Gloria Hamilton is a retired nurse. She says because of that fact "I knew better than to smoke. I knew that because of my medical knowledge". But Gloria didn't take these words to heart until right before she was diagnosed with lung cancer.
The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by: Bonnie Johnson, Quill Staff
Gloria Hamilton is a retired nurse. She says because of that fact "I knew better than to smoke. I knew that because of my medical knowledge". But Gloria didn't take these words to heart until right before she was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Gloria and Bob Hamilton live in rural Media. They have been married for twenty years. Her Mother and Bob urged Gloria to stop smoking. She did at one time, but started "bumming cigarettes off people", and then she became addicted to smoking again.
Gloria said, "One week before I was diagnosed, a couple of coworkers and I decided to use acupuncture to help in breaking our smoking habit.
I had a nagging cough, but also had allergies and there was a lot of flu going around just then. So I didn't think a great deal about it. But thought it was about time I gave up the smoking habit. I really think God was speaking to me. I quit smoking."
A week later my husband urged me to have a physical. I went to the doctor and he suggested I get a mammogram. Being a nurse, I felt that an x-ray of my lungs would be important too. I was scheduled for both in the early afternoon. My doctor found me in the hospital while I was working and asked me to come to his office. Breast cancer was the first thing that popped into my mind. The doctor told me I had lung cancer". Gloria's world as she had known it came crashing in around her.
Gloria said, "When the doctor gave me that diagnosis, I was scared to death. I couldn't tell Bob that evening because we had plans for the weekend and I didn't want them spoiled. So on Monday, I told him."
Gloria wanted to avoid people because she didn't want to talk about it. She and Bob went to Macomb one evening and there she saw a coworker. " We both were very emotional. It was very difficult to talk about before I knew the outcome of the surgery," Gloria said.
The next week Gloria was sent to an oncologist from Peoria and he contacted a surgeon. She went into surgery thinking this was going to be the removal of a small tumor on my lung, but the tumor was so large, they took the entire lung.
Gloria's cancer was a squmous cell cancer where surgery is the main treatment. Lymph nodes were checked and fortunately, only a small amount connected directly to the lung were diseased. She didn't have chemotherapy or radiation because the doctors felt they got all of the cancer.
Gloria stresses, "don't smoke and do have an annual physical". Gloria also stresses to "act quickly and if you feel something is not right, check it out".
If she could change anything, she would NOT SMOKE. But hindsight is certainly better than foresight. Gloria really never noticed she had a problem except for that cough. She was afraid that this cough would develop into emphysema.
If it hadn't been for her insistence of having an x-ray, this might not have been found as early as it was.
The experience was a bad thing to go through. She has only one lung and feels short of breath when she overexerts herself. "But through hard times", Gloria said, "good things happen. I can talk to people about my experience and hopefully help someone who is going through cancer."
When asked how she feels about the American Cancer Society, she said "it is a good organization. It has made people aware of cancer through early detection; literature to explain the symptoms and the disease; and through research, progress is being made to help detect it earlier.
She believes the Relay for Life is important and the door-to-door campaign to earn money. Through money research can be done.
Her final words are " If you are smoking, QUIT. If you are thinking of smoking, DON'T"