lunhs cancer

Two. This month marks my second anniversary of living with stage 4 lung cancer. Two years ago at this time, lung cancer burst into my life, kicking and screaming, demanding all of our attention and making our family completely alter our lives to accommodate it. Those first few weeks were a fog.  Just make it through this day, this hour, this minute. As the months went on, we gradually grew accustomed to its presence and learned how to live with this new creature in our midst. I learned to take those tentative first steps � to get my legs under me again. A stumble, a trip, then finding the courage to pull myself back up and try again. Trying to find a voice, to speak this new reality. Find words to communicate and describe this new landscape. I learned to grow into this new identity, to develop my new sense of self. Two years ago today I got that devastating phone call that confirmed it. No more hoping that my severely impaired breathing was due to an unusual strain of pneumonia or...

I've had a ringside seat to the evolution of cancer care. The first time I heard the heart-dropping, stomach-churning, breath-stealing words, "you have cancer," I was 14 years old. The second time I heard them, I was 37. The first time, a chronic ache in my shoulder turned out to be bone cancer. The second time, a chronic cough turned out to be metastatic lung cancer. When I was a teenager undergoing chemotherapy for osteosarcoma, I never really thought I was going to die. Me and my teen cancer comrades in the hospital went through hell together. But I na�vely thought we would all get better and go home again one day. I have seen cancer through an adolescent's eyes, and I have seen it through the eyes of a mom with three small children. I was a busy mom, working, going to grad school, and raising our four-year-old son and two-year-old twin daughters. I was tired all the time, but who wouldn't be? And I had a string of chest colds that I just couldn't shake. Or...

A few days ago there was a great article about the stigma surrounding lung cancer and the impact it has on patients. Check it out! The lung cancer blame game Also included in the article was a slide show with several people in the lung cancer club, including yours truly. Slideshow: Faces of lung cancer So enough with the blame already, let's work together and find a cure!

Imagine a room filled with 150 people who have lung cancer, many of whom are stage 4. Do you envision wheelchairs and oxygen tanks? Frailty and sadness? Then, my friend, you clearly did not attend the 5 th Annual LUNGevity HOPE Summit in Washington DC this past weekend. Every year, the LUNGevity Foundation hosts a weekend-long conference for lung cancer survivors and caregivers (you are a "survivor" the day you are diagnosed with cancer). In its first year, 17 survivors attended. This year, that number was 150. The weekend began with a welcome reception Friday night, where I finally got to meet the people who have become my online support community over the past two years. Saturday and Sunday consisted of sessions on topics of interest to people in the lung cancer community � nutrition, surgery, clinical trials, advocacy, and more. Saturday night's dinner was at a lovely outdoor restaurant called the Old Angler's Inn , which provided delicious food and drink as well...