What happened, in summary

Ashley was 36 when an unrelated gynecologic infection led to the discovery of lung cancer. She was admitted for a Bartholin gland infection, and an abdominal CT scan incidentally captured the lower part of her lungs. Small lung nodules were seen. At first, infection seemed like a possible explanation, but repeat imaging 2 weeks later still showed the nodules, so she was sent to a pulmonologist. Breathing tests were normal. A bronchoscopy and then a needle biopsy were both non-diagnostic. Ashley had more than 100 tiny nodules across both lungs, most 1 mm or smaller, with one larger nodule used for biopsy. A thoracic surgeon then removed lung tissue so the pathology could be reviewed, including by Mayo Clinic in Arizona. About 1 week later, Ashley was told it was non-small cell lung cancer. The diagnosis was shocking because she had never smoked, had no clear lung symptoms, and had no family history of lung cancer. The video description for her series identifies her cancer as EGFR-positive with a T790M mutation and says targeted therapy with osimertinib/Tagrisso later allowed pill treatment instead of traditional chemotherapy. As of August 2021, Ashley had been living with incurable but treatable lung cancer for almost 4 years.