The Worst Words You'll Ever Hear...

You would think that hearing the words, " You have cancer", would be the worst thing you could ever hear...
But you would be wrong...
Very wrong.

How do I know this, you may ask.

I know because 1 year and and 68 days ago the doctor told us that my husband, HeMan Hubby, my personal SuperHero had lung cancer.

The very next words were very positive and reassuring that this was treatable, even curable.
I mean, a 50 year old man with one small tumor in the bottom of his lung and no other health issues was the ideal candidate for cancer, if there is such a thing.

Treatments could be aggressive, because, hey, his body was SuperHero healthy, except for the pesky little cancer thing.

And, with the new immunotherapy regimens, and the newer DNA- targeted chemo drugs, 95-98% of lung cancer patients are, if not cured, then put into a state of cancer inactivity...
a dormancy, if you like, that meant HeMan Hubby had a projected outcome of 15 or 20 more years..
possibly even longer with the new treatments and screenings coming out every year.

So, we sat in the office of the cancer doctor and learned about the newest treatment protocol trials about to start.

We heard how HeMan Hubby was an ideal patient because his cancer was not advanced and he was so young and healthy and that the 2 immunotherapy drugs on their own had 75-95% cure rates so...
when given together the rate could only be improved upon...

The wonderful cancer doc then asked if HeMan Hubby would be interested in this trial...

HeMan Hubby, in perfect SuperHero form, responded...
" Well, I gotta get some sort of treatment, right? And this trial may help find a way to cure more people, right?... so, what's there to think about, sign me up."

And that people, as they say, was that.

The doc went over the how's and when's and why's and where's of the treatment plan...
then he sat back and in his lovely Irish accent asked if HeMan Hubby had any questions for him...

And well, you KNOW he did...

"1- So Game of Thrones starts July 16th... and my treatments on July 13th... will I be feeling well enough to be able to watch the season premier?"

Ok... Cancer Doc, did I mention he is Irish? - was a bit taken aback by this very non-clinical question...
and not knowing HeMan Hubby's sense of humor, answered very seriously...
"Yes, you may be a bit fatigued, but you should be feeling well enough for television"

Cancer Doc then says...
"Ah, you had 2 questions?"

Then, he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, a very serious look on his face, hands steepled together in a very doctorly manner, and looked HeMan Hubby in the eye...

And then question #2...
"So, after the trial... Ummm, what super power will I have? Because I'm thinking I want to be Deadpool... "

At this the doc sat back in his chair, looked to the Research Nurse, the Lovely Ms. S, and shook his head ever so slightly, with a more than slight look of bewilderment on his face.

But, never fear ,the Lovely Ms. S took control and with a smile said...

"Unfortunately, none...
these are not new drugs being used in the trial, but rather drugs currently being used that successfully treat your kind of cancer...
the trial is basically seeing how they do when used concurrently, er, together...
And, sadly, no one to date has reported any Super Hero powers from the use of either of these drugs, but , hey... ?"

And that is how we began our journey into the world of cancer.