Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Donnita's Survivor Story
This lung cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Subtype
- Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Biomarkers
- Biomarker testing requested through Foundation Medicine; results not reported
- Sex
- Female
- Treatment
- surgery
- Outcome
- Cancer-Free / NED
Treatment course, step by step
- Low-dose lung screening CT found a suspicious nodule after a 5-year gap
- PET scan lit up, and the team chose surgery without pre-op biopsy because of false-negative concern
- Robotic surgery included intraoperative biopsy; first piece was atypical and second piece was positive
- Surgeon removed 3 wedge sections instead of the planned segments because calcification increased risk
- Margins were clear, and surgeon felt the cancer removal result was good
- She later requested biomarker testing; Stage IA2 disease was initially said unlikely to change treatment
- Tissue was later requested for Foundation Medicine testing through Johns Hopkins
- Results were not stated.
What happened, in summary
Donnita was diagnosed at 68 with Stage IA2 non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma even though she had no symptoms. Years earlier, she had asked for a low-dose lung cancer screening CT because of her smoking history and family history. After a 5-year gap during COVID, anxiety about prior care, and family changes, she moved to a new practice and again requested screening. This time, the scan triggered an urgent call the same afternoon. A PET scan showed the suspicious nodule lit up. Her pulmonologist and thoracic surgeon agreed not to rely on a preoperative biopsy because a negative result might miss the cancer; instead, they moved quickly to surgery. Within about 6 weeks of the screening scan, Donnita had robotic surgery. During the operation, the first tissue sample was atypical and the second was positive for cancer. The surgeon removed 3 wedge sections rather than the larger segment removal originally considered because calcification increased risk. Margins were clear, and he felt good about the oncologic result. After surgery, Donnita struggled with fear of recurrence, survivor’s guilt, and stigma around lung cancer, especially after meeting people diagnosed at later stages. As of March 2025, she was living after early-stage surgery, connected to the lung cancer community, and advocating for screening, biomarker testing, and less shame around lung cancer.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by The Patient Story. Read the original in full
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team.