The stories below come from people whose lives have been touched by lung cancer. In addition to providing unique insight on what it’s like to battle and live with the disease, each story also provides reasons to be hopeful about the future of lung cancer research.
When Karen was diagnosed with EGFR+ NSCLC two years ago, her oncologist told her she had a wolf pack behind her to fight the disease. Now she’s calling on her pack to lend their strength to others.
Rhonda was diagnosed with Stage IV EGFR-positive lung cancer, and credits the “little magic pill” osimertinib with allowing her to continue doing the things she loves.
Eight years after her initial Stage II lung cancer diagnosis, Karen was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. “I feel as confident now as I did then that I will see my way through this,” she says.
Anne was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-2020. She was already an advocate for lung cancer awareness and research, having lost her father to lung cancer in 2008.
Jodie felt dizzy and had double vision. She thought it was vertigo, but after her symptoms failed to improve after multiple visits, doctors discovered she had a mass in her lung. Jodie is now on a targeted therapy for her Stage IV EGFR+ lung cancer.
Dr. Sydney Barned has a unique understanding of what her oncology patients are going through. She was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in 2017, during her medical residency.
Elizabeth was only 29 years old and was pregnant with her second child when she began having chest pains. Initially diagnosed with calcified granuloma, she was referred to a pulmonologist after her symptoms worsened. She was shocked to be diagnosed with Stage IV ALK+ lung cancer.
Amanda was misdiagnosed with lymphoma in 2015, but that didn’t mean her cancer journey was over. She continued having scans every six months to watch a spot on her lung. When three years passed and monitoring was complete, she asked for one more scan. That led to her diagnosis with Stage I adenocarcinoma.
When Steve was diagnosed with Stage 3B non-small cell lung cancer, his oncologist was confident the treatment options available would cure the disease. In eight months, he went from a 25% chance of survival to cured of lung cancer. While his cancer has recurred, he is living a full life and working full time while taking oral chemotherapy.
Lea had asthma but considered it under control. After she developed an uncontrollable cough, she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Biomarker testing revealed the EGRF mutation, and she has had great success on a targeted therapy.
Erika went to the hospital with a persistent cough and unbearable back pain. She came back with a stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. But thanks to research, she’s living her best life – and has started a brand to raise awareness and funds.
Frank, a personal trainer, was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer after a persistent cough led him to get a chest x-ray. Now he uses his fitness platform to help others facing a cancer diagnosis.
Joe wanted to support his 6-year-old son through a medical procedure, so to serve as a good example, he agreed to an examination of his own. The last thing he expected was to find out that he had lung cancer.
Felicia felt a bad cold coming on and decided to go to urgent care. She was surprised to find herself in the ICU with pulmonary edema, but the most shocking news came later – she had stage IV lung cancer.
Marie thought she’d dodged a bullet after her lung cancer diagnosis and lobectomy. She learned five years later that the cancer had metastasized. Her hope was renewed when she discovered she had the EGFR mutation, which could be addressed with a treatment that hadn’t even been available a few years earlier.
Elizabeth’s life took a sharp right turn when hip pain and a broken leg led to a stage IV non-small cell lung cancer diagnosis with tumors in her lung, lymph nodes, and brain. Other than the hip and leg pain, she had experienced no symptoms.
Ruthie’s persistent cough was diagnosed as pneumonia, but her condition was unchanged after six weeks of treatment. After her lung cancer diagnosis, she changed her life from the inside out.
Beth’s mysterious respiratory symptoms and a stubborn “walking pneumonia” led her to the hospital and a diagnosis of advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Later testing led to a wonderful surprise: her cancer had the ROS1 genetic mutation and she was eligible for a targeted therapy. Within days of starting treatment, she began to improve.
Susan was a new mom when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1997. After her successful treatment, she became a strong advocate for lung cancer research and is encouraged by the advances that have been made in the past two decades.
Cassie, an elementary school teacher, was only 29 when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Her condition was stable after surgery and chemotherapy, and she has gone on to raise over $100K for lung cancer research.
