osimertinib: 29 Real Stories
29 stories match osimertinib. 11 of them mention surgery.
Stage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Bill’s Patient Story
Bill was an active Park City skier, runner, and mountain biker when back pain after shoveling snow turned out to be much more than a pulled muscle. The pain lasted for months, and physical therapy did not help. Before a scheduled MRI, he became unable to walk…
Read this storyEGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Joanne’s Patient Story
Joanne’s lung cancer was found by chance in February 2021. She had gone to the emergency room because of what seemed like an abdominal hernia or aneurysm, and an angio CT scan instead showed a mass in the upper lobe of her right lung. She had not had classic…
Read this storyStage I EGFR Lung Adenocarcinoma: Julie’s Patient Story
Julie was 42 when a routine mammogram indirectly led to a lung cancer diagnosis. The mammogram showed a calcified blood vessel, so her doctor ordered a calcium score CT scan. That scan found a 3 cm mass in her left lung. A chest CT confirmed it was still…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Rhonda’s Patient Story
Rhonda Martin was diagnosed in March 2018 with Stage IV non-small cell adenocarcinoma lung cancer. At diagnosis, the cancer had already spread to her brain, spine, hip bone, and lymph nodes. Her first treatment was whole brain radiation. While biopsy results…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Rosee’s Patient Story
Rosee’s symptoms began in September 2022 with severe dizziness, loss of balance, and a spinning sensation. Over the next 2 years, she developed hearing loss, persistent vertigo, migraines, and numbness in one hand. The symptoms were attributed to Ménière’s…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Kelsey’s Patient Story
Kelsey was 36, a mother of 4, and working as a SoulCycle manager when severe back pain began changing her life. At first, she blamed work, commuting, aging, or a pulled muscle. Then she collapsed while coaching baseball and later had to crawl to the bathroom…
Read this storyStage II EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Daniel’s Patient Story
Daniel West had no symptoms before a routine heart scan in October 2022 showed 2 nodules in his right lung. A bronchoscopy biopsy confirmed early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. Daniel, who had quit smoking in 2006, sought a second opinion at UT MD Anderson…
Read this storyEGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle Vacca’s lung cancer was found by accident in March 2017, when she went to the emergency room for an unrelated problem and chest scans showed a spot on her lung. She had never smoked and had no symptoms. Because the non-small cell lung cancer was…
Read this storyStage II EGFR Lung Cancer: Samantha’s Patient Story
Samantha Vaughn first noticed breathlessness and hoarseness after having COVID in 2022. For about 6 months, the symptoms were treated as long COVID, sinus problems, or infection, with inhalers, steroids, and antibiotics that did not help. In May 2023, she…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Natasha’s Patient Story
Natasha, a primary school teacher from Yorkshire, England, was diagnosed with EGFR-positive lung cancer in January 2023 after months of cough, hoarse voice, and squeaky breathing. She was active and had never expected lung cancer, especially as a nonsmoker…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Leah’s Patient Story
Leah Phillips, co-founder of the Young Lung Cancer Initiative, was diagnosed in December 2019 with Stage IV lung cancer carrying an EGFR exon 19 deletion. At diagnosis, her primary tumor was in the right middle lobe of the lung, and she had 13 bone metastases…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jeff’s Patient Story
Jeff had already survived an unusual cancer experience before his lung cancer diagnosis. In 2017, a painful cervical spine mass was first treated as a likely non-cancerous schwannoma, but surgery showed cancer and could not remove everything safely because of…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Leah’s Patient Story
Leah Phillips never smoked, so a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in December 2019 felt impossible. She was 43, with children ages 14, 13, and 9, and had been dealing with a persistent cough, unintentional weight loss, chest heaviness, and coughing up blood…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Filipe’s Patient Story
Filipe was 36 when a headache and blurred vision led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. A brain MRI showed 7 brain metastases, including a 4 cm lesion at the back of his head. CT imaging and biopsy confirmed lung cancer as the primary. Liver lesions were…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Leah’s Patient Story
Leah Phillips was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer at age 43 in December 2019. Her first symptoms were a persistent dry cough, chest heaviness, shortness of breath, fatigue, weight loss, and later coughing up blood. Several visits were…
Read this storyStage II EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Daniel’s Survivor Story
Daniel West’s lung nodules were found unexpectedly in 2022 when he used a workplace opportunity to have cardiac testing after his father’s death from a heart attack. CT and PET imaging showed a concerning nodule in the middle lobe of his right lung, and…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jeff’s Patient Story
Jeff had previously undergone extensive surgery and radiosurgery for a rare cancer involving his cervical spine in 2017. During follow-up in March 2021, a slight cough prompted a chest X-ray that showed a large mass in the lower right lung. Further testing…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Anne’s Patient Story
Anne Laporte, a nurse for about 35 years and an endurance athlete, had a lung nodule followed years earlier and then dismissed because she was a lifelong nonsmoker. Years later, progressive back pain was treated as a sports injury through multiple doctor and…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Ashley’s Patient Story
Ashley had no symptoms when lung cancer was found by chance. She went to the hospital for a gynecologic issue, and CT imaging showed lung nodules. Pathology was sent to Mayo Clinic, and about 1 week later she learned it was non-small cell lung cancer. Both…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Tiffany’s Patient Story
Tiffany was a labor and delivery nurse, Pilates instructor, wife, and mother of twins when shortness of breath and right-sided pain led to a long diagnostic workup during the pandemic. A bronchoscopy was followed by a collapsed lung and hospital stay. Imaging…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Ashley’s Patient Story
Ashley’s later lung cancer segment focuses on living with an incurable but treatable disease. By this point, she had already gone through genomic testing and had chosen care at a larger cancer center about 90 miles away. Her cancer was EGFR-positive non-small…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Ashley’s Patient Story
Ashley’s lung cancer treatment changed because genomic testing found an EGFR-positive cancer with the T790M marker. This part of her story focuses on how she was able to start osimertinib, also called Tagrisso, soon after it became FDA-approved for her cancer…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Ashley’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Ginger’s Patient Story
Ginger Tam sought care for a persistent cough and learned that she had Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. The diagnosis was devastating for the single mother, whose daughter was 8 at the time. She sought a second opinion at a research hospital and became…
Read this story