The Great Collapse

There has been an ongoing issue with Iva's left lung, and it isn't cancer. Her left upper lobe was partially collapsed, we discovered, about a month ago. She was not, however, having any symptoms. So she was just getting monitored with chest x-rays. The last x-ray, taken a couple of weeks ago, showed the pneumothorax was mostly resolved. Then, suddenly the other day, she began to feel short of breath. She wasn't sure if she was really feeling short of breath or if she was just fatigued. She had done a lot the day before, but around 5 p.m. it was clear that she couldn't even finish a short sentence without having to take a breath.

So Iva and I went to the emergency room and within a 1/2 hour she had had a chest x-ray and they were telling us she needed a chest tube. She spent a couple of days in the hospital. It now seems to be resolved, but there is no real explanation why it happened; no one knows for sure. Neither the pulmonologist nor her oncologist thinks it is tumor-related. For all their years of education and experience, none can say what the heck is causing her problem. Yeah!!

None of us can wait to see what happens next!

Time

Our time is measured. Sometimes in hours, sometimes in months. For us, it is measured by the distance between scans. This distance can be immense. We are trying now to enjoy this interval, this period when we can believe we are winning the war. But with every fight comes a new day and a new opportunity for your opponent to show you how smart he has become. No one is talking about it, but it is always lingering, always waiting for you when you are quiet and still. So the goal is to never be still. To always be pressing forward to the next big hurdle.

And that hurdle for us right now is surgery. We have been researching facilities that are qualified to perform the type of surgeries Iva will require. And (unfortunately) we have been asking ourselves how on earth we will pay for it. But all that will come. We pray, anyway.

We have recently discovered a charity program through Iva's cancer clinic that is paying part of her chemo costs. We will be trying to contact the maker of the other drug to see about getting it partially (or wholly!) paid for as well.