Ginny’s Journey
In May of 2019, after meeting with her rheumatologist, the doctor recommended that Ginny have a chest x-ray to check for possible calcification around her lungs from her scleroderma. The chest x-ray revealed what appeared to be a large mass on her left lung. A follow up CT Scan confirmed that it was indeed a mass.
Ginny then met with a pulmonologist and was given a very bleak prognosis unless she would agree to do chemotherapy and radiation treatment which she insisted that she did not want. After leaving the pulmonologists office in shock, Ginny decided to do all she could through nutrition and supplements for the following year to build up her body and immune system to fight the mass on its own and try for a better quality of life for the time she would have left.
A year later, in April of 2020, Ginny met with a new primary doctor who is well respected and renowned in his profession. He ordered another CT scan and a biopsy and the tests confirmed that the mass was Stage 3 Non-small Cell Adenocarcinoma, lung cancer. She met with an oncologist who still recommended chemo and radiation but was very understanding of her wishes to look for other options. He recommended her to a surgeon who determined in September of 2020 that the mass was too large and she was not a candidate for surgery. This was a huge disappointment.
Ginny spent the next several months researching other options and connecting with others who had been through similar experiences. She met someone who recommended she go to The Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion Illinois for a second opinion. Ginny went to Zion in October and met with the wonderful doctors and nurses there. She met so many people, staff, patients, and caregivers who had only amazing things to say about CTCA that she knew it was where she needed to be.
Because of her unwavering faith and the trust she had in the doctors there she decided to go ahead with the chemo and radiation. In early December 2020 Ginny had an MRI as part of the preparations for the treatments. The scan revealed a small lesion on her brain. The lesion ment that her lung cancer would now be considered Stage 4 due to the spread. They performed radiation on the Monday before Christmas. Thankfully this small speed bump did not affect the plan to start chemo and radiation right after the new year.
On January 4th, 2021 Ginny and her husband Tony checked in to the CTCA to begin 6 weeks of intense treatment. They would stay on site at the center’s hotel Monday-Friday each week and Ginny would undergo one chemo infusion and 5 radiation treatments each week.
There were certainly some road bumps and scary moments along the way, including allergic reactions to the chemo and a stay in the hospital after a dangerous drop in blood pressure and sodium levels possibly due to a colonoscopy flush needed for a future rectal prolapse surgery, but Ginny made it through with incredible strength and never lost sight of her goal to get to the other side of cancer.
In the coming months this spring she will have the rectal prolapse surgery and begin a course of immunotherapy infusions as a continuation of the cancer treatment. We continue to hope and pray that the treatments will kill all the cancer cells and we will be blessed to have Ginny with us for a long time to come!
In May of 2019, after meeting with her rheumatologist, the doctor recommended that Ginny have a chest x-ray to check for possible calcification around her lungs from her scleroderma. The chest x-ray revealed what appeared to be a large mass on her left lung. A follow up CT Scan confirmed that it was indeed a mass.
Ginny then met with a pulmonologist and was given a very bleak prognosis unless she would agree to do chemotherapy and radiation treatment which she insisted that she did not want. After leaving the pulmonologists office in shock, Ginny decided to do all she could through nutrition and supplements for the following year to build up her body and immune system to fight the mass on its own and try for a better quality of life for the time she would have left.
A year later, in April of 2020, Ginny met with a new primary doctor who is well respected and renowned in his profession. He ordered another CT scan and a biopsy and the tests confirmed that the mass was Stage 3 Non-small Cell Adenocarcinoma, lung cancer. She met with an oncologist who still recommended chemo and radiation but was very understanding of her wishes to look for other options. He recommended her to a surgeon who determined in September of 2020 that the mass was too large and she was not a candidate for surgery. This was a huge disappointment.
Ginny spent the next several months researching other options and connecting with others who had been through similar experiences. She met someone who recommended she go to The Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion Illinois for a second opinion. Ginny went to Zion in October and met with the wonderful doctors and nurses there. She met so many people, staff, patients, and caregivers who had only amazing things to say about CTCA that she knew it was where she needed to be.
Because of her unwavering faith and the trust she had in the doctors there she decided to go ahead with the chemo and radiation. In early December 2020 Ginny had an MRI as part of the preparations for the treatments. The scan revealed a small lesion on her brain. The lesion ment that her lung cancer would now be considered Stage 4 due to the spread. They performed radiation on the Monday before Christmas. Thankfully this small speed bump did not affect the plan to start chemo and radiation right after the new year.
On January 4th, 2021 Ginny and her husband Tony checked in to the CTCA to begin 6 weeks of intense treatment. They would stay on site at the center’s hotel Monday-Friday each week and Ginny would undergo one chemo infusion and 5 radiation treatments each week.
There were certainly some road bumps and scary moments along the way, including allergic reactions to the chemo and a stay in the hospital after a dangerous drop in blood pressure and sodium levels possibly due to a colonoscopy flush needed for a future rectal prolapse surgery, but Ginny made it through with incredible strength and never lost sight of her goal to get to the other side of cancer.
In the coming months this spring she will have the rectal prolapse surgery and begin a course of immunotherapy infusions as a continuation of the cancer treatment. We continue to hope and pray that the treatments will kill all the cancer cells and we will be blessed to have Ginny with us for a long time to come!
Organizer and beneficiary
Mandy Longtin
Organizer
City of Middleton, WI
Virginia Longtin
Beneficiary