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Life at 40 years old was��good for��Amara MacPhee. She’d lost about 40 pounds, was eating��well, enjoyed spending time outside, and, even with a�����ܲ�����professional life, was able to carve out time for a���ڱ����dance HIIT (high intensity interval training)������������es��a week.��

“I had a very active lifestyle between work, seeing friends, and family,” Amara says.��“At the time��[2016], I was in the best shape of my life.”��

Then��Amara��noticed that she was��struggling��during��a��fitness class.��

��“I had trouble breathing and keeping up, which was unusual for me,” she says. “My breathing was labored.��I was wheezing and had a dry, hacking, uncontrollable cough. Coughing spells seemed to last forever.”����

Check Up with Primary Care

Wanting��to be well for an upcoming, out-of-town wedding,��Amara��went to her primary care physician,��Meredith F. Lash-Dardia, MD, as soon as possible.��

“Dr. Lash��heard the wheezing, checked my breathing, and suggested I get an x-ray,” Amara recalls. “’This will be quick,’ I thought. ‘I will have the x-ray, go back to see Dr. Lash, and maybe receive a breathing treatment and a prescription for an inhaler. Piece of cake.’”��

When Amara returned to Dr. Lash’s office after the x-ray, Dr. Lash asked where Amara’s husband, Alex, was. Amara didn’t understand what was happening, as Dr. Lash showed Amara the x-ray on her phone, using��a pencil to outline an abnormal mass.��

Stunned—and still without a definitive diagnosis—Amara underwent an emergency CT scan��and��blood draws.��

Dr. Lash called��that night��with results.��

Diagnosing the��Thymoma

“The CT scan showed a��large mass the size of an orange,��or small grapefruit,��wedged between my lungs and ribs,” Amara describes.����

Dr. Lash scheduled��an appointment��for Amara to see��Nasser Khaled��Altorki, MD, Chief��of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at New York Presbyterian-�������ɰ���app Medical Center��and��professor of cardiothoracic surgery.��

Despite��their anxiety about the��appointment with��Dr.��Altorki,��Amara��and her husband felt reassured by the kindness and warmth they experienced at his office.��He��performed a��thorough examination,��then��scheduled a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.����

“The staff was also caring and generous in their demeanor during the biopsy,” Amara remembers. “And then I went home and rested, and didn’t get the results until six days later.”��

Thankfully, the mass—called��a thymoma—was benign, but would need to be removed.��Never having experienced more than stitches from dental work, Amara was overwhelmed by the idea of a surgery and a week in the hospital.��But Dr.��Altorki��and his staff��helped Amara and Alex��understand the procedure.��

“They repeated themselves multiple times when I didn’t understand a procedure or what was about to happen,”��she says.��

Road to Recovery After Surgery

Although Amara was disoriented and uncomfortable immediately after her surgery, her road to recovery had started with seven days in the hospital. Her post-operative��discomfort��began to incrementally��improve. Amara started��physical therapy, which��included walks on her hospital floor that got��a bit��easier each day.��She found herself relearning the basics.��

“It was humbling to learn how to do the simplest of��tasks��on my own,” Amara says. “Get out of bed, get dressed, get to the bathroom to brush my teeth and freshen up. Walk again.”��

When her first long, post-surgical week was over, Amara went home to rest, recover, and walk when she felt ready. Two weeks later, she went for an x-ray to track her progress and��learned how successful her surgery had been.��

“I was lucky,” she explains. “Dr.��Altorki��was able to get the entire tumor. It was benign, had not spread, and I didn’t need any radiation or chemotherapy.”��

Her continued recovery included CT scans after another two weeks, at the three-month mark, and each year, along with follow-up appointments with Dr.��Altorki. Four years out, Amara’s gratitude hasn’t waned.��

“How do you say, ‘Thank you,’ to everyone involved,” she��asks. “I couldn’t count the number of doctors, nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, schedulers, radiologists, lab workers,��and��facilities team members I interacted with during that time.��Everyone who helped me was kind, patient, and helpful.”����