STORIES OF HOPE
MORE TIME. MORE LIFE.
#LCAM
Throughout this November, more stories of survivors, caregivers and advocates will be shared. Please check back every day to learn more and to share these stories of hope! In 2016, nearly 225,000 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer, and lung cancer will take the lives of nearly 160,000 people. 7
These patients and family members featured below help show the diversity of our population that lung cancer is affecting.
#LCAM ♥
Stories of Hope
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Opened Up My Own Crossfit Box After My Diagnosis
In February 2013 my sons and I started doing crossfit together at my friend’s box. I went from a size 16/18 to a size 10 in less than a year and was in the best shape of my life. On 11/20/14, at the age of 46, I was diagnosed with stage 3B NSCLC. Just a week and... -
Changing the Face of Lung Cancer
My lung cancer diagnosis was two years in the making. I spent a lot of time with my primary care physician complaining of a persistent cough and shortness of breath. Breathing tests and blood tests came back as normal, so my diagnosis was, “reactive airway... -
Stage 3B Non-Small Cell Adenocarcinoma
My name is Lynda Fisher, and almost 16 years ago, I was diagnosed with stage 3B non-small cell adenocarcinoma. One physician was looking at my case optimistically: Dr. Bonomi. My tumor was 10 cm or the size of a grapefruit. He told me that if it was an aggressive... -
Stage IV EGFR-Mutated NSCLC
My name is Denise Drasga, and at age 53, I was diagnosed with stage IV EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with R lung nodule and oligometastasis in pathological fracture of acetabulum. As an oncology nurse practitioner with a spouse who is a medical... -
Stage IV Lung Cancer
I had the largest team of approximately 50 people – all of which being my family and friends – who have been supporting me from day one of being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. That was over five years ago, in June of 2012. My name is Diane... -
They Say Life is a Journey
They say that life is a journey; some fly through life and some take the train of life. They say life is a journey that never ends. But the truth is that the journey called individual life, even if we pretend we don’t care, has an endpoint of which we are all afraid,... -
Honoring My Parents
I lost my mom on February 10, 2017, and my dad on June 20, 2017 – both to small cell adenocarcinoma and both in the right lung. They both ended up with brain mets, and this was a life changing year for my family. We are a very close-knit family, and this took... -
Stage IV Lung Cancer – Adenocarcinoma – Age 78
The personal care, empathy and confidence I received helped me go from totally distraught over my diagnosis to being informed and hopeful about the future. Dr. Bonomi has the ability to be open and honest regarding the prognosis, and at the same time instill a sense... -
Roller Coaster of My Cancer
I was looking forward to retiring at the age of 60. Two weeks after my birthday, I had been a caregiver looking after patients in their own homes. Little did I know that it was me that was going to need care. The day came when I retired, and life was looking good. My... -
Take that, lung cancer! Next activity … skydiving!
Most people find out that they have lung cancer after visiting a doctor because they feel something isn’t “quite right.” Whether it be a tickling cough, shortness of breath or that mysterious pain that just won’t go away, there is usually something amiss. Not... -
Mom’s Story
On November 2, 1931, on a farm in County Mayo, Ireland, my mother, Kathleen O’Connor, was born. She was one of seven children, and she learned at a very young age how tough life can be. Her mother died when she was 11, and she, her siblings and her father simply had... -
My Best Friend
It happens several times a day if you are a thoracic surgeon. You have to inform patients and relatives about a very regrettable diagnosis. Lung cancer is one of these. I do this daily and always try to tailor my words to the man or woman seated in front of me. I try... -
Lizzie – The Importance of Hope
It was around Christmas 2016 when I started having trouble swallowing food. The problem continued so I went to see a doctor. I was examined and given tablets for acid re-flux but was also sent for a routine chest X-Ray at Burton Queens Hospital. Shortly after... -
Anne Marie – I am here because of research.
I am here because of research. Clinical trials saved my life and continue to work miracles. I was originally diagnosed in 2009, at the age of 30 with stage 3A Adenocarcinoma and immediately entered into Chemo/Radiation and would await surgery to remove the cancerous... -
Annie: We Are All Connected
I am a stage IV lung cancer patient of Dr. David Carbone’s at James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. I believe in the concept of the “ripple effect.” This idea is based on the understanding that we are all connected. These connections stretch... -
Randy: Enjoying Life Due to Research Advances
Randy lived a life he enjoyed due to treatment advances. We must continue to push for more research to help create more survivors. Randy sadly passed away in April of 2018. -
Anne Phillips: Lung Cancer is Not Just a “Smokers’ Disease”
In May of 2015, Anne had a seizure before taking her young children to school. After she was rushed to the hospital, she received a diagnosis that changed her life. Anne was diagnosed with stage IV, EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). She is now on a... -
Fighting Lung Cancer and Raising Awareness
In 2011, Dr. Elad Shilo, a 47-year-old meteorologist at the Israel Meteorological Institute, was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer and shocked his wife Shani and their children, ages six and nine. During the struggle for his life, Shani founded The Israel Lung... -
Don’t Delay, Test for Radon Today
Most people don’t know if they are living with an invisible carcinogen–radioactive radon gas–in their homes, we surely didn’t until it was too late. We were stunned and numb when the oncologist told us that my husband, Joe, had lung cancer and... -
New Target Medications, a Clinical Trial and Gratitude!
