Supportive Care for Lung Cancer: 26 Real Stories
26 stories match lung cancer and supportive care. 14 of them mention targeted therapy.
Stage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle had been living with ALK-positive lung cancer since 2018 when she developed persistent headaches, vomiting, ear popping, and a whooshing sound in her head. Remembering another patient who had developed leptomeningeal disease, she pressed for an…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Xavier’s Patient Story
In spring 2022, Xavier Sanders was placed on Air Force reserve duty after repeatedly testing positive for COVID-19. Further evaluation found a spot in his lung, and a follow-up 3 months later showed that it had doubled in size. Biopsy confirmed cancer, and a…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Angie’s Patient Story
Angie Brice Hessbruegge was 37 and raising 2 young children when she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in May 2019. She had never smoked. Her daughter was 6 and her son was 4, and Angie quickly learned that cancer affected the whole household. She spoke…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Mila’s Patient Story
Mila Gardon Labor, a 58-year-old woman from the Philippines, was first found to have a lung lump during a yearly health exam. It was initially misdiagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis, and she took tuberculosis treatment for 4 months before CT scan and biopsy…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Jay’s Survivor Story
Jay Petri was diagnosed in 2008 and received clearer answers in fall 2009, when a good biopsy showed lung cancer with an ALK mutation. He understood that Stage IV lung cancer was probably terminal, and the diagnosis was followed by major personal loss when he…
Read this storyStage III ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle Bos-Lun, a Vermont state representative, was hospitalized after returning from Nepal with what turned out to be scrub typhus. During that workup, doctors ordered a chest X-ray and saw something they could not explain. About 3 weeks of additional…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Hakim’s Patient Story
Hakim Rusli developed cough, sputum, and difficulty breathing in early 2011 and went for evaluation in Malaysia. PET-CT testing led to a lung cancer diagnosis. A histology such as non-small cell lung cancer and biomarker results were not shared. Hakim first…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer Patient Story
This unnamed man had a medical and pharmaceutical background before becoming a patient himself. At 44, he previously faced cancer, and years later he developed another serious cancer diagnosis. The lung cancer story began with severe bone pain that he first…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer Patient Story
This unnamed woman’s lung cancer journey began with leg swelling. She first received water-reducing medication, but the swelling continued and eventually involved more of her body. Doctors became concerned about her heart, found fluid around the heart area…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Lindsay’s Patient Story
Lindsay Wagner was 42 when side pain, chest discomfort, and a year-long cough led her to the ER. Doctors first suspected gallbladder disease, pneumonia, or ovarian cancer because a CA-125 test was elevated and imaging showed liver lesions. A liver biopsy…
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 IV MET Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Amy’s Patient Story
Amy’s second video explains how biomarker testing changed the direction of her Stage IV squamous cell lung cancer care. Her first treatment was Keytruda, also called pembrolizumab, given as a monthly infusion. After each infusion, she received Xgeva to…
Read this storySmall Cell Lung Cancer: Montessa’s Survivor Story
Montessa Lee was 28 when she was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer, a diagnosis that came far earlier in life than many people expect. This third part of her Patient Story series focuses on navigating life after diagnosis and treatment. Her treatment path…
Read this storySmall Cell Lung Cancer: Montessa’s Survivor Story
Montessa Lee was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer at 28. This second video in her series centers on getting through treatment. The treatment path named for her story is chemotherapy, radiation, and brain radiation. That combination shaped both the…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Keith’s Survivor Story
Keith Medovich’s lung cancer had been cured more than a decade earlier with high-dose chemotherapy and radiation, but late effects from treatment later threatened his breathing. By 2015, scarring from his 2003 radiation treatment had severely narrowed parts…
Read this storyLung Cancer Patient Story
This final Noxte blog entry was written by the patient’s family, honoring the wish of their father and husband to keep readers informed. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2014 and had used the blog to share the medical course, the emotional…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer Patient Story
About 3 years after learning he had lung cancer, this Spanish blogger wrote a farewell post from a much harder point in the illness. Recent months had brought bone metastases, pneumonia, severe pain, feverish evenings, night sweats, low-oxygen episodes, and…
Read this storyLung Cancer Patient Story
This Noxte entry focused less on a cancer treatment change and more on how fragile life with lung cancer had become. The patient had recently seen oncology on Friday, November 18. At that visit, his blood tests, lung exam, and oxygenation were reassuring, but…
Read this storyLung Cancer Patient Story
This Noxte post focused on the physical and emotional exhaustion of living from scan to scan with lung cancer. The patient had just had another CT and was scheduled to review results and blood work on 12 April. He was not optimistic because cough, chest pain…
Read this storyLung Cancer Patient Story
This Noxte post explained how liquid biopsy was beginning to affect the patient’s lung cancer care. He had been participating in blood-based monitoring to track treatment effects and possible resistance. At an oncology visit, his doctors had the latest blood…
Read this storyLung Cancer Patient Story
By January 2016, this Spanish lung cancer blogger was marking 2 years of survival while facing a new treatment setback. Recent bronchoscopy and blood testing confirmed that the cancer had developed resistance, including the T790M mutation. That finding…
Read this storyLung Cancer Patient Story
In January 2016, this lung cancer patient learned that a recent CT scan explained his worsening cough. The scan showed clear progression: the right upper-lobe mass had grown to about 4.9 x 5 cm, with extension to the visceral pleura, involvement around the…
Read this storyLung Cancer Patient Story
By September 2015, this lung cancer patient was trying to rebuild ordinary life around ongoing disease. He wrote that the tumor was still in place, but he looked well, had no obvious outward symptoms, and was more than 1.5 years from diagnosis. Treatment side…
Read this storyLung Cancer Patient Story
In early March 2015, this lung cancer patient was in the difficult waiting period around a CT scan. He was taking erlotinib, also known as Tarceva, and the side effects were affecting both his body and his mood. People following his blog noticed that he was…
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