Small Cell Lung Cancer: Montessa's Survivor Story

What happened, in summary

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 around 83 to 85 when she went to the emergency room. An X-ray showed a 15-cm mass taking up much of her left lung. Biopsies followed, including needle-guided biopsies and then an open chest biopsy. Her oncologist diagnosed small cell lung cancer. Montessa understood the disease as limited-stage: it involved the lung and mediastinum but had not metastasized. Treatment moved quickly. She was hospitalized, started chemotherapy through a PICC line, and also had a mediport placed. Fluid around her heart required a pericardial window. Her chemotherapy began with cisplatin and etoposide, then changed to carboplatin because the platinum chemotherapy affected her hearing and caused ringing in her ears. Chemo weeks came about every 3 weeks, and she also received 22 days of chest radiation. Brain radiation was part of her treatment and recovery path. Treatment brought severe fatigue, nausea on chemo-radiation days, and hair loss. As of June 2026, Montessa was sharing her recovery, work life, cancer community support, and patient advocacy.