to the surface, there is another event and more turmoil and we are again having to face life and death decisions. Luckily, we have Scott Lunin, playing Gene Hackman's role as Reverend Frank Scott, the compassionate character guiding us to safety!

Why are you telling me all this? Well, I learned today from the Reverend Scott that the PET scan turned up something that is a potential hot spot on my liver. Lung surgery would be off the table if the cancer metastasises and shows up elsewhere. The "hot spot" the radiologist found may just be a remnant from the radiation (let's hope) but, Dr. Scott, in an abundance of caution, wants to do an MRI to find out for sure. So tomorrow I will have an MRI done. The radiologist will be able to get a better look at what we are dealing with; if in fact is is cancer, the course of treatment (our route to the surface) will have to change.

For me, making it to the surface would be a diagnosis that there is no evidence of disease. (i.e. the cancer is in remission.) That might happen after surgery or consolidation chemo; a metastasizing disease ("mets") will be roadblocks in getting there. It is part and partial to lung cancer and is to be expected. After all, the ship is upside down ...we have to expect a setback or two. I am confident the MRI will prove the spot to be nothing-- but we'll know one way or the other in short order.

I must tell you I feel very comforted to know so many people praying for me and if asked, would do anything to help. I have had any number of friends who know about this) stop by the office, come for lunch, invite Yoko and I out to dinner, etc. and offer words of encouragement and support.

Unfortunately, there is a sea of capsized ships out there; many lives are turned upside down. Unfortunately, many many people are not as lucky are we are. Millions of other people may one day get the diagnosis that I have today. How can they be helped?

There needs to be more awareness and funding for lung cancer research. People simply don't know about the devastating effect this disease is having on millions of Americans and their families. Did you know Suzanne Plechette (Bob Newhart's TV wife) died this week at age 70? Her death was publicly attributed to "respiratory failure", but the cause, in fact, was lung cancer. She is one of 163,000 people who will die from lung cancer this year. Think about the enormity of that number. That is the equivalent of a fully loaded jumbo jet crashing to the ground every day of the year, year after year, and not being reported anywhere in the news. There are more deaths from lung cancer than all other cancers combined and yet the Federal government spends next to nothing on research to fight the disease.

We need to change that to save lives. Lung cancer awareness must be increased and research aimed at early detection has got to be funded. Finding the disease at an early stage will be the key to survival for millions of Americans (both smokers and non-smokers) who have not (yet) contracted the disease. There is promising technology out there. Friends and family of victims are the ones who will have to carry the flag, since lung cancer victims themselves have their hands full trying to survive.

I will have more to say about this in future blogs, but e-mail me if you would like to help get the word out!