Nicole Sandler’s fight against lung cancer

7-20-17 Almost One Year Cancer-Free

  I'm embarrassed that it's been so long since I've written here. After each CT scan, I tell myself I'll update this blog, but I haven't. I think I'm just so relieved each time the scan comes back clean that I don't want to even think about it any more. But the truth is that I think about it all the time and how lucky I am we caught my lung cancer so early. It was a Thursday, July 7, 2016 when I had all the symptoms of a heart attack. (You can scroll down to the first entry in [...]

By |July 20th, 2017|Tags: , , |Comments Off on 7-20-17 Almost One Year Cancer-Free
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12-22-16 Nicole Sandler Show – RIP BC (and FU D’ump too)

(L-R) Graham Nash, Nicole Sandler, Bob Coburn I hadn't planned on today's show going as it did. My guest fell through at the last minute, so I was just going to take calls. But as we're at holiday time, people are already going away, shopping and generally not as plugged in to radio as they might be at other times of the year, so I didn't want to rely on only calls. Just before showtime, my friend and respected journalist Gaius Publius sent an email blast with his latest - a great piece posted at Down With Tyranny titled [...]

By |December 22nd, 2016|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on 12-22-16 Nicole Sandler Show – RIP BC (and FU D’ump too)
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Saying No to Chemo!

It comes from nowhere, like the proverbial thief in the night sneaking up silently behind you to steal your life. Perhaps a better analogy is an earthquake, but only if you were trapped in the rubble, unable to climb out. It hits unexpectedly and leaves you to figure out how to survive. In a split second, everything changes. EVERYTHING changes the moment you’re told you have cancer.Once the shock wears off, if you’re like me, you get to work. In my case, the barrage of tests was supplemented with an avalanche of articles about each new term that was [...]

By |October 3rd, 2016|Tags: , , , , |9 Comments
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My Decision Is…

After meeting with the oncologist, Dr. Mudad, last week I said that I'd make a decision regarding chemotherapy today. So my decision is... that I'm getting another opinion first. You may recall that the first opinion I got was less than credible, so I'm discounting everything I heard from that doctor. Although I have the utmost confidence in Dr. Mudad, he can't definitively say whether or not he'd recommend chemo for a family member with the same issues. As I said, it's not rare, but my case is unusual. So we're getting one more opinion! I have an appointment on Thursday [...]

By |September 27th, 2016|Tags: , |5 Comments
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9-21-16 To Chemo or Not – That is the Question

I've found my oncologist! Yesterday, we met with Dr. Raja Mudad, who treats patients with lung cancer at Sylvester Cancer Center at UM. He was present at the tumor board conference where my surgeon, Dr. Dao Nguyen presented my case Thursday afternoon. After all of this, the one thing we still know for sure is that my case is unusual and somewhat confusing. That it's confusing to me is an understatement. It caused the other oncologist we met with, a very highly respected and credible doctor, to contradict himself when David and I saw him last week, making me uncomfortable about putting [...]

By |September 21st, 2016|Tags: , , , , , , , |2 Comments
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9-15-16 Recuperation Roller Coaster

My best medicine I had planned on posting this a few days ago. Unfortunately, the painkiller haze, the pain itself, minor (and some major) meltdowns, and my need to sleep and rest delayed it slightly. I also want to write posts on the surgery itself (that'll be quick as I was out for the entire thing, but there are a few notes to pass along) and my hospital stay (avoid the University of Miami Hospital like the Plague!!), so those will be coming soon. And I'll keep you posted on the next part of the cancer fighting [...]

By |September 15th, 2016|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on 9-15-16 Recuperation Roller Coaster
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Whither Walgreens?

I was released from the hospital on Friday and, once we were able to get my prescriptions filled, I settled back in at home and got down to the process of beginning healing. I said that so easily, didn't I? "Once we got the prescriptions filled...."  Now yousettle in and prepare to be pissed! With my folder of discharge instructions, I was given four prescriptions. The main painkiller I'm on is a very powerful narcotic called Dilaudid or generically, Hydromorphone. My crappy United "Healthcare" insurance policy purchased at healthcare.gov requires that I use only Walgreens or Navarro (a chain [...]

By |September 8th, 2016|Tags: , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Whither Walgreens?
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9-3-16 What a Difference 24 Hours at Home Makes…

That's me, sitting in my studio at the computer. I've been trying to start writing this post for about an hour now, but I keep getting distracted. I'm thinking it's the drugs. I'm only half-joking about the drugs. But I am, indeed, home, and feeling so much better than I felt in the hospital. I will sit myself down at this computer to write as much as I can remember about the surgery and the entire experience of the past week. But I wanted to pop in now- now that I've been home for a full day to give you the [...]

By |September 3rd, 2016|Tags: , , , , , |16 Comments
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8-26-16 Pre-Op Check – Surgery on Tuesday

I'm cleared for surgery and, believe it or not, the insurance has approved it all. As we were driving down to the University of Miami Hospital yesterday for my pre-op tests and third degree, I decided it would be a good time to call United Healthcare to make sure all the authorizations were taken care of. (***correction: My brilliant, adoring, wonderful husband David actually suggested I call UHC to make sure we were covered. He just didn't want to deal with another of my meltdowns in the middle of the hospital...) After first wasting 20 minutes trying to hear and understand [...]

By |August 26th, 2016|Tags: , , , , |5 Comments
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8-18-16 Pulmonary Function Test

"Is that the cone of silence?" was my first thought upon entering the pulmonary function lab at the University of Miami/Sylvester Cancer Center. I had pretty much decided that I'd have UM's Dr. Dao Nguyen do my surgery by the time we left the Cleveland Clinic the day before, but I still hadn't been to the hospital, as my consult with him the week before was at Sylvester Cancer Center's Deerfield Beach Clinic. So, when he said he wanted a PFT and that it could be done at the main campus in Miami, we figured we could see the facility [...]

By |August 21st, 2016|Tags: , |Comments Off on 8-18-16 Pulmonary Function Test
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