Lung Cancer: 296 Real Stories
296 stories match lung cancer. 140 of them mention targeted therapy.
Stage IV Lung Cancer: Lorie’s Patient Story
Lorie Young was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in March 2026 after a 1.2-inch tumor in the lower left lung was found by chance during a routine physical. A robotic bronchoscopy biopsy and other tests confirmed the diagnosis. Because the cancer had…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer: Dave’s Survivor Story
In 1998, Dave Bjork experienced pneumonia more than once in the same area of his lung. After the second episode, his doctor ordered a CT scan and found a tumor. Hearing that he had cancer immediately made Dave fear for his life, his insurance coverage and the…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Anne’s Patient Story
Anne spent 35 years as a nurse and had already cared for her father through advanced lung cancer when she began having back pain in 2019. She initially blamed the pain on triathlon training and adjusted her exercise, but it kept worsening. Over the next 8…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Jeff’s Patient Story
Jeff Meckstroth had a cough that lingered for several months before scans and biopsies led to a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis in 2015. He and his wife, Rhonda, were initially told that he might have only months to live. Extra tissue collected for biomarker…
Read this storyStage III Lung Adenocarcinoma: Heidi’s Survivor Story
Heidi Nafman-Onda was 55, active, and devoted to fitness when lung cancer was found unexpectedly. A scan done for what turned out to be a benign ovarian cyst revealed Stage III adenocarcinoma of the lung. The diagnosis was devastating, especially because…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Rosee’s Patient Story
Rosee’s symptoms began in September 2022 with severe dizziness, loss of balance, and a spinning sensation. Over the next 2 years, she developed hearing loss, persistent vertigo, migraines, and numbness in one hand. The symptoms were attributed to Ménière’s…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer Patient Story
In 2026, Rosee’s husband was diagnosed with Stage I lung cancer before he had developed symptoms. Testing connected with a life-insurance application showed an elevated carcinoembryonic antigen level, which led to further evaluation and discovery of the…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Shannon’s Survivor Story
Shannon was 35 when a cough lingered for about 1.5 months, followed by severe neck pain that did not respond to repeated muscle relaxers. The pain reached 7 or 8 out of 10, limited her ability to turn her head or pick up her children, and continued through…
Read this storySmall Cell Lung Cancer: Montessa’s Survivor Story
Montessa was 28, a non-smoker, and working as a mentor teacher when symptoms that first seemed like inflammation or bronchitis turned into a small cell lung cancer diagnosis. She had chest pain, a lingering cough, back pain, and eventually oxygen levels…
Read this storyStage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Heidi’s Survivor Story
Heidi was 55, a fitness trainer, and a lifelong health enthusiast when lung cancer was found by accident. In October 2018, she had a CT scan during evaluation of a mildly suspicious ovarian cyst. The ovary was benign, but the chest CT showed a lung mass and…
Read this storyStage III Lung Cancer: Bonnie’s Patient Story
Bonnie Ulrich was 45 when pain shooting down her arm led her to see her doctor. Because she had a smoking history, her doctor routinely ordered chest X-rays, and this time the imaging showed something concerning. After 2 scans and a biopsy, Bonnie learned she…
Read this storyStage III Lung Cancer: Heidi’s Patient Story
Heidi Onda’s lung cancer diagnosis is told through the experience of her husband, Pierre. A few years before the story was published, Heidi had a CT scan for an ovarian cyst. The cyst was benign, but the scan also showed findings that looked like advanced…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Keasha’s Patient Story
Keasha Rutledge was 37, in excellent shape, and training for a 10K race when shortness of breath began. She had never smoked, and even her husband, former NFL player Chris Draft, had not connected her symptoms with lung cancer because so much public messaging…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Nancee’s Patient Story
Nancee Pronsati was an active runner when a persistent cough kept being treated as bronchitis with antibiotics or inhalers. She had believed lung cancer mostly affected smokers, so it was not on her radar. During a race in Nashville, she coughed for 13 miles…
Read this storyStage III Lung Cancer: Peter’s Survivor Story
Peter was 80 and felt well when he joined the NHS Galleri trial. He had spent 31 years in the police force, stayed active, and had never smoked. After a blood test through the trial, he received a call saying something in his lung needed investigation. MRI…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jill’s Patient Story
Jill already knew the fear of lung cancer before her own diagnosis. Her father died at 41, only 3 months after being diagnosed, and her mother died at 54, 6 months after her diagnosis. Because of that family history, Jill had periodic CT scans even though she…
Read this storyStage II KRAS Lung Adenocarcinoma: Roy’s Survivor Story
Roy was a 50-year-old commercial airline pilot and Air Force veteran when he noticed a subtle rattle in his chest while lying down at night. An early X-ray was interpreted as something like pneumonia, and because he was a nonsmoker with no family history of…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Jake’s Patient Story
Jake was 15 when severe migraines began in late 2012. For about 25 days, he hid the pain, took large amounts of Advil, and kept playing sports until his mother pushed for an MRI. The scan showed a golf-ball-sized tumor in his cerebellum. After brain surgery…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Kartik’s Patient Story
Kartik was 28 and a third-year internal medicine resident when he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Molecular testing identified an EML4/ALK mutation, and he entered a targeted clinical trial. That treatment allowed him to continue working in medicine…
Read this storyStage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Susie’s Survivor Story
Susie started smoking as a teenager because it was what many of her friends did. She tried to give up several times over the years but found it difficult. Later, she developed lung cancer that she directly linked to smoking. The title identifies her diagnosis…
Read this storyStage II Lung Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle’s lung cancer was found while doctors were investigating a completely different problem. After a fall, she developed persistent pain that moved into her jaw, head, and neck and caused migraine-like symptoms. Months of physical therapy, pain…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Kelsey’s Patient Story
Kelsey was 36, a mother of 4, and working as a SoulCycle manager when severe back pain began changing her life. At first, she blamed work, commuting, aging, or a pulled muscle. Then she collapsed while coaching baseball and later had to crawl to the bathroom…
Read this storyStage II EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Daniel’s Patient Story
Daniel West had no symptoms before a routine heart scan in October 2022 showed 2 nodules in his right lung. A bronchoscopy biopsy confirmed early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. Daniel, who had quit smoking in 2006, sought a second opinion at UT MD Anderson…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Megan’s Survivor Story
Megan was 33, active, a never-smoker, and raising 2 young children when chest pain began. Urgent care and ER visits first led to explanations such as a pulled muscle or anxiety. Then she developed shortness of breath on walks, arm pain, and visible veins in…
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