What happened, in summary

Shira felt completely healthy. She was a lifelong runner, had no lung symptoms, and almost skipped the full-body MRI her husband kept encouraging her to do. The scan found a lung mass but described it as a minor finding if she had no symptoms. Her father, a lung doctor, explained that lungs are better evaluated with a chest CT, so she eventually followed up. A radiologist friend reviewed the CT and quickly arranged repeat imaging, a pulmonology visit, and a bronchoscopy. Shira still ran 6 miles on the Monday morning before the appointment. That day, doctors told her they thought she had lung cancer. A PET scan showed the tumor was active but did not show lymph-node spread. Biomarker discussion included an EGFR exon 20 insertion. Because the cancer was caught at Stage IB, it was large enough to see but still small enough to remove surgically. Vanderbilt removed it the following Monday, only about 1 week after she learned she had cancer. She spent a few days in the hospital with a chest tube, then recovered at home. Her tumor was later categorized as low risk of recurrence. She did not need chemotherapy, radiation, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy. As of February 2026, Shira described herself as cancer-free and was advocating for earlier lung cancer detection.