Lung Cancer Survivor
On Sept 29, 2022 I had a sharp pain in my right lung. I went to the ER and was told I had pneumonia. They told me to check in with my doctor to get a follow up Xray. The Xray happened on Dec 5 and there was something suspicious so I did a CT scan on Dec 16 which revealed a suspicious nodule in the top of my left lung as well as something on the bottom of my right lung. The left side looked like cancer so I got a needle biopsy and the results on Jan 31 revealed cancer. I was immediately referred to a thoracic surgeon and a pulmonology group. The surgeon ordered a PET scan to see if it had spread to the lymph nodes. It had not spread which meant that I qualified for surgery. So, the priority was to get the nodule out as soon as possible with a lobectomy – removal of the top lobe of the left lung. Surgery was March 6.
Prior to surgery on March 2, I had a meeting with a pulmonologist. I took a breathing test and he reported that my lungs were in great shape. Kind of ironic considering I had lung cancer. He showed me the PET scan image and said it is unlikely that the small mass at the bottom of my right lung is cancerous but he is going to keep an eye on it. On a follow up CT scan it had disappeared.
The surgery went well and took about 2 ½ hours. I spent 3 days in the hospital. The pain was not that bad but the slightest activity was exhausting. Even talking too much was difficult. The cancer was adenocarcinoma. It grew 50% (20-30mm) from CT scan to surgery which was 10 weeks. It was stage 1b. The surgeon referred me to an oncologist just to be sure there isn’t any follow up treatment needed.
We met with the oncologist on May 19. She did a more thorough analysis of the biopsy and determined that I had a grade 3 cancer (there are 4 grades). The higher the grade the more aggressive the cancer. Even though it can’t be detected, the odds are higher that it has begun to spread. She also ran a test to see if I had a mutation because there is an effective targeted treatment for cancer cells with a mutation. She was excited to tell us that I did indeed have a mutation called EGFR. So the treatment is 4 rounds of chemo every 3 weeks (ending Aug 4) and then a daily pill for 3 years, starting September 2023. The success rate is 85% to 90% or higher. I have had a follow up CT scan every 6 months for 2 years then annually for 3 more years. All of the CT scans have been clean and in June 2025, about 2 years after surgery, I had a PET scan which was clear.
Thanks to chatGPT, here’s a breakdown of the current data (as of 2024) on lung cancer among non-smokers, focusing on non-small cell adenocarcinoma, stage 1, grade 3, and EGFR mutation subtype:
🔹 1. What are the odds of a non-smoker getting lung cancer?
🔹 2. What percent of lung cancer cases are my type of cancer.
Prior to surgery on March 2, I had a meeting with a pulmonologist. I took a breathing test and he reported that my lungs were in great shape. Kind of ironic considering I had lung cancer. He showed me the PET scan image and said it is unlikely that the small mass at the bottom of my right lung is cancerous but he is going to keep an eye on it. On a follow up CT scan it had disappeared.
The surgery went well and took about 2 ½ hours. I spent 3 days in the hospital. The pain was not that bad but the slightest activity was exhausting. Even talking too much was difficult. The cancer was adenocarcinoma. It grew 50% (20-30mm) from CT scan to surgery which was 10 weeks. It was stage 1b. The surgeon referred me to an oncologist just to be sure there isn’t any follow up treatment needed.
We met with the oncologist on May 19. She did a more thorough analysis of the biopsy and determined that I had a grade 3 cancer (there are 4 grades). The higher the grade the more aggressive the cancer. Even though it can’t be detected, the odds are higher that it has begun to spread. She also ran a test to see if I had a mutation because there is an effective targeted treatment for cancer cells with a mutation. She was excited to tell us that I did indeed have a mutation called EGFR. So the treatment is 4 rounds of chemo every 3 weeks (ending Aug 4) and then a daily pill for 3 years, starting September 2023. The success rate is 85% to 90% or higher. I have had a follow up CT scan every 6 months for 2 years then annually for 3 more years. All of the CT scans have been clean and in June 2025, about 2 years after surgery, I had a PET scan which was clear.
Thanks to chatGPT, here’s a breakdown of the current data (as of 2024) on lung cancer among non-smokers, focusing on non-small cell adenocarcinoma, stage 1, grade 3, and EGFR mutation subtype:
🔹 1. What are the odds of a non-smoker getting lung cancer?
- Absolute risk (lifetime):
- In the U.S., the lifetime risk of lung cancer for a never-smoker is estimated at 0.2–1%.
- For comparison, lifetime risk for a smoker is about 15–20%.
- Annually, fewer than 20 cases per 100,000 occur in never-smokers (varies by region, age, and gender).
🔹 2. What percent of lung cancer cases are my type of cancer.
- About 10–20% of lung cancers in the U.S. occur in people who have never smoked.
- Over 85% of lung cancers in never-smokers are NSCLC.
- Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of NSCLC in never-smokers—comprising about 70–90% of NSCLC cases in this group.
- With routine imaging or incidental findings, about 15–25% of lung cancers are detected at Stage 1.
- Grade 3 (high-grade) adenocarcinomas make up about 20–30% of lung adenocarcinoma cases.
- Among non-smoking patients with lung adenocarcinoma EGFR mutations are present in about 30–40% in the U.S.