Henry is a 77 year old, 210 pound, 5′ 11″, married, white, heterosexual, male, veteran of Vietnam War; and he is currently fighting lung cancer, for the second time. He is relatively healthy. He takes a small dose of a blood pressure medicine, a small dose of Lipitor, a regular aspirin and vitamin D daily; and a Nexium occasionally. He is active but does not “exercise”. He has COPD. He had lung cancer in 1998, when his upper left lobe was removed with an encapsulated Adenocarcinoma. He had Prostate cancer in 2013 and had his prostate removed. He had a complete knee replacement in 2016. He occasionally has a pre-cancer spot or two taken off his face and head. His COPD has been getting a little worse.
He was a skier, sportsman, hunter and fly fisherman (well, fishing of every sort!). He often spent time at 10,000′; he has continued to vacation at that elevation but within the last 18 months has had to use supplemental oxygen at night. In December 2018, he also needed it during the day and decided not to return to that elevation.
In late January 2019, he developed a bad cough. After two rounds of antibiotics the cough didn’t resolve. By April, he decided to see his pulmonologist. An annual appointment was scheduled in May, so he waited until then.
This is the story of his journey after that appointment.