Diane’s Fight to beat Lung Cancer

On Dec 6, 2023, my mom went to work as a nurse in the CCU and left 3 days later with a life changing diagnosis.

Two months ago, our lives changed. On Dec 6, my mom went to work at the SSH CCU but floated to the IMCU (her least favorite place). While working, she had complained of a headache and then her co-workers felt like she wasn’t acting herself and brought her to the ER. She had a head CT scan which showed some abnormalities that prompted more testing. A few days later, she left with a life changing diagnosis of metastatic lung cancer.

We were lucky that we had an appt with radiation oncology before even leaving the ER for the upcoming Monday. She met with the radiation oncologist and developed a plan to treat the lesions in her brain with 10 whole brain hippocampus-avoidance radiation, which she had the last 2 weeks in December. On December 20, she met with the medical oncologist who confirmed a diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer. Due to her lack of smoking history, some genetic testing was necessary on the biopsy that she had to determine the best course of treatment.

On Jan 12, we went to the ER b/c her leg was swollen and she was certain she had a blood clot (which she did). Hours later after getting a chest CT scan to check for more clots, she showed signs of disorientation and then altered mental status. She had a head CT scan which showed swelling in her brain and they were concerned for seizure activity. She was transferred into BWH neuro ICU and had a week long hospital stay followed by 2 weeks in Rehab.

On Jan 29th, we were finally able to follow-up with the medical oncologist as her original follow-up had to be rescheduled due to her hospitalization. At that appt, we learned that my mom has an RET mutation and because of that, her cancer should responded better to a targeted therapy drug.

Unfortunately, my mom’s stay at home was short lived…only a week. She was admitted to the hospital a week ago this past Wednesday (2/7). When the VNA nurse checked my mom’s vitals that morning, her O2 was in the low 80s and wasn’t coming up. She called the ambulance and it took 4L to get her into the 90s so off to the ER she went. She was admitted shortly after getting to the ER after preliminary tests showed her lungs were compromised. Her O2 demands got increasingly more so on that Friday, they moved her to the Critical Care Unit (which is where she works). The only plus side is they’re taking great care of her!!

She continues to be on a host of medications to try to help her require less oxygen and she was able to start the targeted cancer therapy drug last Sunday. We’re hopeful that she starts making progress real soon!

This is taking a lot out of her and she doesn’t have the energy to check her phone or have much conversation but I know she’ll appreciate everyone praying for her.