What happened, in summary

Stephanie Williams developed a mild but persistent cough in spring 2021. At a yearly primary care visit, she asked for a chest X-ray. The image showed a cloudy area on her right side, and a same-day CT scan described a large spiculated mass that was highly suspicious for cancer. A bronchoscopy biopsy later confirmed lung adenocarcinoma.

Her surgeon recommended an open thoracotomy rather than a minimally invasive approach because the tumor was about 5 cm and difficult to remove safely. Stephanie expected 1 lobe to be removed, but woke up learning that 2 right-lung lobes, including the middle lobe, had been taken because the tumor sat between them. Pathology brought better news: margins were clean, 12 lymph nodes were negative, and the final stage was IIB.

About 1 month after surgery, Stephanie met her oncologist and learned the tumor was ALK-positive. She still received 4 rounds of chemotherapy through a port, with significant fatigue and other side effects. A second-opinion ALK specialist then recommended daily targeted therapy, even though this approach was newer for earlier-stage disease. As of January 2025, nearly 3 years after diagnosis, Stephanie had clean scans and continued taking the ALK-targeted pills to lower the chance of recurrence.