Lung Cancer Awareness Month – Link Love

I couldn’t find a good image capturing the subject of this post, so here’s my cat, raucously celebrating LCAM. Doesn’t her enthusiasm jump off the page?

Today is the last day of Lung Cancer Awareness Month for 2019. I have neglected to blog about it this year, I think I never quite recovered from posting a memorial per day for every day in November back in 2017. 

Luckily, other folks have got my back. Although we still have a long way to go to overcome the smoking stigma, there’s more and more good content out there for LCAM. Here are some of my favorite links of the month:

1. NBC’s Today show featured awesome veteran LC advocate, Jill Feldman. This is the first time a national news show has featured a story about a lung cancer patient for LCAM – huge milestone! Journalist Kate Snow and my friend Jill did a fabulous job. Please check it out: https://www.today.com/health/what-are-signs-lung-cancer-nonsmoker-diagnosed-disease-fights-stigma-t167097
2.  Linnea Olsen, whom some of us affectionately refer to as the “OG” of lung cancer activists, did an important TED talk: https://www.wgbh.org/tedxbeacon?fbclid=IwAR1YvOWLAF1kevUi1LrbDjt0wDXczOX0kBo4rmuFzgtwF9j2SBEIMItj0VE (she starts at about 2:38)
3. Ivy Elkins took the words out of my mouth with this short, but excellent article summarizing the top 5 things everyone should know about lung cancer. Please read and share: https://lungcancer.net/living/wish-people-knew/?fbclid=IwAR2Didbe16d09e-LqHCNmXkqtWXZuye3_80oz4NSHEreXwIKnyNOEH6_4oo
4. I’m cheating a little bit, because this was published in late October, not November, but this is a great (very readable) piece about the ROS1ders, featuring Tori Tomalia and Merel Hennink, titled “ROS1 Cancer Model Project Demonstrates the Power of Patient Advocacy”: https://www.precisiononcologynews.com/cancer/ros1-cancer-model-project-demonstrates-power-patient-advocacy?utm_source=addthis_shares&fbclid=IwAR24w2WuLWbtjGzuf_g8tdQl4e44vNXx_9Lx-hHew5rr8YdNN9uBZGjkoV8#.Xc5HkzJKgU3
5. Janet Freeman-Daily posted a useful blog about radon and lung cancer. I do not believe radon caused my lung cancer, and it kind of irks me when people immediately jump from “if it wasn’t smoking, it must have been radon,” because I believe that’s a symptom of the stigmatization of lung cancer – the need to always place blame, rather than accept that sometimes it just happens, just like every other type of cancer. That said, radon is more commonplace and dangerous than many realize, and the tools to detect and remediate are quite simple and worthwhile. To protect yourselves and your loved ones, please find out more here: https://grayconnections.net/2019/11/15/do-you-have-the-2nd-biggest-cause-of-lungcancer-in-your-home/
6. I’m cheating again. These are two older, but popular, blog posts I wrote for LCAM back in 2014, and unfortunately, they’re still quite relevant. If you missed them the first time around, please check out: Lungs, They’re Right Under Your Boobs, and Go Ahead, (and ask me if I smoked) … Make My Day.  
7. Finally, if you are moved to contribute to lung cancer research, I am still fundraising here and hoping to raise another $1k in 2019 (Giving Tuesday, anyone? – thank you in advance!!): https://www.supportalcf.org/ros1/lisagoldman

As your reward for getting to the end of this post (and to counterbalance my bitchy cat), I offer you an adorable pup in teeny tiny chucks.