My story began when a CT scan I had due to a possible heart attack revealed a spot on my left lung. I was never a smoker and had no “markers” that would indicate lung cancer, so after one check up with a pulmonologist, I poured myself into my new job and forgot about it for two years.
At that point I asked my general practitioner to request another CT scan just to check. The scan showed that the spot had grown. Though my doctor said it could be any number of things, I had bloodwork done that came back positive for cancer.
Plans to have what was actually a tumor in my left lung removed surgically had begun, but on my first appointment with my oncologist I underwent an MRI of my brain, required of all new patients, which revealed 20 small tumors. My cancer went from stage one to stage four in less than an hour.
At my doctor’s request, I underwent Genome testing which showed that a mutated gene had created my cancer and would continue to drive it until my doctor could find the right treatment.
He found a form of chemotherapy that can control the gene. Treatment started with 10 sessions of radiation to my brain to kill the tumors followed by the chemo drug that dissolved the tumor in my lung. I will take it twice daily for the rest of my life.
The Ask – I sincerely believe I am alive today because of research and development of the cancer I have and the drug I take every day. I am here to ask that you support funding for cancer research for the CDC and NIH in the budget planning process for 2025.
