Radiation for Lung Cancer: 88 Real Stories
88 stories match lung cancer and radiation. 60 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Bill’s Patient Story
Bill was an active Park City skier, runner, and mountain biker when back pain after shoveling snow turned out to be much more than a pulled muscle. The pain lasted for months, and physical therapy did not help. Before a scheduled MRI, he became unable to walk…
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: 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 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 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 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 III EGFR Lung Cancer: Roxanne’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Natalie’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Maggie’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Clara’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV ROS1 Lung Cancer: Phil’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jennifer’s Survivor Story
Jennifer Robertson was 46 when she was diagnosed with Stage IV small cell lung cancer in fall 2024. The diagnosis came after severe hip pain revealed a broken hip bone, and a bone marrow biopsy showed the fracture was caused by cancer. PET imaging found a…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jennifer’s Patient Story
Jennifer’s Stage IV lung cancer was found almost by accident. She had been in a car accident that revealed a lung spot, but she did not learn about it until 10 months later. When she later saw her primary care doctor for what she thought was a sinus…
Read this storyStage IV ROS1 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Drea’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Emily’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Shauna’s Patient Story
Shauna had just turned 51 when a cough lingered for months after a respiratory illness. During a lunch break, she went to urgent care, where an X-ray showed a mass in her right lung. A needle biopsy and scans followed, including brain MRI, PET, chest CT, and…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Allison’s Patient Story
Allison was an active 45-year-old mother of 2 when back pain that seemed muscular turned into a much larger warning sign. A CT report mentioned possible metastatic lesions in her spine. More testing followed, including chest imaging, MRI, brain imaging, PET…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Clara’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Jenny’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV Small Cell Lung Cancer: Kristen’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Kathrin’s Patient Story
Kathrin was a fitness professional living in Munich when fatigue and foot pain began to interrupt an active life. At first, the foot pain seemed like a sports injury from yoga or exercise. Imaging of the left foot showed a tumor, and biopsy revealed that it…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jenny’s Patient Story
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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