Lung cancer upended my world two decades ago when my mother received her shocking diagnosis – shocking because doctors had spent months treating her for bronchitis that turned out to be an advanced adenocarcinoma!
No one fathomed that Mom was at risk for lung cancer. She had no family history of the disease and had been healthy and fit her entire life. Still young, in her early 50’s, she had never smoked – had never lived or worked in smoke-filled environments. Suddenly, she was struggling to breathe.
Like most people, I had always thought lung cancer was a smoker’s disease. But the fact is, as many as 20% of lung cancer patients are not smokers – just like my mother. Lung cancer doesn’t care about your smoking history; it’s an equal opportunity destroyer of lives. If you have lungs, you can get lung cancer.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death but receives the least amount of federal research funding. That has to change! Lung cancer patients are stigmatized and blamed for bringing their cancer on themselves. That has to change! Lung cancer’s survival rate is dismally low because it’s usually diagnosed in later stages when it’s harder to treat. That has to change!
Twenty years ago, lung cancer took my mother’s life and left me, and even some of her doctors, bewildered by its appearance. Since then, there have been numerous advancements in the scientific understanding of lung cancer and improvements in treatments, but more groundbreaking progress is needed. My mom deserved a cure decades ago; so does every lung cancer patient today and in the future.
