What happened, in summary

Joanne’s lung cancer was found by chance in February 2021. She had gone to the emergency room because of what seemed like an abdominal hernia or aneurysm, and an angio CT scan instead showed a mass in the upper lobe of her right lung. She had not had classic lung cancer symptoms; she mainly felt unwell and unusually tired. After consultations and testing, her team chose robotic-assisted surgery to remove the right upper lobe. Pathology showed non-small cell lung cancer, adenocarcinoma, with an EGFR exon deletion 19 mutation. The cancer had also spread to a lymph node and invaded the visceral pleura. A formal stage was not stated. Joanne’s next treatment phase was 4 rounds of chemotherapy, described as cisplatin/carboplatin and Alimta. The third phase was targeted therapy with Tagrisso, taken daily for up to 3 years. Joanne used the experience to speak against lung cancer stigma, especially the assumption that every lung cancer diagnosis is explained by smoking history, and focused her energy on family, faith, education, and advocacy.