In 2011, my husband was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at age 39. I was pregnant with our second child. He proceeded to undergo the approved standard treatment for that time. Unfortunately, he progressed fairly rapidly through multiple lines of treatment, and... -
Keeping My Faith
I was diagnosed four years ago with stage IV lung cancer. I was devastated. I was told I had 12-18 months to live. I was a single mom with a seven year old at the time and had just turned 34. My life was changed forever. By the grace of God I’m still here. Read... -
Three Time Lung Cancer Survivor
In December of 1986, I turned 41 years old. I had never had a full physical exam. In early 1987, I went to an internist for my first full physical. At the time, I mentioned that my father had died of pancreatic cancer and the doctor proceeded to do a cancer antigen... -
The Story of Losing My Mother
On July 25, 2017, my mom went into have a biopsy done on her lung. As soon as the doctor went into her lung, her lung collapsed. The doctor inserted a tube and got it inflated. We thought my mom was on her way to recovery, only for the doctor to take the tube out two... -
Let’s Find a Cure
My husband Kevin was diagnosed with COPD about nine years ago. He got very sick with pneumonia and they found a nodule in his lung. It was biopsied and was found to be benign. No one ever told him to come back and have it rechecked. Three years ago we both quit... -
Emily – Together We Can!
Hello, my name is Emily, and this past March, my mom was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. My mom had been in and out of the hospital since October of last year, but the doctors insisted that she was just have panic attacks and that her anxiety was getting the best... -
Why Lung Cancer Awareness is Important to Me
Lung Cancer Awareness Month is very important to me. I lost my uncle Benny and my dad to this horrible disease in September of this year and my aunt Phyllis back in 2016. This disease has no mercy. Such a terrible disease to watch someone go through. My cousin Beckie... -
My Mother’s Story: Through the Eyes of a Caregiver
My mom was a smoker; everybody who knew her knew that. It wasn’t until the day of her accident, November 4, 2015, that we even knew there was something going on. After undergoing surgeries for her broken bones, they finally got around to testing her for different... -
Immunotherapy Saved My Life
February 20, 2015, is the day I received the news. I was 40 years old, a mother of two daughters, a wife and a daughter of a survivor. I was diagnosed with stage 3a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) poorly mixed with adenocarcinoma, and the prognosis was grim. I... -
Denise – It Ain’t Over Until It’s Over
My name is Denise. When I was 53 years old, I was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer of the right lung. It was November 7, 2014. I had a malignant pleural effusion (MPE) that was found after experiencing months of symptoms and going to several doctor appointments.... -
Hazel Senz: Hope for Hazel in Clinical Trials
Hazel Senz was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in March of 2014. She has been on a series of medications, including targeted therapy for her ALK mutation. She talks about her experience with research and clinical trials... -
Linda Rengel: Lung Cancer Can Happen to Anyone
Linda Rengel talks about her diagnosis nearly three years ago, and how survivors and patients are benefiting from research and living well with lung cancer. -
Jen Arensdorf: Our Story with Stage IV Lung Cancer is Yet to be Written
Our journey with lung cancer began in March 2016. I had just returned to work after having our beautiful baby girl. My husband Matt and I were finally starting to get the hang of this parenting thing when an appointment to get his vision checked changed our lives... -
Carlotta Occhiena: The Art of Living
On June 21, 2012, at 5 p.m., a warm summer day, my life totally changed. Before that day, I was an architect and worked in an art gallery in Torino. I was single. I lived alone with my dog and my job was my life. I used to spend 14 hours a day working, and during my... -
Ivy Elkins: Hope and Action through Advocacy
I was diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer on December 26, 2013. As a healthy, non-smoking woman in my 40’s, my neck pain and elbow stiffness was initially written off as caused by stress and overuse of my iPad when planning my son’s bar mitzvah! After... -
Lysa Buonanno: Five Years Alive Because of Research
I was a healthy, active, very busy 40-year-old mom, wife, and daughter. Lung cancer was nowhere on my radar. I was diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma with metastasis to my bones on September 27, 2011. My life has taken a drastic change in the last 5 years, but not... -
Jill Feldman: Grateful for Targeted Radiation
My story is a bit complicated, and started long before I was diagnosed with lung cancer, but in the interest of time I will keep it short. When I was 13, two of my grandparents died from lung cancer within weeks of diagnosis and within weeks of each other. Just six... -
K Latzka: Traditional Treatments Saved My Life
