May is Lung Cancer Hope Month. A celebration of the progress for people living with lung cancer – but for Kentuckians like us progress must always keep moving forward. It is never fast enough, and never…enough. We need continued awareness, advancements in scientific research, and improvements in precision medicine to keep hope alive. Erase the stigma of lung cancer and help us continue to succeed in improving the survival statistics of lung cancer. Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer!Share on FacebookPost on XFollow usSave

I was born in Madison WI.  I moved to Louisville in September 1981 with my 1st husband, son & daughter. I was diagnosed in November 2005 with lung cancer after coughing up a handful of blood.  I went to my Primary Care Physician who was out of the office at the time, but his associate sent me to get an Xray. The image showed 2 nodules in the upper lobe of my right lung.  It is very rare that lung cancer would be diagnosed this way, so my doctor sent me on to have a CT scan of my chest. That next week it was confirmed that I had one lymph node and one nodule that appeared to be cancer.  I followed up with a PET scan and a biopsy was performed on the nodule. It was after those procedures that I was diagnosed with Stage II, Non-Small Cell lung cancer. We chose a … Read more

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.