In May 2018, I was a 29-year-old mother at the beginning of my third trimester of my second pregnancy. A few years before I was diagnosed with Chrohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that can cause unintended weight loss. When I stopped gaining weight so quickly with my first pregnancy, my doctor and I thought it was the easiest explanation.
But a few months later, in mid-August 2018, I woke up with severe chest pain. I could not breathe or move without excruciating pain. My husband had already gone to work, so I took our 2-year-old daughter to school and then googled my symptoms. I called my doctor and primary care, and they told me the same thing: go to the ER immediately.
After an X-ray on the chest, the doctor came in and told me that I had a calcified granuloma – a small, typically benign (non-cancerous) inflammatory spot that is often caused by infection – in the lower part of my left lung. In most cases, it does not cause any symptoms. All the other things were clear, so the doctor diagnosed me with lung pain from pregnancy and sent me on my way. Actually, he believed that my chest pain was a normal reaction to the pressure of carrying a growing baby.
In October 2018, I gave birth to a healthy baby girl. A month later my husband bought me a Peloton bike and I jumped as soon as I could not practice again. For three months I rode my bike almost every day and then fell off a bit when I went back to work in February 2019.
In April, I decided it was time to get back in shape, but I struggled terribly on my first ride.
During my lunch I break on my Peloton for a 15-minute ride, just a workout. But it was very, very difficult. As a former collegiate basketball player at a Division 1 school, I have never had such a hard time practicing. I think, Oh my god, I’ve never been like this in my life!
That night I made my bed and brushed my teeth coughing up blood.
It was this light, pinkish color. I looked at my husband and said, ‘Oh, shit.’ The next morning the same thing happened. I called my doctor and went in for an appointment. She listened to my lungs and, shockingly enough, she said it sounded good. I had a little shortness of breath, but she could not hear anything. She thought I probably had an infection like bronchitis, and my lungs were just inflamed. She prescribed an antibiotic and said I should come back if I still have symptoms in ten days.
Within about three days I stopped coughing up blood and while my cough did not disappear completely, it was also not a whole day annoyance. I was thinking of going back to the doctor, but I was scheduling an appointment for next week anyway, so I put it off a bit. Hindsight is 20/20, but it was Derby Week (a big buy where I lived in Louisville, Kentucky), and I wanted to enjoy my weekend. So I pushed by it.
But then I started coughing up blood again. Not to get too rough, but the consistency has changed. It started off light pink, not so much. Now, it was a brighter red color and I cough on dishes of about two-quarters. It sucks, I think. Guess I just need stronger antibiotics?
Monday morning I went to see my PCP again and she was pretty stunned. I mentioned that I also lost more weight than I expected. I was after my delivery – so some weight loss was normal – but it seemed like I was declining faster after my first pregnancy.
After a variety of tests and scans, they eventually referred me to a pulmonologist, who did a bronchoscopy to look at my lungs and collect samples. For the first time, I was worried that I might really get lung cancer. I felt it was bad.
The following Monday I get the call: I done the lung cancer.
I remember the doctor told me to sit down. He said he was sorry to do it telephonically, but we had to start finding out ASAP everything to cure my cancer. I sent my husband an SMS. I called the doctor to give the details. In addition, I barely remember anything. I think I made black.
After a lot of tests, scans and a second opinion, I was diagnosed stage IV lung cancer which delivered to me and spread my legs. I had three spots on my spine, rib cage and pelvis.
When the doctor told the news, he was visibly trembling and upset. To anyone outside that room, I looked like a healthy 30-year-old. As I have heard most people, I thought about smoking when I heard ‘lung cancer’. I have never smoked a cigarette in my life. I have not bird like the typical metastatic lung cancer patient. I was lame.
I developed lung cancer although I did not have any of the typical risk factors.
My oncologist suggested that I get comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) to help identify what genetic mutations I have so that my doctors can better plan my course. About three weeks after my diagnosis, my test results showed that I had ALK-positive (anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive, or ALK +) lung cancer. Of all patients with non-small cell lung cancer (the most common form), only about one in 25 is ALK-positive. Patients with ALK-positive lung cancer tend to be like me—younger people who’s it never smoked.
The ALK mutation causes your lung cells to grow abnormally like cancer cells, and over time it can spread to other parts of your body as well. Compared to other mutations that cause cancer to grow, ALK is generally more treatable and responds very well to effective therapy, such as taking a pill that blocks the action of this mutation to stop the spread of cancer cells. This beats the alternative we considered: traditional chemotherapy.
Although I had no idea before that meeting what ALK-positive means, I learned that it was literally the first good news we had received since my diagnosis. My doctor explained that I could take a pill, and expected it to work for me for years. That was really good news – a silver lining. For the first time, we had hope. I immediately started taking the targeted therapy remedy, and I continue to do so today.
Within a few days, my lungs started clearing up and I stopped coughing.
In July 2019, a few months after my diagnosis, I received a scan that shows no evidence of disease. In the spring of 2020, my cancer came back, but after chemotherapy, from December 2020, there was no more evidence of disease.
Today I continue to take pills for effective therapy, but otherwise I am going to lead a fairly normal life again. If you look at me, you probably see a healthy, 31-year-old mother of two who may be just a little tired because she has two children who keep her busy.
I want young women to understand how important it is to be your own advocate and to take your health seriously – because I did not.
I did not think that cancer could happen to me at the age of 29. Even though I knew it would not make sense for a 15 minute bike ride to be so difficult, I would never have thought I had lung cancer.
As young and healthy women, we often brush off strange symptoms and are brushed by doctors. But if you think something is wrong or notice your fitness level, it is not so, it does not hurt to check and follow up until you realize what is going on. Keep getting the answers and treatment you need.
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