My Husband an Advocate, Too

My husband is also an amazing lung cancer advocate. Although not as much as I advocate, he is out there advocating. Not only does he advocate for me, but for the whole lung cancer community.

As a matter of fact, he's the one that started advocating the day that I was diagnosed. He is the one who did a lot of research and learned about biomarker testing, proton therapy, the different types of gene mutations, what's new, and what's in the making.

My husband's advocacy journey

I remember certain nights I couldn't sleep; I would hear him on his laptop. He was Googling anything and everything about lung cancer. He wanted to make sure that he was up to date-and very informed about lung cancer. So, when we went to see the oncologist for a second opinion, he knew what questions to ask.

When I was diagnosed, it was so hard for me to comprehend the news of my diagnosis. I couldn't focus; the only thing that I was worried about was my five children. I did post on Facebook and shared my diagnosis, but my husband was the one who would post updates about me.

Sharing our story

Not only did he post updates about my condition and my appointments, but he would also share about lung cancer. He shared everything he learned about lung cancer on Facebook and would educate our friends and family. Because I was so distraught, sad, and scared, he would tell me what he learned by doing research. That gave me so much comfort and hope.

After a year or so, he told me that I needed to start doing my own research and I needed to learn about my disease. He told me, "You're living with lung cancer; you need to educate and learn more about lung cancer so you can have a better understanding of your disease." And this is when my advocacy began. Now, he doesn't advocate as much as I do, but he does his part.

Caregiver advocacy in action

He was honored to be asked to participate in LUNGevity's Hope Summit panel for caregivers. He was on the panel with two other caregivers, and they all shared their stories as caregivers. Not only did he share his story and a little bit of mine, too, but he also gave advice because he had already lived through the beginning of a lung cancer diagnosis. I remember sneaking in and listening to him, and I was so proud of him. He made sure he let the caregivers in that room know that he understood, and that if they ever needed to talk, he was available for them.

We've also done a few advocacies together. One was in Boston and a pharmaceutical company had asked both of us to speak to their employees and share my story and my husband’s as caregiver. I remember how impactful that one was because we were both there telling our story and I truly believe that's when they realized a caregiver matters too.

He also was involved in two video productions for LUNGevity, both for BioMarker testing. Recently, we both did a commercial for LUNGevity. This commercial was done in both English and Spanish, and it is still being aired nationwide today. He wishes he could advocate more from the caregiver's perspective, but because he works, it's a bit hard for him. But he will continue to advocate when he can.

When November comes, he does make posts on Facebook and at his job he will put on their marquee "November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month." Whatever he can do to bring awareness and educate he will.