The Diagnosis is: Oboe Lung
Neil gave me permission to write this post in case it helps someone else.
My husband, Neil, used to smoke...a lot. He smoked in the shower, when he was riding a bike...he even kept a cigarette between his fingers when he practiced the oboe so he could take a few drags when resting his chops. If you know Neil, then you know that Neil never did or does anything small. It's been several decades since he lit-up, but when his doctor asked him if he wanted to go for a free lung cancer screening for people with a history of smoking, he reluctantly said yes. He was sure that he would have a false-positive, which is of course when health professionals think there is a problem, but there is not.
Well, it turned out that there was a problem -- he had a true-positive. A small, active mass in his lower left lung. My good friend, Kathy, said, "You tell those doctors that Neil doesn't have cancer. He can't have cancer. It's just Oboe Lung...a small collection of reed dust in his lungs." Given Neil's family history with coal mining in southern Kentucky, it was a fitting and funny diagnosis. My step-daughter, Dorothy, found it to be a good distraction from the scary reality of the word CANCER.
(Just as an aside, people can get sick from their instruments. There are conditions called "Trombone Player's Lung" and "Saxophone Lung." These bacterial and fungal conditions primarily come from failure to clean one's instruments. If you know Neil, you don't have to work very hard to imagine what Neil has to say about trombone and saxophone players...)
Neil had all of his testing done at the Lahey Clinic, including a free screening for lung cancer and a 45 minute consult with a surgeon. But, we finally made our way to Dana-Farber in Boston; we decided that since we practically live on top of Dana-Farber, why would we go anywhere else? In case readers don't know, Dana-Farber is one of the premier cancer-treating health institutions in the country, probably even the world. Based on the referral of a colleague, we got an appointment with thoracic surgical oncologist, Dr. Yolanda Colson, who turned out to be competent and down-to-earth - a nice combination in a surgeon.
Neil had surgery two weeks ago at Brigham & Women's Hospital, which is where Dana-Farber does their surgeries. Dr. Colson performed robotic surgery and only had to make three small incisions in Neil's back. She and her team removed the dime-sized mass and a small wedge of his lung. Stage I cancer and lymph nodes clear; any earlier and it wouldn't have even been considered cancer yet. Even better, Neil will have no noticeable difference in his lung capacity (a definite downside for those of close to him). The medical care that he received at Brigham was outstanding. He was in a special intensive care unit for thoracic patients, where the nurse-to-patient ratio was 1:2. He walked out about 48 hours after surgery without any prescription pain killers, too. It's taken him a full two weeks to feel normal, but he's pretty much back to himself and he can start playing the oboe any time now. Here's a picture of Neil, wearing some of the "Oboe Lung" wardrobe that we had made for him, posing with his surgeon one week after surgery.
Early stage lung cancer doesn't announce itself; it doesn't come with any symptoms, so we were extremely lucky. The size of a dime? Stage I? We're going to thank our lucky stars for this one. Neil hates it when people talk about him (that's why he's so tame) and his health conditions, but he gave me permission to write this post to encourage readers to get screened. It's true that screenings can bring about false positives and a whole lot of hassle and expense. How about this...if you have risk factors or a family history, please go get screened. If you've ever had a severe or blistering sunburn, please start getting screened for melanoma. If your family has a history of breast cancer, please get screened yourself. And, for goodness' sake, if you have a history of smoking, talk to your doctor about being screened for lung cancer. Rarely can we say to follow Neil's lead, but on this one, go ahead, do as Neil did.
My husband, Neil, used to smoke...a lot. He smoked in the shower, when he was riding a bike...he even kept a cigarette between his fingers when he practiced the oboe so he could take a few drags when resting his chops. If you know Neil, then you know that Neil never did or does anything small. It's been several decades since he lit-up, but when his doctor asked him if he wanted to go for a free lung cancer screening for people with a history of smoking, he reluctantly said yes. He was sure that he would have a false-positive, which is of course when health professionals think there is a problem, but there is not.
Well, it turned out that there was a problem -- he had a true-positive. A small, active mass in his lower left lung. My good friend, Kathy, said, "You tell those doctors that Neil doesn't have cancer. He can't have cancer. It's just Oboe Lung...a small collection of reed dust in his lungs." Given Neil's family history with coal mining in southern Kentucky, it was a fitting and funny diagnosis. My step-daughter, Dorothy, found it to be a good distraction from the scary reality of the word CANCER.
(Just as an aside, people can get sick from their instruments. There are conditions called "Trombone Player's Lung" and "Saxophone Lung." These bacterial and fungal conditions primarily come from failure to clean one's instruments. If you know Neil, you don't have to work very hard to imagine what Neil has to say about trombone and saxophone players...)
Neil had all of his testing done at the Lahey Clinic, including a free screening for lung cancer and a 45 minute consult with a surgeon. But, we finally made our way to Dana-Farber in Boston; we decided that since we practically live on top of Dana-Farber, why would we go anywhere else? In case readers don't know, Dana-Farber is one of the premier cancer-treating health institutions in the country, probably even the world. Based on the referral of a colleague, we got an appointment with thoracic surgical oncologist, Dr. Yolanda Colson, who turned out to be competent and down-to-earth - a nice combination in a surgeon.
Neil had surgery two weeks ago at Brigham & Women's Hospital, which is where Dana-Farber does their surgeries. Dr. Colson performed robotic surgery and only had to make three small incisions in Neil's back. She and her team removed the dime-sized mass and a small wedge of his lung. Stage I cancer and lymph nodes clear; any earlier and it wouldn't have even been considered cancer yet. Even better, Neil will have no noticeable difference in his lung capacity (a definite downside for those of close to him). The medical care that he received at Brigham was outstanding. He was in a special intensive care unit for thoracic patients, where the nurse-to-patient ratio was 1:2. He walked out about 48 hours after surgery without any prescription pain killers, too. It's taken him a full two weeks to feel normal, but he's pretty much back to himself and he can start playing the oboe any time now. Here's a picture of Neil, wearing some of the "Oboe Lung" wardrobe that we had made for him, posing with his surgeon one week after surgery.
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| Neil, wearing his now-famous "Oboe Lung" shirt, with his surgeon, Dr. Yolanda Colson, one week post-surgery. |
Wow! You guys lucked out on this! Amazing how fast and relatively painless it all was too after watching what my mom went through in mid 90's. The biopsy was worse than Neil's surgery! I smoked in my early 20's and should take his advice to get screened, too!
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