Spread the word – if you have lungs, you can get lung cancer. And, it creeps up on you, disguised as anything but lung cancer. At least that must be what it does, because so many of us are diagnosed at the metastatic stage. Why health care professionals don’t think of lung cancer when seeing a patient with symptoms such as a little cough cough that won’t go away, I just don’t know. So spread the word. Pay attention to your body. Be demanding of your PCP.
In an attempt to spread the word, I was interviewed by a local paper. Below is a link to that article and then the text of a letter to the editor that I sent as a follow-up.
Letter to Editor, Weekly Packet, Sept. 2017
Thank you to Monique Labbe for her thoughtful article on an unexpected turn in my life, lung cancer. Ms. Labbe conducted a kind, compassionate interview on a difficult topic, while surrounded by the laughter and play of several nine to eleven year olds.
I’ve immersed myself in learning on this topic. There are a few important “take aways” that I believe every breathing person should know:
- If you have lungs, you can get lung cancer. The stigma associated with lung cancer and smoking impacts lung cancer education and research funding. It also causes us to ignore the subtle symptoms, leading to many being diagnosed only when the cancer is metastatic.
- Lung cancer kills more women yearly than breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer combined. For more information about lung cancer patient support and advocacy visit the Bonnie Addario Lung Cancer Foundation lungcancerfoundation.org .
- When you have a tumor biopsy, ask for genomic testing. If a cell mutation, a genetic driver is found, your oncology team may be able to treat your cancer with a targeted therapy, instead of the cancer with a more general treatment plan.
- Don’t be afraid of clinical trials. This field of research is moving at an amazing pace. Being a part of the research gives one hope, for oneself and the future.
- Cancer (any chronic disease) impacts more than the patient. It seems unavoidable that it takes an incredible toll, financially and more so emotionally, on the entire family. Caregivers need support perhaps even more than the patient on this rollercoaster of a journey.
I’m very grateful that I’m able to be treated at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where I’m currently in a clinical trial studying a targeted therapy drug that treats ROS1+ lung cancer that has progressed to the brain (in my case brain meninges). We’re hopeful that it will extend my life for a very long time. The well wishes and prayers on our behalf from so many in our community are a great source of strength.
Respectfully,
Corinne C. Pert
polepole ~ breathe 