2/1Marine
NES Member
Hi everyone,
It's been a long time since I posted to this forum, have still been lurking though. I recently got some shitty medical news but thought I would share on here in case it is related to my time in Iraq in 2003. My thoughts are, if I can help another vet by sharing, then why the hell not. A little background. I'm 38, up until now healthy, and spent 4 years in the Corps, 99-03 as an 0341. I did one combat tour in Iraq during the initial invasion of 2003, floated over with Wpns Co. 2/1; 15th MEU.
Now on to the medical stuff.
Just got back from the Thoracic Surgeon. While the news I got is not what I wanted to hear, it could be worse. I have what is known as a carcinoid tumor in my upper right lung. This is a slow growing cancer and by the grace of God it was caught early. I will have surgery the end of this month to remove a section of my right lung and to make sure it has not spread to the lymph-nodes. The prognosis looks good. The doctor also mentioned that this type of cancer is not caused by smoking, I can't help but wonder if it is due to some type of exposure in Iraq. He asked me about 4 or 5 times about exposure to nerve agents and Sarin gas (this is a non VA doc). I told him that I honestly have no idea what I may have been exposed to.
This tumor was found by chance during a neck CT for an unrelated sore throat.
On the bright side, my sore throat is now gone. LOL
To my fellow Marines out there and anyone else who spent time over in the suck, you may want to consider getting a chest CT just to be on the safe side. In my opinion this is from some type of exposure, i.e burn pits, chemical agents, cooking off munitions, burning vehicles/buildings, depleted uranium, toxic sand/dusts, etc... who the hell knows.
I probably wont have much time to be on here over the next few weeks/months (spending as much time with my wife and kids as possible) but wanted to get this info out there.
Semper Fi!
It's been a long time since I posted to this forum, have still been lurking though. I recently got some shitty medical news but thought I would share on here in case it is related to my time in Iraq in 2003. My thoughts are, if I can help another vet by sharing, then why the hell not. A little background. I'm 38, up until now healthy, and spent 4 years in the Corps, 99-03 as an 0341. I did one combat tour in Iraq during the initial invasion of 2003, floated over with Wpns Co. 2/1; 15th MEU.
Now on to the medical stuff.
Just got back from the Thoracic Surgeon. While the news I got is not what I wanted to hear, it could be worse. I have what is known as a carcinoid tumor in my upper right lung. This is a slow growing cancer and by the grace of God it was caught early. I will have surgery the end of this month to remove a section of my right lung and to make sure it has not spread to the lymph-nodes. The prognosis looks good. The doctor also mentioned that this type of cancer is not caused by smoking, I can't help but wonder if it is due to some type of exposure in Iraq. He asked me about 4 or 5 times about exposure to nerve agents and Sarin gas (this is a non VA doc). I told him that I honestly have no idea what I may have been exposed to.
This tumor was found by chance during a neck CT for an unrelated sore throat.
On the bright side, my sore throat is now gone. LOL
To my fellow Marines out there and anyone else who spent time over in the suck, you may want to consider getting a chest CT just to be on the safe side. In my opinion this is from some type of exposure, i.e burn pits, chemical agents, cooking off munitions, burning vehicles/buildings, depleted uranium, toxic sand/dusts, etc... who the hell knows.
I probably wont have much time to be on here over the next few weeks/months (spending as much time with my wife and kids as possible) but wanted to get this info out there.
Semper Fi!