What happened, in summary

Tiffany was 38 when symptoms that first seemed ordinary became a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. In early 2020, she noticed pain in her right rib and thought she might have pulled a muscle. During a hiking trip in Colorado that July, she became so short of breath that she could not walk far without her heart racing. A lingering cough followed. Antibiotics and steroids did not help, and pulmonary testing was clearly abnormal. A bronchoscopy was arranged in October 2020. After the procedure, Tiffany’s right lung collapsed, and she was hospitalized with a chest tube while doctors considered several possible explanations, including infection. Further testing showed the more serious answer: Stage IV lung cancer. The cancer had already spread to her pelvis, right femur, and cervical spine. She had no smoking history or obvious risk factors, which made the diagnosis even harder to absorb. Tiffany and her husband sought a second opinion at MD Anderson, where scans and tests were repeated. The team confirmed a right-middle-lobe lung mass and advanced disease and told her treatment needed to begin. As of January 2024, her story was moving from a fast diagnosis into treatment planning.