Lung Cancer: 296 Real Stories
296 stories match lung cancer. 140 of them mention targeted therapy.
Stage II EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Daniel’s Survivor Story
Daniel West’s lung nodules were found unexpectedly in 2022 when he used a workplace opportunity to have cardiac testing after his father’s death from a heart attack. CT and PET imaging showed a concerning nodule in the middle lobe of his right lung, and…
Read this storyStage I EGFR Lung Adenocarcinoma: Phuong’s Survivor Story
In 2019, Dr. Phuong Ho developed a mild cough and chest tightness that did not improve with inhalers. Chest X-rays and lung function tests were normal, but her symptoms continued. A pulmonologist later ordered a CT scan, which found an almost 2-centimeter…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Niko’s Patient Story
Niko was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma about 2 years before the May 2024 interview. The first sign was frequent coughing during the COVID period. A doctor listened to her chest, suspected pleural effusion, ordered a chest X-ray, and sent her to the…
Read this storyStage II Lung Cancer: Ed’s Survivor Story
Ed Ackerman was 61 and felt healthy when a day-long Cleveland Clinic executive physical unexpectedly found a spot in the lower right lung. He had recently received reassuring results from other routine examinations and had no symptoms. A repeat CT scan showed…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jeff’s Patient Story
Jeff had previously undergone extensive surgery and radiosurgery for a rare cancer involving his cervical spine in 2017. During follow-up in March 2021, a slight cough prompted a chest X-ray that showed a large mass in the lower right lung. Further testing…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Anne’s Patient Story
Anne Laporte, a nurse for about 35 years and an endurance athlete, had a lung nodule followed years earlier and then dismissed because she was a lifelong nonsmoker. Years later, progressive back pain was treated as a sports injury through multiple doctor and…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Ashley’s Patient Story
Ashley had no symptoms when lung cancer was found by chance. She went to the hospital for a gynecologic issue, and CT imaging showed lung nodules. Pathology was sent to Mayo Clinic, and about 1 week later she learned it was non-small cell lung cancer. Both…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Keegan’s Survivor Story
Keegan Murphy, a retired firefighter and combat veteran, was 41 when a lingering dry cough after a cold led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in September 2022. Testing showed adenocarcinoma with an ALK fusion mutation. By then, cancer was present in his…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Tim’s Patient Story
Tim Monds was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2016 after chest and left-shoulder pain led to imaging and then further testing. He was 57, had never smoked, and initially had Stage I disease. Surgery removed the upper left lobe of his lung on 29 June 2016, and…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Ivy’s Survivor Story
Ivy E. was 47 when neck pain and trouble straightening her elbow led to an unexpected Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. Doctors first thought the symptoms might be an overuse injury. Imaging of the elbow showed a mass involving the joint and bone. After…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Deborah’s Patient Story
Deborah Persinger was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010 after bronchitis-like symptoms would not go away and early X-rays and tests did not explain the problem. A local thoracic surgeon gave her a poor 5-year survival estimate, and she asked to be treated at…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer: Lauren’s Patient Story
Lauren Koy was 25 when years of breathing problems finally led to a lung cancer diagnosis. Since childhood, she had been treated for asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, sinus infections, and upper-respiratory infections. She often wheezed, spiked unexplained…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Tiffany’s Patient Story
Tiffany was 38 when symptoms that first seemed ordinary became a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. In early 2020, she noticed pain in her right rib and thought she might have pulled a muscle. During a hiking trip in Colorado that July, she became so short of…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Matt’s Survivor Story
Matt Hiznay was 24 and in his second year of medical school when a persistent dry cough led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in August 2011. He was a lifelong nonsmoker, making the diagnosis especially hard to process. Testing showed the cancer was driven…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer: Debra’s Survivor Story
Debra Haberstroh went to the emergency room over the 2023 New Year’s holiday after her oxygen level dropped to 85%. Because she had asthma and felt poorly, the emergency physician ordered a CT scan to look for pneumonia. Instead, the scan found a tumor in her…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Christine’s Patient Story
Christine was 57, active, and previously healthy when shortness of breath, clavicle pain, and shoulder pain led to imaging. X-ray, CT, MRI, and PET scans showed pleural and cardiac effusions and Stage IV adenocarcinoma non-small cell lung cancer. She had…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer: Lauren’s Survivor Story
Lauren had years of worsening breathing problems that were treated as asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, sinus infections, and upper respiratory infections. By late 2021, she had high fevers, a chronic wheeze, and a collapsed lung. She pushed for a CT scan…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer: Lauren’s Survivor Story
Lauren Koy lived with breathing problems for much of her life before lung cancer was found. She had chronic wheezing, repeated bronchitis and pneumonia, and difficulty doing the activities she enjoyed, including running and hiking. Because she was young and…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer: Terri’s Survivor Story
Terri Ann DiJulio’s lung cancer was first found by accident after she went to the emergency room with chest pressure. Her heart was fine, but imaging showed a nodule in her right lung. The nodule stayed stable for about 2 years, then changed. During surgery…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Lung Cancer: Christine’s Survivor Story
Christine’s lung cancer was found during treatment for a separate Stage III triple-positive breast cancer. Extensive testing for the breast cancer included scans of the liver, brain, chest, abdomen, pelvis, and reproductive organs. A lung nodule was seen, but…
Read this storyStage II Lung Cancer: Christine’s Patient Story
Christine was 31 and already in treatment for breast cancer when a second cancer was found unexpectedly. Imaging during her breast cancer care showed a lung finding, even though she had no lung symptoms. At first, the finding was treated as possibly…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Tiffany’s Patient Story
Tiffany was a labor and delivery nurse, Pilates instructor, wife, and mother of twins when shortness of breath and right-sided pain led to a long diagnostic workup during the pandemic. A bronchoscopy was followed by a collapsed lung and hospital stay. Imaging…
Read this storySmall Cell Lung Cancer: Mary’s Survivor Story
Mary Casanova learned she had small cell lung cancer in October 2017 after feeling a lump under her arm following a yoga class. At first, she feared breast cancer, and the period from late October through December was emotionally overwhelming. A second doctor…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Dan’s Patient Story
Dan was a young father with 2 daughters when symptoms that seemed like a stubborn cold began in November 2018. The cold did not go away. Instead, he developed shortness of breath, chest tightness, and lost his voice. Steroids and inhalers did not help, and no…
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