As a stage 4 lung cancer patient, I’ve been very lucky. I haven’t had to go to the ER since 2012. Until this week. As many of you know, I traveled to Pensacola on Tuesday to meet Joe and see Godsmack. I had a stuffy nose when I woke up Wednesday morning thinking it was from the AC blowing on my head all night. I developed a slight cough by that night, but otherwise felt fine. Thursday I felt good enough to do a little yard work and cook around 4pm. My cough was getting worse but my temp was still 99⁰ and I tested negative for Covid. Two hours later I decided I should go to urgent care but wasn ..read more

My trial doctor wanted me to have labs done this week at home to keep an eye on my elevating liver enzymes. After reading on the do’s and dont’s on lowering my ALT, eliminating alcohol and sugar were the only things I could do. Alcohol is fine but SUGAR?! Ugh So I haven’t had alcohol for 2 weeks but only stopped sugar on Tuesday because it was Joe’s birthday week. I had labs on Wednesday. Thanks to all of you that shamed my liver and told it to suck it up my ALT went from 113 to 51 WOOHOOOO!! My AST also dropped from 83 to 55. I did add more veggies but I really think it was just my body adapt ..read more

I have so much to tell you! Buckle up buttercup. First, surgery went great, and I recovered quickly with no issues. My incisions are almost completely healed. My mom and I went to Nashville the 15th & 16th to meet with the PI of the trial, Dr. Melissa Johnson. She was great and went over the basics then had me meet Beth, the clinical trial coordinator. She had more details regarding logistics and the trial schedule each week. For the first 4 weeks, we’ll go weekly, then every 2 weeks, then every 4 weeks. Some trips will require an overnight stay and some we can fly in and out the same day ..read more

It’s crazy to think just 2 weeks after I posted this on Facebook I started having back pain. 5 months later I was told I had lung cancer. I just don’t understand how you can feel so good and so strong but have extensive cancer growing in your body. I feel like that now – I lift weights 3-4 days a week and ride my bike at least 70 miles a week. I may feel a little more tired than normal some days but overall I feel great. But somehow there are at least 7 new tumors growing in my abdomen. If cancer wasn’t such an annoying ass, I’d be impressed by its resilience and adaptability ..read more

May 6th will be 10 years that I’ve been on Xalkori – my targeted therapy drug effective at halting ROS1 positive cancers. This was a miracle drug for me. It completely wiped out my 16 tumors that were trying to take over my lungs at the time. It kept my disease dormant for 5 years before a few little boogers slipped through and we had to bring in reinforcements by adding chemo to the mix. I first did 6 cycles of carboplatin and pemetrexed, then have continued with pemetrexed for the last 5 years (on May 16th officially). This drug cocktail has not been easy, but it definitely could be much wor ..read more

EXCITING NEWS! (It’s long but worth it) As most of you know, lung cancer is EXTREMELY underfunded when comparing lives lost. It kills more than the next 4 cancers combined. The Department of Defense funds specific research called Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). One of them is the Lung Cancer Research Program (LCRP). A brief history: Since LC was added in 2009 it only received its alloted $20 million for one year. It then went down to $15m, $12m, then only $10 million a year for the next four years. This affects the programs ability to fund innovative research pro ..read more

“You have lung cancer, and it has spread to your spine.” I’ll never forget hearing those words. I went to the ER for relentless back pain that I’d had for 4 months. I thought maybe I had a herniated or bulging disc, but lung cancer never entered my mind. I was healthy, always tried to take care of my body, and I was only 40. I have been blessed to meet amazing people because of my cancer. Some of which have become close friends. I have worked on advisory panels, speaker’s bureaus, and traveled to dozens of conferences to educate myself so I could help others. This has been my way to feel usefu ..read more

A ..read more

A ..read more

A ..read more