I wasn't feeling well for a while, probably three years. I was tired, short of breathe and I kept getting hives.
At one point, I had a fever of unknown original for several months. I was told by doctors that it was stress. As a working mom of two, I believed them.
When I noticed a lump on my clavicle bone I ignored for a few days thinking it was hormones or something that would eventually subside. When it did not, I called the doctor thinking I might have COVID since I was also having shortness of breath-- it was April 2020.
I wish I had had COVID. After a week of biopsies and scans, I was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer with brain mets. I was a never smoker and at the time 47 years old. The internet was a scary place and hope was hard to find.
Luckily, I had a life saving blood biopsy and they determined that I had ALK positive adenocarcinoma and my oncologist told me it was good news.
Hope was back. I have been talking an ALK inhibitor for over 18 months now and I have no evidence of disease. Science is amazing. I got to see my son graduate from high school and I will see my daughter graduate too (she's in 7th grade now). I have a lot of hope and I want to share it.
