What happened, in summary

Valerie Brown had symptoms for several months before a CT scan found an abnormality in her lung. A needle biopsy confirmed lung cancer, and she underwent a lobectomy in March 2012. Recovery was painful, but she reached five years with no evidence of disease and believed lung cancer was behind her.

In 2017, imaging after an accident found a recurrence near the area of the previous surgery. Valerie received three and a half weeks of radiation and returned to surveillance. When she became ill again, she researched her options and sought a second opinion. In March 2019, the new team diagnosed Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer adenocarcinoma with an EGFR exon 19 deletion. She started an unnamed targeted therapy and remained stable for more than 20 months.

Connecting with other people taking the same treatment changed how Valerie lived with cancer. Online groups and virtual meetups developed into close friendships with women who understood scan anxiety and long-term treatment. She became a lung-cancer advocate and LifeLine buddy, helping newly diagnosed patients find information and community. For Valerie, survivorship included both living with Stage IV disease and offering others the support that had helped her.