Posted on 10/26/2019 11:47:18 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
A year ago, Secret Service Special Agent Rod Wellman never thought he’d be tapering for a 100K race. The distance was never something he thought would cross his path. He thought the same thing about lung cancer.
Yet, on October 4, 2018, Wellman found himself at an urgent care center for a cough that hadn’t gone away after several weeks. Some scans and X-rays revealed the cause.
“I’ve never been that sick before,” Wellman told Runner’s World. “I thought it was just a chest cold. Then, they told me I had stage 4 cancer in my lungs.”
By the time doctors discovered the cancer, it had already spread: There were “countless” tumors in his lungs, and it had also metastasized to his brain and lymph nodes.
Fortunately, Wellman, a secret service agent based in Phoenix, was able to connect and work with the Mayo Clinic Arizona. After doctors discovered a specific mutation driving his cancer, they put him on a treatment plan that didn’t involve chemotherapy, just a daily pill for “targeted therapy.”
As Wellman’s fight continued, so did his research. Lung cancer, though the deadliest form of cancer in the country, received little research funding compared to other forms such as breast cancer, he said. Wellman thinks that lung cancer being labeled as a “smoker’s disease” may play a role in this.
“People automatically assume that people who have lung cancer must have smoked, and you did this to yourself,” he said. “There’s a lot of people like me where that is not the case, yet it seems to get pushed down the funding lists.”
(Excerpt) Read more at runnersworld.com ...
This man sounds like one heck of a fighter. GodSpeed to him, and may God (through his doctors) remove his cancer and return him to health.
This man sounds like one heck of a fighter. GodSpeed to him, and may God (through his doctors) remove his cancer and return him to health.
Amen to that!
God bless him!
My beloved Aunt passed about 2 years ago..4 mos after being diagnosed stage 4 lung cancer. She never smoked & also was a candidate for targeted therapy due to a specific mutation but was too late.
Hers had spread to lymph nodes, brain, liver & bones. Then she caught the flu, had a stroke & that was it. It was horrible.
She initially went to doctor complaining about back pain, constant cough & trouble breathing..they diagnosed her with pneumonia, sent home. Moral of story, be proactive with your healthcare! I made her go back for 2nd opinion but had already spread far too quickly ;(
I’ve got stage four cancer. I can’t imagine running a marathon in my condition.
Today’s the day of the race. Any info on him this evening?
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