Stage IV Lung Cancer: Ross's Patient Story
This lung cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage IV
- Biomarkers
- Specific mutation identified; mutation name not reported
- Sex
- Male
- Spread to
- contralateral lung; mediastinal lymph nodes; bones
- Treatment
- targeted therapy and chemotherapy
- Outcome
- Living With Cancer
Treatment course, step by step
- After biopsy confirmed a specific mutation, he started mutation-directed pills that same Tuesday afternoon
- The medicine came from unopened supply donated by a prior patient's family
- Later treatment included chemotherapy
- An additional unnamed drug was added and caused rash, scalp sores, vomiting, weight loss, and worse side effects.
What happened, in summary
Dr. Ross Camidge had spent more than 20 years treating and researching lung cancer when he became a patient himself. In May 2022, he noticed a pulled feeling in his left shoulder and an unusual breathing sound when lying on his right side. A chest X-ray showed something abnormal, and the CT scan was immediately clear to him: a right-lung mass, spots in the other lung, lymph nodes in the middle of the chest, and deposits affecting bone. He knew this was metastatic lung cancer. Over the next few days, he had a PET scan, brain MRI, lung biopsy, and mutation testing. By Tuesday morning, he knew the cancer had a specific mutation and knew which treatment he needed. He started mutation-directed pills that same afternoon, before the insurance process had finished. Later, his treatment also included chemotherapy and an added unnamed drug that caused severe side effects, including facial rash, scalp scabs, vomiting, and weight loss. The hardest part was telling his wife and daughters, then eventually his colleagues, after keeping the diagnosis private for nearly 3 years. As of November 2025, Dr. Camidge was living with Stage IV lung cancer, working, making memories with family, and framing life around each scan interval.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by The Patient Story. Read the original in full
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team.