It’s not unusual to develop a cough during winter in New England, but mine wouldn’t go away. Hours after my doctor diagnosed acid reflux, I began coughing up blood. At age 46, I was diagnosed with stage 3A squamous non-small cell lung cancer. My husband was somewhere... -
Kathy Weber: Figure Bodybuilder Fights Lung Cancer
In the spring of 2014, I started having trouble with my shoulder that included some muscle atrophy and nerve pain. My physical therapist, John Graham, PT, suggested something bigger was going on and worried I might have a tumor somewhere in my right upper chest. He... -
Lisa G – Importance of the CT Scan
At the end of October 2013, I got a bad cold with typical symptoms (congestion, cough, aches). I went to the doctor on November 2, had a chest X-ray where the MD declared my lungs clear, told me I had a viral infection and sent me home with an Rx for codeine cough... -
Emily Bennett-Taylor – Believe in Yourself
Until two years ago, I thought only smokers could get lung cancer. Then at age 28, as a never-smoker and a former collegiate athlete, I was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. I’d had a cough, a wheeze and pain in my right shoulder for several months. I was still... -
Deana Hendrickson – Faces of Lung Cancer
Deana Hendrickson, who tweets @LungCancerFaces and is the co-founder of #LCSMChat, entered the world of lung cancer in June 2012 when her mother, Rita, was diagnosed with stage IIIB lung cancer. Employing her sales and marketing skills, Deana and her daughter, Lisa,... -
Allen Lee – Hello world; I have lung cancer
I have cancer. And it’s not curable. The story of my diagnosis begins in the MRI waiting room of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in late March 2015. After getting a MRI of my head, I was told to wait before leaving. This was a bad sign, but I didn’t think much of... -
Jane Hilliard – Homeopathic Remedies Help Me Live the Life I Enjoy!
I was diagnosed August 12, 2011, with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (adenocarcinoma). I had a lobectomy on my left lung and a wedge resection on my right lung. One month later, I had heavy duty chemo and lost my hair – the usual stuff. Eight months later,... -
Shelly Engfer-Triebenbach – Clinical Trial Let Me Return to Teaching
In 2012, when I was 40 years old, a wife and mother of two amazing children, I was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. I resigned my position as a public school music teacher to go through treatment. I initially tested negative for treatable mutations, so I started... -
Montessa Lee: “Become Your Own Best Advocate”
Montessa Lee’s story (copied below) was shared on the website “A Woman’s Health.” Montessa Lee was 28 years old when she was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in December 2006 after two misdiagnoses. At the time, the special education... -
Dave: Survivor and Cancer Research Evangelist
I remember the exact moment as if it were yesterday. I was out for dinner with friends when my cell phone rang. It was my doctor from Massachusetts General Hospital. I thought it was strange for him to call me at night. “Dave, it’s Lee. You need to come in to see me.... -
Three Years and Thriving with ALK Positive Lung Cancer.
Our journey with lung cancer began in November 2013. My husband, Jeff, had run his fourth half marathon that fall, and I was carrying our baby. I was in my second trimester. He felt great and looked good. Jeff had no symptoms that raised a red flag that something was... -
George Jackson: Always Seek a Second Opinion
George Jackson is a lifelong law enforcement officer. George, along with his wife of 20 years, has five children. In April 2014, he had developed a cough that aggravated an old pectoral injury. A scan revealed something on his lung and a follow-up appointment with... -
Lillian Leigh: ROS1 Survivor Benefits from Clinical Trial
My world shattered just days after I celebrated my 34th birthday with my husband and 3 year old daughter. I woke up in the morning with a sore left shoulder, and felt a small unusual lump above my left collarbone. While the doctors in my family assured me that the... -
Kimberly Buchmeier: Traditional Treatment Cured My Early Stage Lung Cancer
I had been experiencing back pain for several months. In a 6 months span, I had been to a spine specialist, a hip specialist, and my general practitioner. I was sent away from each appointment with no answer for the pain. I was referred to another spine specialist... -
Joann Di Federico: Research Better Screening in Honor of My Mother
My mother, Joann Baratelli, turned 60 years old on April 28, 2015 and her doctor informed her that she was in the best health of her life. He said whatever she was doing, to keep doing it.Two weeks later she woke up with no voice. When she called her doctor he said it... -
Doris Castevens: Looking Forward to Much More Time with Family
Lung cancer snuck up on me. I was healthy. I never thought I could be at risk for lung cancer. Fortunately, a targeted therapy called afatanib is helping me live well with lung cancer. In September 2015, while hiking in Colorado, I had to stop to catch my breath, but... -
Elizabeth Dessureault: Research Made the Impossible, Possible
