I’m a 40-something mother and wife. I was diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), Adenocarcinoma (ROS1+) at age 41. My kids were 8 and 11 at the time. I had no risk factors for lung cancer. I had no family history of the disease. I grew up in a small town with minimal air pollution and low radon rates. I was physically fit (I’d been a fitness instructor the 7 years prior to my diagnosis), rarely drank alcohol, had eaten a plant-based diet for the previous 20 years, and, of course, I’d never smoked. I learned the hard way that ANYONE with lungs can get lung cancer.
I have degrees from UC Berkeley and UCLA that I don’t use for any practical purposes; mostly I’m a stay-at-home mom who enjoys fitness, photography and other creative pursuits, good books and bad TV. When not watching bad TV, I now spend a great deal of time as a patient/advocate, focusing especially on supporting patients with ROS1+ cancer.
