What happened, in summary

Tina Powell is living with Stage IV lung cancer and uses her Lung Cancer Strong channel to explain chemotherapy from the patient side. By November 2025, she had received 27 rounds of chemotherapy in different combinations over 3 years. She named pemetrexed, cisplatin, and carboplatin as part of her prior treatment history, and she was then receiving an antibody-drug conjugate through a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering that began in May 2025. Tina described chemotherapy as a treatment that can shrink tumors, slow cancer growth, or keep disease stable, but her story focused on what treatment actually feels like. Her chemotherapy was usually given through an IV in her right arm, with labs before each treatment to check whether her body could safely continue. She described nausea and vomiting, major fatigue, hair thinning and body-hair loss, constipation, tinnitus, mouth sores, taste changes, heightened smell, chemo brain, and weight changes. She had not personally experienced neuropathy but warned that other lung cancer patients can. As of November 2025, Tina was still in active treatment for Stage IV lung cancer and sharing practical guidance for others starting chemotherapy. She stressed that side effects can vary by cycle and by regimen, and she encouraged patients to keep communicating with their oncology team.