What happened, in summary

Emily was active and healthy when a cough that began in fall 2023 kept lingering. By August 31, 2024, shortness of breath on a familiar hike and a changing voice made her seek care. A chest X-ray showed nodules, and a CT scan led to the call no one wants: the nodules were cancerous. In September 2024, Emily was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer with an EGFR mutation. Hospital testing showed a left-lung primary, innumerable small nodules in the right lung, spread to the right 8th rib, sacrum, pancreas, and a tiny brain spot. Her oncologist discussed 2 paths: daily targeted therapy alone, or a more aggressive plan adding chemotherapy because targeted therapy can work more slowly. Emily chose the aggressive approach. She started the targeted drug and chemotherapy on the same day in November 2024 and completed 4 rounds of chemotherapy between November and January. After a good January PET scan, she was told she did not need more chemotherapy. She later had a couple rounds of radiation. The daily targeted drug, taken around 10:00 to 10:30 each morning, became her ongoing treatment. As of September 2025, Emily felt well and described herself as basically in remission, while also understanding that Stage IV EGFR-mutated lung cancer is treatable but not curable.