Legacy

Over the years, LungCancer.net has lost powerful voices in the lung cancer community. Hear the stories of those who are no longer with us as we celebrate their life and message.

Ronda Beaty

In December 2016, I was a healthy 51-year-old Mother of 2 grown daughters. I had been weightlifting regularly for over three years and was in the best shape of my life. I had taken a break from the gym, as is often recommended, to give my muscles a break. In a few short days I found myself getting winded while climbing the stairs at home. Several trips to the doctor, having been diagnosed with pneumonia, several antibiotics, resulted in no improvement.  January 11th, 2017, everything changed. Read more.

Angie Brice

It started with a cough that kept me up til dawn. Sure I was always exhausted, losing weight, and lacking in appetite but I attributed that to having a 3 and 5 year old, going to the gym and being too busy and stressed to sit down and eat. What finally gave me room for pause was when I started coughing up blood. Read more.

Anita Figueras

Anita Figueras has been a lung cancer patient since 2014, when she was diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma. She has an EGFR mutation, and has developed the T790M resistance mutation. Anita is on her third line of treatment. She participated in the Clovis Pharmaceuticals’ phase II trial for CO-1686, and spoke to the FDA’s Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee about her experience on the experimental drug. She was diagnosed with MS 20 years ago, and has long experience with living with a chronic illness. Read more.

Karen Loss

At the time of her diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer on Thanksgiving weekend in 2012, Karen was already a nearly 16-year survivor of concurrent primary cancers of the uterus and ovaries. Following a lengthy interval of testing to determine what was causing recurrent "chest attacks," most of which involved doctors looking for gall bladder causes, a CT scan of her chest finally revealed masses in her right lung's lower lobe and on the hepatic dome of her liver. Read more.

Lisa Moran

Lisa Moran has been surviving late stage lung cancer since being diagnosed in August 2015 with stage iv non-small cell lung cancer with metastasis to the spine. She has tested positive for the EGFR and T790m mutations. Her lung cancer treatments have been targeted therapies and radiation to the lung and spine. Read more.

Jeffrey Poehlmann

Author and filmmaker, Jeffrey Poehlmann has worked in virtually every form of media over the past 30 years. With a degree in Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California, he has managed through some very shrewd maneuvering to remain less famous than many of his classmates. However, hIs diagnosis with Stage 4 non-small cell adenocarcinoma and the resulting sudden interest in his blog, Just Bad For You, has threatened this carefully crafted life of anonymity. Read more.

Nicole Russell

Nicole was 37 year old Mom and Wife living in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has lived in New York most of her childhood and landed in the south by way of the military. She was a Paralegal Specialist for the United States Army from 2000-2003 and was stationed in South Korea and Virginia. After the military, She become a Paralegal for the Department of the Army as a Civilian Federal Employee and then as a Legal Technician for the EEOC. She was diagnosed with Stage IV Non Small Cell Lung Cancer on February 24, 2016 with mets to spine, pelvis and brain. Read more.

Chris Sabia

Chris Sabia was 38 and lived in Stamford, Connecticut with his wife Emma. In December 2016, they had their first child, CJ. They also have Geno, the best dog in the world. Chris is a graduate of Stonehill College where he majored in English and played baseball. Read more.

Erin Sarauer

Erin Sarauer was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in 2016, just shy of her 40th birthday. A never smoker, she fainted in front of the pulmonologist who delivered the news that her persistent cough and shortness of breath were indicative of metastatic lung cancer. Read more.

Don Stranathan

I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer in June of 2009. Since my girlfriend Penny passed in 2014 from small cell lung cancer I have dedicated myself to advocating for lung cancer research and awareness. Read more.

Julie Swedberg

In June of 2016, at the age of 41, Julie was diagnosed with Stage IV adenocarcinoma, with cancer in both lungs, lymph nodes and breast bone. Julie has undergone two major surgeries since her diagnosis. The first to remove a stubborn tumor in her right lower lobe with a VATS wedge resection, and most recently, a femur stabilization surgery, including curettage and cementing of a tumor in the left femur, followed by radiation. Julie is currently on her second line of treatment, Tagrisso, after 20 months on Tarceva. Read more.

Jennifer Toth

Jennifer Toth, a mom of 7 grown children, was working full time and part time as a freelance writer when Lung Cancer came knocking at the door in January 2014. Since that day she has had surgery to remove both left lung lobes, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy. She is currently receiving Opdivo every two weeks to treat metastasis to her lymph nodes and right upper lung lobe. Read more.

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