My name is Elizabeth Dessureault. In April of 2015, I was diagnosed with advanced stage non-small cell adenocarcinoma lung cancer (NSCLC). As an otherwise healthy, non-smoking young adult, this news came as a complete shock. At the time I was 26 years old, just five... -
Andrea Borondy Kitts: Lung Cancer Screening Might Have Saved Dan
I lost my husband, Dan, to lung cancer in April 2013. Dan had all the risk factors for lung cancer. He was a former heavy smoker, quit 11 years. He lost his sister to lung cancer when she was only 62, and Dan had COPD. In January 2011, I talked to our primary care... -
Thekla Hammond: Support and Survival through Advocacy Community
When I was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in November of 2014 I was catapulted into a terrifying chaos that I had never experienced before. I had very little faith in my doctor, who had failed to order a chest x-ray in spite of my complaints of a cough for... -
Teresa Haga-Golaszewski: Small Cell Lung Cancer In Remission Thanks to Research
Two years ago I was admitted into the hospital for pneumonia. After running some test, I was diagnosed with Small Cell Lung Cancer. I was alone when they told me and had no idea that’s what they were checking for. Very devastating! Thankfully, they found it... -
Five-Year Stage IV Survivor with NED After Chemotherapy
Hi. My name is Marge. I’m 56 years old, and over five years ago, I was diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma lung cancer. My family has a long cancer history starting back in 1978 with my aunt followed by my daddy, mother, brother, father and mother-in-law. Many... -
Lisa Moran: Peace Lungs & Happiness
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Kristine Scoon: Thanks to EGFR Targeted Therapy, We’re Planning Our Wedding for Next Year.
My fiancé John is the light of my life. He never stops making me laugh; he’s a complete ball of energy, fun and is a kid at heart. But last year, that light started to fade. In the summer of 2015, John started to complain of back and hip pain. Maybe he was... -
Kathi Roberts: Invoking change
I am a 10 year survivor of Stage IV lung cancer. Stunned was not even close to describing the day I was diagnosed. At the time, there was not much hope and not many treatments that worked for Stage IV. I knew nothing about the disease and it was not on anyone’s... -
Karen Loss: Attitude is Everything
I am a survivor! I was diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer in November 2012, but this was not my first bout with cancer. 16 years earlier I had ovarian and uterine cancers simultaneously. Now, four years later, and after many chemotherapy and... -
John Hill: 17-Year Lung Cancer Survivor Who Never Gives Up
I am a 17-year lung cancer survivor. I had pneumonia four times that year with multiple X-rays. On the fourth one, my doctor said there was a “spot” on my right lung. After a CT scan and bronchoscopy, my pulmonologist finally gave me a diagnosis of Stage... -
Jessica Hamblin: I Became a Lung Cancer Advocate Because of Uncle Ryan
My uncle, Ryan Jason Hamblin, struggled with stage 4 lung cancer for 14 long months before passing away on December 3, 2011. He was healthy, and usually working out at the gym and playing sports. He died three months before his 40th birthday. My uncle and I were close... -
Positive Mental Attitude Keeps Me Active Despite Stage IV Lung Cancer
In 2012, I was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer that spread to my bones and brain. I was fortunate to have a very caring oncologist and her equally caring team of nurses, another assisting oncologist and a social worker. I qualify for treatment by targeted... -
Carole Lu: ROS1 Targeted Therapy Gave Me More Years With My Small Children
My name is Carole Lu. I am a mom, pottery fiend, and ex-biologist. I have been living with stage IV lung cancer since December, 2013. At that time, I was 37, my family had finally moved into our first house, and our older son had just started kindergarten. My cancer... -
Anita Figueras: Clinical Trials, Advocacy, Hope and Love
I have been living with stage IV lung cancer since June 2014. No one wishes such a diagnosis for themselves or anyone else. I am relatively lucky for all the following reasons: my cancer has a targetable mutation (EGFR); I was diagnosed before the disease spread to my... -
Lung Cancer Knows No Age
(Mike’s story is shared by his mom.) My name is Susan. I am a mom of two beautiful sons, Michael and Chris. I’m a wife and my husband is a medical researcher. I’m a registered nurse. I’m an artist. I have a wonderful daughter-in-law Michele... -
So Many Discoveries Yet To Be Made!
In 2005, when I was diagnosed with lung cancer, I immediately recognized the great need for awareness about uncommon lung cancer facts, early detection, and compassion for people impacted by the number one cancer killer. After volunteering with various nonprofit... -
Joan Fong: Stage IV Lung Cancer Dragon Warrior.
Joan is a lung cancer warrior. She is only alive today because of participation in clinical trial research. Joan is an Asian female, never smoker, under age 60, Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patient who has been fighting the good fight for almost three...
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