Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer: 115 Real Stories

115 stories match lung cancer and chemotherapy. 60 of them mention radiation.

  1. Stage III EGFR Lung Cancer: Roxanne’s Patient Story

    Stage 3 · EGFR Mutation · Chemotherapy · lobectomy

    Roxanne was 43, a single mother, and a special needs teacher when lung cancer was found almost by accident. She had gone to her gynecologist for abdominal pain that felt like an ovarian cyst. A CT scan did show a cyst, but it also caught part of her right…

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  2. Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Natalie’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · Chemotherapy · Clinical Trial

    Natalie was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer at 33. By the time her story reached the transplant stage, her cancer had progressed despite 2 clinical trials and 2 different chemotherapies. Her lung function had declined badly; she described…

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  3. Stage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Maggie’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · EGFR Mutation · Chemotherapy · Clinical Trial

    Maggie was 60 in 2021 and expected the year to be one of the best of her life. Instead, unusual symptoms led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. She first had an ocular migraine, then leg pain that turned out to be a partial blood clot. A CT scan showed…

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  4. Stage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Clara’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · ALK Positive · Biomarker Testing · Chemotherapy

    Clara was living with Stage IV lung cancer when a difficult stretch of treatment nearly made her stop. She had already completed 7 rounds of chemotherapy and 10 rounds of radiation. During the summer, she also received immunotherapy, and August scans brought…

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  5. Stage IV ROS1 Lung Cancer: Phil’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · ROS1 Positive · Chemotherapy · Clinical Trial

    Phil was an active 60-year-old looking toward retirement when a cough would not go away. At first, doctors treated it like a sinus infection or pneumonia. A CT scan was read as not cancer, and the start of COVID delayed further evaluation. After an 8-month…

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  6. Stage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Stephanie’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · ALK Positive · Chemotherapy · Targeted Therapy

    Stephanie was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer in December 2024, shortly after turning 44. She had been healthy, working full time, raising 2 teenage daughters, and recovering from COVID when a hacking cough returned. She treated it like a…

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  7. Stage IV Lung Cancer: Tina’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · carboplatin · Chemotherapy

    Tina Powell is living with Stage IV lung cancer and uses her Lung Cancer Strong channel to explain chemotherapy from the patient side. By November 2025, she had received 27 rounds of chemotherapy in different combinations over 3 years. She named pemetrexed…

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  8. Stage IV Lung Cancer: Ross’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · Chemotherapy · Targeted Therapy

    Dr. Ross Camidge had spent more than 20 years treating and researching lung cancer when he became a patient himself. In May 2022, he noticed a pulled feeling in his left shoulder and an unusual breathing sound when lying on his right side. A chest X-ray…

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  9. Stage IV ROS1 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Drea’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · ROS1 Positive · Chemotherapy · Radiation

    Drea was 26, a never-smoker, and living in Florida when a series of unexplained symptoms led to a Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer diagnosis. It began with a DVT that caused a swollen ankle. Over the next 4 to 5 months, she developed unexplained bruising…

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  10. Stage IV ROS1 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Lysa’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · ROS1 Positive · Chemotherapy · Clinical Trial

    Lysa was 40, raising 2 children, working, and finishing college when severe mid-back pain during travel led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. At first, an ER visit treated the pain like a muscle problem, but the pain kept returning and eventually became so…

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  11. Stage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Emily’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · EGFR Mutation · Chemotherapy · Radiation

    Emily was active and healthy when a cough that began in fall 2023 kept lingering. By August 31, 2024, shortness of breath on a familiar hike and a changing voice made her seek care. A chest X-ray showed nodules, and a CT scan led to the call no one wants: the…

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  12. Stage IV HER2-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Lauren’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · HER2 Mutation · Biomarker Testing · Chemotherapy

    Lauren was 31, raising a young son, when fatigue, back pain, chest/rib pain, and widespread joint pain became impossible to ignore. Early emergency-room visits did not find the cancer; she was treated for pneumonia and then evaluated for other possible…

