I have lived in Louisville, Kentucky most of my life. For the last 10 years I made managing my health a priority. I never smoked a day in my life. I exercise most days. I eat right. I have a yearly physical, mammogram, blood work, wear sunscreen, and basically do my best to be as healthy as possible. I am a busy mom to 3 children and loving my life and, bam…I am hit with this most unlikely diagnosis.

“I was born and raised in Kentucky where I currently live with my husband and our three children.  Never in a million years would I have believed I could get lung cancer because there is no history of the disease in my family and I have never smoked.

One day, while teaching at my school, I had a sharp pain in my chest radiating around to my back that would not go away. I was concerned enough to see my doctor the next day and was relieved when she made the decision to order a CT scan. Thankfully, that one occurrence alarmed me enough to see my doctor right way because I had not experienced any other symptoms and I never felt that original pain again.

There is so much love that surrounds the memory of Cindy Cannon.  That was evident when more than 40 family and friends showed up at our recent fundraiser to honor and remember her. She is often described as the kindest, most loving person, you could ever know. Cindy was diagnosed with stage IV Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in late April 2014, but the journey to her eventual diagnosis began much earlier. Because there are often little or no early symptoms of lung cancer, pain is often first felt in another part of the body after the cancer has already spread.

Jodi Critchfield Nathanson lived in Luguna Beach, California when she passed away from lung cancer in September 2015 at the age of 53. She was a loving wife, mother and friend to so many! She grew up in Lexington where she met some of her closest lifelong friends; pictured here (front middle) with her at the beach shortly after her diagnosis. Jodi was always healthy, never smoked and loved life; sharing her big heart with everyone she knew.