Like Nowhere Else – Dan’s Story Video Transcript
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A man in an orange jacket and hat is walking in the snow.
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Dan: Hello. I’m Dan Novy. I now live in Gully, Minnesota. I have spent most of my life as a welder.
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He is sitting next to a woman in the living room.
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This is my wife, Tina. We have a total of 4 children. I have two. she has two I like to hunt, fish and spend most of my time outdoors. When we moved here a little over a year ago our plan was to buy a farm. 300 Christmases He planted a tree and an acre of strawberries and raised chickens. I had big plans. We were all set for the future and looking good, but in April I found out I had lung cancer. Plans have changed significantly. I coughed at work and something came out and it was blood.
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He made his way through the snow to the hunting blinds.
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I said, “I have to go in. I need you to look into this.” And we knew in advance that it would be cancer. Because if you vomit blood, it’s likely that something is going on in your lungs. and checked out. I had a CT scan. They said, “Yes, it’s cancer.” Doctors said our options at the time were probably chemotherapy and radiation. But then I had a few more tests and had a PET scan. My doctor in Fargo said maybe I could do surgery there. So we went to Dr. Marks. he saw it After several tests, we decided together that surgery was possible, but it would come with a lot of risks. They knew they had to harvest the entire right lung. Then I went back to do some breathing tests. His lung capacity was 35%. So he figured I would be on oxygen for the rest of my life. You know, we sat down and talked about it. I decided to have surgery to remove my right lung. Tina: It was not an easy choice to make that decision. However, as the surgery progressed, it became clear that he would have lived longer if he had had his lungs removed. I knew that if he had had chemo and radiation, he would have lived much less, so I wanted him to live longer. Dan: On August 16th we went to Fargo. we operated. But in the meantime, 4 hours passed, 5 hours passed. She was nervous and upset. She went to the nurses station and said, “Where’s my husband?” Then they called the operating room again and Dan said it would be another hour and a half. So it was a total of 7 hours of surgery. At that time, she was so upset that she took her daughter back to the hotel and she broke down in tears.
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Tina and Dan in the photo are smiling.
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They called her back and said Dan was done with the surgery. So she rushed back and I think she was pretty excited to see me without oxygen. And she’s been walking around a lot since the surgery. As far as chickens she is 120 yards. I’ve probably walked a little more than that without oxygen. There is no oxygen in my house. Since then, I have been doing very well with just one lung.
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We approach the main entrance to the Essentia Medical Facility. Enter the examination room. Signs, essentia health, foston.
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So now I’m doing chemo in Foston, Minnesota, which is only a 20 minute drive, two and a half hours from Fargo. Foston’s Essentia is also a great place. Great doctor, great nurse. There she will undergo her final three rounds of chemotherapy. What really stood out in my care from Essentia was number one Amy. She used to call me all the time. She gave me her phone number. If she has any questions, she can call her. She made sure my needs were met etc and she appreciated that. And Dr. Marks’ operation was wonderful. I can’t thank him enough.
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A sign for the Essentia Health Cancer Center. Her MRI machine in the scan room.
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And I’m up and walking around with one lung, and everyone thought I’d be on oxygen. And when I spoke to him at my first post-surgery appointment, he was amazed at how well I was recovering. So Essentia really took great care of me.
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Dan and Tina walk in the snow. A text like no other. You will see the Essentia Health logo consisting of her three leaves in a circle.