Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to me, Happy Anniversary to me;

I cannot believe that I am celebrating January 17th as the 2nd anniversary of finding out that I have cancer. As I’ve said before I have small cell carcinoma, 50 percent of the people diagnosed with this type of cancer do not survive to see their second anniversary.

How do I feel being in the top 50 percent? This is what I think about. After my initial treatment was unsuccessful; I reached out to Cancer Treatment Centers of America for a second opinion. During our time at their Chicago facility my husband and I met so many people. We met some people who, like me had received bad news from their doctors and were hoping for a miracle. One of those people, a beautiful woman named Tracy passed away recently. That shook me to my core. We had stayed at the same hotel and talked during the shuttle ride to the hospital every day. She was so very pretty, she was young, it was not fair that she would die. But she did and I took it very hard. It made me look at the reality of my disease, that it does not discriminate, it takes people from every walk of life. This is the reality I face every morning when I wake up, and still I start my day thanking the Lord for another day on this earth. I am a survivor and I will be a survivor for every day I remain on this earth.

Dear reader, you are why I am doing this blog. I can only hope and pray that my words will somehow reach a part of you and start something wonderful. Presently there are no clinical trials for small cell carcinoma. There are plenty of trials and new drugs for non-small cell carcinoma, you see 85% of lung cancers are non-small cell. I am in the 15% that statistically do not survive. According to the American Cancer Society the survival rate for Stage IV small cell cancer at 5 years is 2%. Well it is my goal to prove that you can survive. It is also my goal to open up some eyes regarding cancer research. We are doing so much for cancer research, but I want my day, I want to live. This disease is so deadly, it pains me that we are not doing everything we can to eradicate all cancers.

Cindy McIntire

About Cindy McIntire

Cindy is a lifelong resident of Waldo County, she is a wife and mother of three adult children. She was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma in her left lung in January 2014. Statistically only 2% of the people who are diagnosed with this disease survive more than 5 years. After trying to find literature written by others in her situation, Cindy chose to write this blog, in hopes that it may serve as a rough trail map for those who may follow.