Eileen Sbrocco

<< All Lung Cancer Survivors

It all started sometime in June of 1993, with a "tug" and then a pain that would last a full year and then some. The pain, I was told, was coming from a pinched nerve, or maybe a spasm. The MRI said it was a vertebrae in my neck causing the pain. Well, the three doctors that I would see in that year would either give me pills for the pain - which didn’t help; therapy with all the heat and ice I could take - which didn’t help; adjustments from yet another doctor - which didn’t work; or, acupuncture - no help either. You name it, I tried it! And yet I continued to work every day, wondering why this pain would not ease up.

You see, I had a job taking care of a wonderful lady named LuLu. She was 94 years old then. Remember the “tug” I mentioned earlier? Well, LuLu started falling one day and I braced her with my body. As a result, I felt a tug in my shoulder. This, I believed, was a sign that something was wrong, only no doctor could recognize the symptoms. That is, until a neurosurgeon in North Palm Beach, Florida, examined me. I told him about my shoulder and how I was sweating on one side of my head and of my eye drooping. He said they were classic symptoms of a breast or lung tumor.

In September 1994, I was diagnosed with lung cancer, a tumor in my upper left lobe that was entangled with several nerves, and was causing the pain. It was called a “Pancoast Tumor.” At that moment, I remember not thinking about any one thing in particular, and yet I was over-loading my brain with many thoughts. What did that mean, “tumor”? I know now that I was being gently carried through those days and months by Our Lord. I can’t imagine going through a life-threatening disease alone. Without the love of my wonderful family and friends, and all the prayers from near and far, I would not be here today. We hear all the time about the power of prayer. I know first-hand about that power! Our Lord is so direct with us. He says He answers prayer. Well, I reminded Him of this and started praying. I told Him that I was "miracle material" and for Him to use me.

My surgery was on November 1, 1994. The whole ordeal was going on all around me and I was still being gently carried by Our Lord through sixteen days in the hospital in Florida. During that stay they overdosed me twice, put a feeding tube down my nose because I couldn’t eat, and I know they felt there was nothing they could do. You see, they gave me a death sentence of six months to a year. If any of you have ever been in the hospital, you know the loneliness that surrounds you there. It is cold and hard and all you want to do is get better so you can go home.

Well, while I was trying to get better in the hospital, my family was making plans for me to take a trip to Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Southwestern Regional Medical Center (Southwestern) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa, you wonder? Well, so did I! But you know, when you pray, wonderful things happen. Our Lord comes to us through so many great people and they bring you good news about many other wonderful people and places, like CTCA.

We prayed for guidance and the Lord showed us the way. My very dear friend, Marie, had heard about CTCA from a person who had first-hand information, so that’s how we got to CTCA. Thanks Marie! We listened to all the good things about CTCA and so off we went…such brave soldiers! We were so scared and we didn’t want to admit it to each other, and again, we prayed.

My daughter Tina and I flew to Tulsa sixteen days after my surgery. I was very worried about how I was going to make this trip. I only weighed 100 pounds. I was very weak and nauseous and very uncomfortable with my incision. I told everyone to please pray for me so I could take this trip. It was so important that I get there. Well, here we go with all the prayers again, I thought! I made the trip without any discomfort (thank you God!). There was a stopover in St. Louis. It was a 6-7 hour trip altogether…a piece of cake when everyone prays for you and you believe!

The first three days are not clear to me. There must have been a timer on those prayers because I crashed and was put into the hospital. There I stayed for about a month.

My oncologist and the other doctors at CTCA talked about what treatment was planned for me. It would be nutrition, radiation and chemotherapy. I had had radiation in Florida before my surgery, so I was familiar with that, but chemotherapy was a different thing altogether. I had heard so many horror stories about it - vomiting, nausea, hair loss, painful joints…not a pretty picture. But I had a strong belief that I was going to be healed, so I was ready for whatever came my way. And I wasn’t alone. So many people were praying for me. How could I not get better? I was convinced that I was being healed. When you believe, you must act as if it is true. Our Lord says He loves us and wants us well, so I did believe Him.

My chemotherapy was “Taxol”. It comes from the bark of a Yew tree. It had not been used very long in the treatment of lung cancer, so there was a gray area there. No one knew how it was going to work with me.

I had six treatments in six months. I would fly to Tulsa with my daughter, Tina, every month. What a great support she was for me! We would go on a Friday and come home on a Sunday. I was on a regiment that was put together for me to help fight this disease.

My daughter, who is interested in natural food and supplements, found that CTCA has a wonderful nutrition program. Becky Wright was so very helpful and taught us all about what we could do to get me healthy again. What a wonderful program they have! They taught me all about natural vitamins and herbs and what they do in the body to help fight this disease. Our Lord gave us food to heal us and plants that medicines and vitamins come from, so yes, they are natural healers.

At first, they tried to give me vitamins, but my stomach could not tolerate them. They gave me powdered drinks that would not stay down. They eventually put me on a TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) pump that distributed all the nutrition I needed through my body. I was on that for twelve hours a day. It was administered through what is called a “port” that is put under my skin with a tube going into my vein. I was later taken off that because my appetite was increasing with the help of a pill called “Megase”. I was on Essiac tea, coenzyme Q10 (antioxidant), vitamins C and E, selenium, garlic, grape seed, calcium, multi-vitamins, fish oil and beta-carotene, along with a lot of other regular good food.

My last treatment was in June of 1995. Then I went back in August to get tested to see what Taxol and all the prayers and good nutrition did. Well, they said I was clean! Clean from cancer! No sign of cancer anywhere in my body! What a day! All the trumpets in heaven were blasting that day!

Yes, the steps along the way were hard to climb sometimes, and I wondered how I would ever make it. Yet, I knew I had to…you see I had not lived long enough and still had so many things to do with my family and I had places I wanted to see and grandchildren to play with. The Lord knew I would not be very happy to leave just yet.

At present, I am wondering what The Lord has in store for me. I’m sure He will reveal it to me, so I keep on praying and talking to Him and He keeps on smiling and loving me.

UPDATE

Because I kept coming back to CTCA for my checkups, another tumor was found early. CTCA treated me for lung cancer, and, again, I’m clean. The five-year mark from this last incident was September 2006.

Thanks for reading my story and please pass it on to someone who would also find hope and encouragement from it.

Love and Prayers,
Eileen