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Lung CancerArrow
Aged 51-60
Interview LC45  

Interview LC45

Age at Interview: 58
Sex: Female
Age at Diagnosis: 58
Background: Housekeeper, married, six children.
Brief outline:Diagnosed with lung cancer in August 2003, and had diathermy resection to open an airway on 15th August. This operation was followed by radiotherapy.


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Female
Recalls her pain and panic when she could not breathe because her airway was blocked.

 



I started to get pains, I couldn't breathe. My chest was gurgly like I'd got a microphone inside, gurgly [pause], it felt like somebody was squeezing my chest together and I couldn't squeeze out.    

Can you summarise how you felt about the breathing? How did it feel exactly?

Frightening, really scary. One minute I could walk about and do things, and then three days later I couldn't do anything, I'd got no strength.

And you couldn't get your breath?

I couldn't, "no", you try to cough and you think it would go away, but it didn't go this time  [pause], the worst part was not being able to breathe, that's what frightened me the most.

I really thought I was having a heart attack. That was strange. Because the pain is horrendous.

Where were the pains?

Across my chest. When you breathe in it was tight and I couldn't breathe out, and I think that was the panicky thing, that I couldn't breathe, and I'd never known anything like that before.  
Karol Sikora - Lung cancer
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