Thank you, Holly. And bless you.
Bless you on behalf of the 160,000 people who die each year from lung cancer, and from the countless others, like you, who also suffer from its consequences.
Bless you on behalf of the 15-20% of people who never smoked yet still get lung cancer.
Bless you on behalf of those who do smoke – those who are horribly addicted and started smoking when they were teenagers, enticed by the tobacco industry.
Bless you on behalf of all those trying to quit smoking, with the help of smoking aids – very expensive ones, I might add – and ones that should be subsidized by the tobacco industry.
Bless you for your compassion and your courage. This disease is so stigmatized that many in the media are reticent to touch it. Smoking is a dirty habit; but whether you smoked or not, lung cancer is cruel, and no one deserves it.
Again, thank you for writing about this, and for showing the many faces of lung cancer. Young and old. Male and female. Smoker and nonsmoker.
And I am so deeply sorry for your losses.
Always hope,
Lori

Thank you Holly for speaking out. My mother died from small cell lung cancer as well. And it is a terrible disease. I want to tell everyone to Remember November(R)! that it’s lung cancer awareness month. Keep blogging and posting your story. The best thing you can do about lung cancer is TALK ABOUT IT to other people and educate them that even if the whole world quit smoking tomorrow, we wouldn’t end lung cancer. November is a perfect time to tell your story, but don’t just stop in November. EVERY MONTH is lung cancer awareness month.
xoxo,
tracy

My Dad passed away five years ago from lung cancer. He survived lung cancer the first time and then ten years later the other lung and we lost him. He never could survive the second surgury due to complictions. We miss him everyday.

My dad passed away from lung cancer last year on Oct 16, 2008, he was 87. He began smoking at a very young age, I believe around the age of 11. Although my brothers and sisters weren’t very close to him, and he was never quite the father that we all hoped for, I know his passing touched all of us deeply. Through his passing, I became closer to my oldest brother David, also a smoker, where I wouldn’t have otherwise. David is battling his own personal demons associated with drug addiction and I am trying to be there for him in a supportive way. Had it not been for my father’s lung disease, I believe my brother David would have been lost to me forever. I’m hoping David can quit smoking someday and can find the strength to continue his fight against his drug addition. He has been clean now for almost 13 months with his sobriety date coinciding with the day of our fathers passing, 10/16/09. I firmly believe that it took the passing of our father to start my brother David down the path of his recovery. My father’s death gave David a new perspective on life and myself the “want to” in being there for him every step of the way. I miss you dad….Patrick….I’m looking after Davey for you.
P.S. Everyone please say a prayer for David to continue to be successful in his daily battle with his drug addiction and to find the same resolve to quit smoking.

My husband died July 19, 2009, just two months after a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma in his right lung. He died less than three weeks after we both retired. It doesn’t seem real. He was joyful, healthy and fit, at peace and in love with life and his family. He had big plans for his retirement. When he was in the military, they gave cigarettes to personnel. However, he quit smoking more than 33 years before his cancer was diagnosed. He couldn’t stand to be around secondhand smoke. I loved him so much and will miss him forever.
I think the disease is stigmatized. We don’t hear about lung cancer as much as other forms of cancer. Yet, it seems that almost everyone I talk to has a dear one who has had lung cancer. Why is this? Is it because society relates lung cancer to smoking. I once had a doctor tell me that he had never seen a case of lung cancer in a nonsmoker so I needn’t worry. Let’s stop punishing those who were victimized by the tobacco industry. Help us all by bringing lung cancer to our attention.

My mom was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in February 2007. She has smoked for about 40+ years. Over all, according to her doctor, she had been doing remarkably well. Last week her PET scan showed that it had spreak to her kidneys and bone. It is an awful disease, especially when you see your mother wasting away. We love her so much, and are trying to best prepare us for that horrible day. She has fought so hard, and been through some much. I do wish there would be more fundraising for this type of cancer. I am only seeing one 5K run in my area for this disease. Also, my mother in law died of lung cancer 5 years ago- never picked up a cigarette in her life. I have never smoked, and dont intend to, however I hate when people look down on those that do. Everyone has their habit, unfortunately smoking one of the worst. I agree in stop punishing those who smoke, and get busy doing more fundraising and research on this disgusting diseas!

