care

No news isn’t always good news

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Time for an update about my health in general. Many of you have reached out to ask how I’m doing, some of you have told me you’ve been wondering but haven’t wanted to ask. I’ve received so many messages that I haven’t respond to most of them. I’m very grateful for the care.

Unfortunately there isn’t any more news from the testing done while I was in hospital last month. I’m on oxygen due to shortness of breath, and we don’t know how to treat whatever is causing the shortness of breath. The hospital tests ruled out major things like cancer, heart issues, fluid build-up, blood clots, several infections. We ended up with an uncomfortable mystery.

Obviously breathing really matters, and not knowing why a person’s blood oxygen level dips so low is not good news. We would really like there to be better news to share with you, but right now, sadly, there isn’t.

So for now we will hold onto hope and stay the course with the current treatment while looking into other possible treatment options in case this may be caused by cancer growth (which it might be, though the scans do not clearly show this). There are no clinical trials that we know of that could be a good fit for someone in my situation right now. (If you are in Canada and looking for a clinical trial that might be a good fit for you, you can connect with the Clinical Trials Navigator who is there to help you! Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Navigator: https://3ctn.ca/for-patients/clinical-trials-nav/ )

Since starting on chemotherapy in 2020, each scan has led us to believe that the cancer is either stable or smaller. We continue to believe that the current treatment is effectively slowing the cancer’s growth (even if not fully abolishing it), so it’s definitely better to continue than to stop. We will go ahead with chemotherapy number 23 tomorrow, do more testing (bloodwork to be done on Monday and sent to Canexia in Vancouver BC Canada), and hold onto hope.

(One of the ways I hold onto hope is to pray, another is to read the Bible, another is to listen to wise friends.)

Fellow lung cancer survivor Taylor and I plan to connect tomorrow morning. (We met in person last chemo and get chemo on the same three-week cycle at The Ottawa Hospital.) I’ll go in a little early to get to see him and give him a white ribbon www.thewhiteribbonproject.org . The White Ribbon Project connects people affected by lung cancer worldwide, and is helping to draw people into community locally also. The power of the white ribbon. How good is that!

You may have noticed I’ve been a little less visible on social media in recent weeks. Yesterday after the port insertion I missed out on uplifting and honouring amazing women for International Women’s Day #IWD2022.

Honouring and uplifting people is good to do every day. Since I didn’t yesterday, today I’m sending out a big general cheer for the women who do tremendous work in the cancer advocacy landscape (too many to name individually, so I’ll name some of the organizations where we may have worked as teammates together): CCTG, 3CTN, OICR, CCS, IASLC, ILCF, LCC, SU2C, LHF, CCSN, CAPO, IPOS, CADTH, TOH, CCMB, PMH, CIHR, LUNGevity, GO2, LuCE, ALK+, AACR, ASCO, … (+ numerous other advocates who have inspired outside of these organizations). What a list! If you are an advocate and there is a way I might help you connect with some amazing teammates in any of these organizations, please feel free to ask. Connecting and uplifting people is a passion. #team

Ottawa Clinical Trials Team (2017?)

In the pictures above are just a few of the amazing women (and some men) who have inspired many of us. (These are pictures I could quickly find and put on my blog tonight.) So many are not pictured above, and there are very many more to come!

#hope

Compassionate and Skilled Care

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I’m taking a moment to let you know that chemo #21 went well yesterday. My nurse was very kind, caring and skilled. She never mentioned that she was overdue for her break; she did not rush or complain. (I only knew about her break since I overheard someone else quietly mention it.) She spent over an hour warming my arms and carefully searching for a vein. She ended up finding only one, in the same spot where it worked last time. Thank you to those who prayed and sent good thoughts. She got it on the first poke! Thank you also to those who suggested good ideas like warm blankets and smaller needles. The nurses are very skilled and use those great strategies. I used to have great veins early on in treatment days, but not so much lately. Eight years of constant treatment takes its toll. While we survivors are very glad to be alive, survivorship can bring challenges.

I’m very thankful to be scheduled to get a port early on the morning of February 17, before chemo #22. The nurse should be able to use it for that chemo the same day. If all goes well, no more hunting for veins for a long time! It’s such a relief that busy nurses won’t have to spend so much of their time to insert a needle.