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  13. KRAS Lung Cancer: Wyatt’s Patient Story

    Exact Mutation · Chemotherapy · Immunotherapy

    Wyatt was in his 30s and already had a complex medical history when lung cancer entered his life unexpectedly. He had no obvious lung cancer symptoms and was shocked when cancer was found after dealing with issues related to a long-standing shunt. His doctor…

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  14. Stage IV Lung Cancer: Clara’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · Chemotherapy · Immunotherapy

    Clara was 24 when symptoms that seemed unrelated slowly pointed to something serious. Hip and back pain were first explained as an L5-S1 herniated disc from running, but the pain around that area later made more sense after doctors found cancer had spread to…

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  15. Lung Cancer: Jenny’s Patient Story

    Chemotherapy · Radiation

    Jenny’s story is remembered through her husband, Kyle, who describes her as a loving mother, partner, and advocate for lung cancer awareness. Her lung cancer stage, subtype, biomarker results, and specific drug names were not stated, but her care was intense…

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  16. Stage IV Small Cell Lung Cancer: Kristen’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · Bone Directed Therapy · Chemotherapy

    Kristen was an active nurse in her 40s who loved tennis when shortness of breath and right-sided pain led to a small cell lung cancer diagnosis in January 2025. Because she had a long-standing heart condition and a pacemaker, she first wondered whether the…

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  17. Stage III Lung Cancer: Alexis’s Survivor Story

    Stage 3 · Chemotherapy · Surgery

    Alexis was 29 and living in San Francisco when a possible heart issue led to the discovery of lung cancer. She had noticed shortness of breath and chest discomfort but thought anxiety might explain it. Because her father had been misdiagnosed with a genetic…

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  18. Stage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jenny’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · EGFR Mutation · Chemotherapy · Radiation

    Jenny Apple was a healthy nonsmoker, wife, and mother whose first major symptom was persistent pain on the left side of her ribs. During the COVID period, getting care was difficult, and the pain was initially dismissed as strain from lifting her young child…

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  19. Stage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Alisa’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · ALK Positive · alectinib · carboplatin

    Alisa Secaida was 35 when cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, chest tightness and shoulder pain were dismissed as asthma or long COVID. She paid for her own CT scan, which showed a mass in the upper left lung, and later biopsy confirmed Stage IVB non-small…

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  20. Stage IV ROS1 Lung Adenocarcinoma: Luna’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · ROS1 Positive · Antiangiogenic Therapy · bevacizumab

    Luna Okada was 54 when she was diagnosed in December 2012 with Stage IV lung adenocarcinoma. She had just returned from climbing Machu Picchu and had no cough or shortness of breath. Two days after the trip, severe abdominal pain brought her to the emergency…

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  21. Stage IV KRAS Lung Cancer: Rosemary’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · KRAS Mutation · Chemotherapy · Clinical Trial

    Rosemary Conway was 60 when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in August 2017 after developing a raspy voice and coughing up a small amount of blood. She had never smoked and was an active runner. In September, surgeons removed the lower lobe of her left lung…

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  22. Stage III Small Cell Lung Cancer: Brian’s Patient Story

    Stage 3 · Chemotherapy · Radiation

    Brian was recently diagnosed with Stage III small cell lung cancer after an accident that first seemed unrelated to cancer. He fell at work while dragging something heavy, breaking his hand and injuring his shoulder and face. Because of pain near his shoulder…

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  23. Small Cell Lung Cancer: Brian’s Patient Story

    Chemotherapy · Radiation

    Brian was 40 when he was diagnosed with limited-stage small cell lung cancer in December 2024. The path to diagnosis began after an unusual fall at work, where he broke his hand and injured his shoulder. As he recovered, pain persisted in his shoulder and…

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  24. Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Eugenia’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · Chemotherapy · Immunotherapy

    Eugenia Horan was 46 when she was diagnosed with poorly differentiated non-small cell lung cancer. Her symptoms began after what seemed like a cold or flu in late 2018, followed by chest tightness, coughing blood, weight loss, and a racing pulse. Her concerns…

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