Radon and Lung Cancer–Confident in My Ignorance
We think we know about radon and lung cancer, but do we?
Why was I so confident in my ignorance is the question I ask myself very often. In the months prior to my husband’s diagnosis of lung cancer, he mentioned to me that perhaps we should check our home for radon gas. Of course, I didn’t know anything about radon gas, but thought I did. I said that our home was relatively new—only twenty years old—and we had a tight basement. I was confident in my ignorance! Because radon cannot be detected through our senses, the only way to know if this silent killer is intruding into your home is to test. Recognizing what we can’t see, taste or smell is the problem.
In the year before his diagnosis, my husband Joe also said to me that he might have cancer. My husband had previously had two triple artery bypasses twenty years apart. Again, I said, you don’t have cancer; you have heart disease. I thought he was just worrying too much. I thought I knew but I didn’t. My husband Joe was a person to take preventive and safe measures. For 27 years he worked and exercised every day, kept a low fat, low cholesterol diet, and didn’t smoke. We had smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguishers in our home; and we didn’t burn candles. Joe only lived six weeks after his diagnosis of lung cancer that had spread to his liver and bones. We had been living with a radon level of 17.6 picocuries per liter of air in our home for 18 years.
Knowing the word radon and that it is a gas does not constitute knowledge of the element and its danger. You’ve heard the saying “A little knowledge can be dangerous.” I would change that to “A little knowledge can be deadly.” We, the general public, don’t know the facts. We must replace our limited knowledge with a full base of all the facts on radon.
Dr. Bill Field, an American Academic Scholar and Professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology within the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa, who has recently been appointed to the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health by President Obama, stated that protracted radon progeny exposure is the seventh leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States and the leading environmental cause of cancer mortality. It is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among non-smokers. Large and recent studies confirm that radon in homes increases lung cancer risks. Throughout our world up to 18% of the lung cancers can be attributed to indoor radon according to Professor Bill Angell, Chair of the Prevention and Mitigation Working Group of the World Health Organization’s International Radon Project. . Radioactive particles from radon gas are inhaled and attach to the air sacs in the lungs. These particles change the characteristic of the cells to cancer, and those mutated cells divide and multiply.
Radon is a radioactive gas that emanates from rocks and soils and tends to concentrate in enclosed spaces like houses. Soil gas infiltration is the most important source of residential radon and is present in every home (except ones on stilts) because of the way our homes are built and designed.
The analysis from recent studies in Europe, North America, and Asia indicates that lung cancer risk increases proportionally with increasing radon exposure according to the World Health Organization (WHO). There is no known threshold concentration below which radon is safe. On September 21, 2009 WHO, in view of the latest scientific data, released a reference level of 2.7 picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L) as a minimum level to minimize health hazards due to indoor radon exposure.
Radon is easy to measure. Every home needs to be tested for radon because each home has its own individual footprint on the earth. The homeowner cannot rely on the results of surrounding houses in the neighborhood. A short term (3-7 days) and/or long term (3-12 months) test kit can be used. Radon professionals can also perform the test with electronic devices. Test kits can be obtained from the radon hotline at (785) 532-6026 or email at Radon@ksu.edu or Web site: http://www.sosradon.org. Radon test kits can also be purchased at the local hardware stores.
It is easy to protect from radon gas. Addressing radon is important in new construction as well as existing buildings. Radon prevention strategies focus on sealing radon entry routes and using soil depressurization techniques to prevent the gas from entering the home. The cost is very reasonable. “How little it can cost to save a life!” is what I would say to someone who complained about the expense of a radon mitigation system installed by a licensed radon professional.
I write this in memory of my husband Joe –who was so very dear to me—my friend, my partner, my companion, my love. I ask you to test your home for radon during this month of November—National Lung Cancer Awareness Month. If your level is above 2.7, spend that little extra money to help save a life. That life may be someone you love.
October 22,2009
Gloria Linnertz
seascape@htc.net
618 830 4660
618 Evansville Ave.
Waterloo, IL 62298