My oncologist, Dr. Nicholas, came to see me at chemo. He is very kind and hard working. The nurses also appreciate him and recognize that he is caring and compassionate as well as up to date with the latest research. We didn’t take a picture, but The Ottawa Hospital has posted at least three larger than life pictures of Dr. Nicholas with a fellow cancer survivor at the General Campus, so here is a picture of one of their pictures.

Compassionate and skilled care makes all the difference.

#grateful

Keeping Perspective and Staying Thankful

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It took four nurses a total of seven pokes to access a vein for chemo this afternoon. The nurses were all kind and skilled. (They say my veins like to hide, and that sometimes happens in people who have been treated for cancer for a long time.) I asked for information about ports and PICC lines, which are alternative options to getting poked so many times. One of the nurses put in a note for my oncologist requesting him to have a conversation with me about this. Another nurse brought me pamphlets with more information about both of these options. I’ll read them carefully in preparation for talking with my oncologist.

It’s not usually this hard to get a vein. Typically it takes about three pokes, but occasionally, like three weeks ago, the nurse connects on the first try. (Merry Christmas!)

Getting poked frequently is part of the rhythm of chemo life. Blood work (poke) on Wednesday, chemo (unknown number of pokes) on Thursday … every three weeks. The nurses are skilled and kind, and apologetic when they can’t get a vein. I thank them for doing their job well and remind them (and myself) that chemo and their care is saving my life, so getting poked is definitely worth it.

Today I asked what the record number of pokes was in their unit: 12. So, keeping things in perspective, it went pretty well. They found a vein, so I didn’t have to be sent home without chemo. It only took 7 pokes. It only took 4 nurses. The chemo all went in the way it should, and is working to help keep me alive. I’m now home, feeling well, and very thankful for nurses and the kind and skilled care they give.

2 Turtle Doves

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12 Days of Giving to Lung Cancer Clinical Trials

Here’s to all the care givers, whether family or friends, and neighbours and even strangers who reach out with care, knowing that people going through lung cancer, or any tough time, need extra care. It’s not good to be alone. We all need team. Cheers to the people who reach out with kindness, compassion, care, comfort, empathy, gentleness, grace, support, understanding, muffins, meals, encouragement.

We all benefit from from kind words and actions. How much better our world is when people are uplifting, inspiring, cheering, caring and giving.

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King said, Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Cheers to all the people who shine a light. Cheers to everyone who makes this world a better place by walking – even part of the way – through the valley with someone who has received difficult news like a lung cancer diagnosis. Cheers and THANK YOU.

It’s not good to be alone. We are better together, stronger together. #TeamMatters

Cheers to everyone who makes a difference through caring!

To celebrate care givers and survivorship, please give generously to lung cancer research!

Team Jill:  https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/2020-lung-cancer-survivors-super-bowl-challenge/jillhamer-wilson

OR: Team Jill’s Canadian page (for Canadian Income Tax receipts): http://donate.ottawacancer.ca/goto/jill 

#12Days of giving to #lungcancer #clinicaltrials #Hope #Care #Team #ThankYou

This kind of care

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I’m heading to Atlanta for the special Scientist <–> Survivor program at the preeminent cancer research conference (AACR Annual Meeting) in two weeks, and I am excited! I want to make the most of this opportunity, so I’m preparing! One of the articles I read, recently published by the National Cancer Institute (US), was about lung cancer treatment disparities in The United States. Here’s what I learned:

Black patients who are diagnosed with early stage lung cancer are less likely to be treated than white patients (in the US). A study tried to address some of the reasons, and ended up significantly increasing treatment rates for black patients and also white ones.

Outside of the study, only 69% of black people and 78% of white people completed treatment (that could potentially cure them of lung cancer). In contrast, during the study, a remarkable 96.5% of the black people and 95% of the white people completed treatment. What a significant improvement!

Do you know how they did it?

  • They paid attention to whether or not people were getting treated.
  • They communicated.
  • They hired nurse navigators to engage with people and break down barriers.

This kind of care – just a little more care – made an enormous difference! We need this kind of care for every lung cancer patient in every cancer centre!

I wonder how the care compares in Canada…

You can read the article here!