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Could it be something more?

June 30, 2008

cough, persistent, cancer, alert, vomit, fever, hacking, chills, worry, illness, narcotic, suppressent

I've had a cough for two weeks now. It's so bad I'd hack all night if it weren't for a narcotic-strength suppressant I'm taking. It's so bad it's making me vomit, it's irritating my family members, and along with some lingering tummy tuck swelling that's consuming my mind, it's preventing me from exercising. I hate that.

Along with my cough, I get chills now and then and on occasion, I have a low-grade fever. It all makes sense, all these symptoms, because Joey had the very same illness just before me. The very same—the annoying cough, the throwing up, the chills, the fever. Clearly, he passed his germs on to me, and I'm probably passing them on to someone else right now. But I must admit that the thought has crossed my mind: Could it be something more? Like cancer.

Sure, it could be. A persistent cough can sometimes signal a problem in the lungs. It's just not very likely. And really, I don't believe anything serious is wrong with me. It's simply my head. You see, it's wired now with this very sensitive alarm system. If ever cancer comes back, I plan to fight like mad, so my brain alerts me when something, however small it may be, goes amiss. It could be a funny something I feel in my breast, a headache that won't go away, or an ache in my belly.

This time it's a cough, which will probably go away and take up residence in John's body, causing him to hack, spit up, and get all cold and hot and bothered. And I won't worry at all. Because he's never had cancer. I have.

Comments (1)

sheril said:
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Dear Jackie, Hope you're well. I have a friend who has been down your path(2 friends, actually). I'm brand new to the site so I hope I'm not jumping in too quickly. A chronic cou...

Dear Jackie, Hope you're well. I have a friend who has been down your path(2 friends, actually). I'm brand new to the site so I hope I'm not jumping in too quickly. A chronic cough is most likely in every case a pesky, but persistent uppr resp.infectn. But, (per my friend's experience) a persistent cough should ultimately be evaluated by CT scan to rule out Hodgkins Lymphoma. This is after all conservative meaures have been considered 1st-not just by your pcp but most importantly your oncologist. There was a recent study of Hodgkin's survivors showing they had a higher risk of breast cancer. I don't know if it works/ is true in reverse. My friend had only a cough and a classic response of a burning sensation in her chest when drinking any alcohol, even 1 glass. She was ignored for months until her father-in-law, a lawyer for a major hospital, insisted on a ct scan-I think a high resolution ct scan with contrast although I am not totally sure. Again -most lingering coughs are exactly that -lingering coughs; and I am not licensed to practice medicine. Also I do not mean to alarm you at all. I mean to say that if it continues too long, don't let it go ignored for want of a scan. I wish you the best. For the record, my friend is alive, well and cancer-free. She is able to mother her two young boys and she is past the 5-year mark. But we are grateful for her father-in-law insisting on proper evaluation of a symptom, of which the only troubling feature was its persistence. sheri

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