I lost my mom to lung cancer almost two years ago when she was 58 and I was 33. She never got to see me get married, will never meet her grandchildren. I didn’t get to throw her the fabulous 60th birthday party I know she wanted – the one all of her fellow baby boomer friends are having this year.
I lost my best friend and my biggest confidante to a disease that took a perfectly healthy “younger than 58 year old” woman from diagnosis to death in three months.
This month is lung cancer awareness month and while we won’t be inundated by lung cancer marketing and a sea of pink the way we were last month for breast cancer awareness month, let’s all get the word out that lung cancer is the #1 cancer killer, but the least funded of all of the major cancers. It will take lives of nearly twice as many women as breast cancer – yet no one talks about it; no one gets behind the lung cancer movement – because of the smoking stigma.
I’m joined the movement. I’m getting the word out. I will never get my mom back, but by doing SOMETHING, maybe another daughter WILL be able to throw her mom a 60th birthday party – will have her at her wedding and have an amazing grandmother to her children.
That’s my hope – and I know it can be a reality if we all work together and we all speak up.

I lost my beloved Mother to the devastation of lung cancer 1 year and two months to this day. It was a horrible experience watching her suffer. My Mother was the pilar of health, she walked 5 miles every morning, ate healthy and never had a sick day in her life.
When she was diagnosed, she died within 6 months. Her diagnosis was stage 3 and as we know, all we could do was make her as comfortable as possible. I’m happy that I had the chance see her smile, hear her voice, because when it was time she couldn’t smile, talk, walk, laugh, just gaze with love in her eyes.
We lost our friend, Mother, Grandmother and great Grandmother to that horrible disease. I thank God for those who are survivors!
God Speed Healing and Blessings to all!

First my prayers are with you Patrick and your brother David. I deal with the same every day with a loved one with an addiction. What a scurge on us all. We have to thank God every day they are sober. Mine has been for over 3 yrs but as with lung cancer you just can’t not think about it.
On to the other subject of lung cancer. I am a 10 yr survivor of this disease. I am one of a very select few. 15% only survive 5 yrs from diagnosis! This has been the same since 1970 when Richard Nixon declared war on cancer. It has never changed. Why , because the funding for reasearch and cure have never been made available for lung cancer. It has been totaly swept under the rug by the politicians and he tobacco companies. Do you know more people die every year from lung cancer than any other cancer. More than Breast,Prostrate, Pancreatic and Colon cancers combined. 165,000 people die each and every year. Do we hear about this except as maybe a snipet on the news shows. If this many people died from the flu we would all be saying why isn’t there a national pandemic declared! We have been considered dirty by most people and we did it to our selves. NO ONE DESERVES CANCER!
Thank you Ms. Rossi for writing this piece. I hope I didn’t get to negative. You wrote a wonderful piece.

Thank you so much for writing about Lung Cancer! The more we all do, each in our own way will spread the word. The more people that begin to understand how large the number of deaths are and how small the funding, the sooner we can affect a change! Thank you so much.
Linda
P.S. My dad died of lung cancer after not smoking for 16 years.

Ihave be caner free since May 2009. I was diagnosed in Oct of 2008,I have some team of Docter’s in Ill and Mo.. If you smoke please to stop and be check by your Docter.
Thank You!

I am a 65 year old non smoker diagonised last month with stage 4 lung cancer. It took 3 months to be diagnosed because there is no standard testing. Every scan radilogy report said Pneumonia because my upper right lobe was full of fluid. Thankfully I had a presistant pulmonary
Dr. who kept requesting more tests and scans.We need more funding for early detection of this killer.

My mother was diagnosed a year and two weeks ago with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer. I left my home, lost my job and see my husband maybe once a month – I have been her constant care-giver through this journey.I cannot thank you enough for addressing this horrible disease – everyone needs to be aware “if you have lungs, you are at risk for this disease”. The toxins in the tobacco – and the toxins in our environment put everyone at risk…. My mother was put off by her doctor for 2 years – he prescribed more meds each visit and denied her requests for scans – insurance won’t pay. Standardized test have to be put in place!!

my husband is a 5 year survivor of 4th stage lung cancer.After chemo and radiation it went to his brain. He had stero tactic radiation brain surgery.They gave him six mos when he was diagonsed its been 5 yrs.We are very blessed.He does have some memory loss and gets headaches which cause seizures,And at times his concentration he has trouble with but i’m grateful for what we got. We got married six weeks later found out he had 4th stage lung cancer. I was pregnant and fearful .but he fought and our little boy will be 5 yrs in december.and in december willbe 5 yrs in remission

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