Lung Cancer Awareness Month

 

That's a heart full of white ribbons.

I'm a month late. But better late than never!

November is the official Lung Cancer Awareness month and I have to say that I was awful at taking the time in November to feature it. It was not at the forefront of my mind alongside COVID, the election, e-learning, my schooling, remembering to water my plants, and watching Friends episodes. Within Dan's first few months of a diagnosis, we established a relationship with Lung Cancer Alliance (now GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer), and I even contributed a blog post to their web site. Since then, we have not been connected to, or followed, an organization, which is also why it wasn't at the forefront of my mind.

And I don't want to face it. Honestly, I don't want to face the fact that we are a part of the lung cancer community. I'm not happy to share the facts--even though there are some promising research results now. 

I do connect to groups and patients on Facebook, but the loss of these virtual friends and strangers alike is devastating. I can only handle so much.

However.

Today, in the middle of December, I am going to raise awareness and the #1 thing about awareness for me is two-fold:

1.) Anyone with lungs is AT RISK for lung cancer. It doesn't matter what your lifestyle is like! 

According to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America, 1 in 15 people in the U.S. can expect to receive a lung cancer diagnosis. That’s 1 out of every 14 men, and 1 out of every 17 women.

65% of new lung cancer cases are in former smokers and those who have never smoked. END THE STIGMA. Dan is in this category as a former smoker.

The consequences especially for women are particularly staggering, and far more women die every day from lung cancer than breast cancer. Learn about lung cancer screenings here.

2.) There is HOPE. Thanks to lung cancer research, more people are living with lung cancer. This is Dan. He was diagnosed Stage IV with mets from lung to brain, lymph nodes, and spine, and given a prognosis of 12-18 months. Today he continues what was newly developed life-saving treatment at 6 years. (He has the ALK gene and his medication is Alcensa.)

Take a minute to read GO2's information on 2020 Treatment Advancements here.

LCFA and GO2 are dedicated year-round to funding innovative research.

Donate here to help fund LCFA’s research grant program. Donate here to GO2.

Meanwhile, I am going to get my head out of the sand and explore more ways to be a better advocate!