Melissa E

Melissa E., WI

My story hurts—and hurts a lot! It started back in 2004 when our family lost our Auntie Sandy to lung cancer. Fast forward to 2016 when we tragically lost three additional family members, again all to lung cancer. My mom, Arnette, Uncle John and Judy (two who died within 24 hours of each other). 2017 wasn't very nice to us either. We lost our wonderful sweet cousin, Tina, who passed after a short battle with lung cancer. Later that same year, our Auntie Karen was diagnosed with lung cancer, too. She sadly lost her battle in November 2018. That's a total of six family members lost, all to lung cancer. Through all of the battles, we have had one happy story. Our Auntie Pam was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis which led to scleroderma and required her to be put on the lung transplant list. In December of 2017, she underwent a successful double lung transplant. We are happy to be able to celebrate that she is healthy and still part of our lives today!

First Published: February 5, 2020

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