Carla had smoked for many years and had finally successfully quit tobacco when her healthcare provider recommended a low-dose CT scan. She didn’t have any lung cancer symptoms, and her previous blood work and physical exam had been normal, but her doctor thought it would be a good idea to get a baseline scan, just in case. It was a decision that would save her life. “About 15 minutes after I left the appointment, I got the phone call that they had found tumors in both my left and my right lung,” Carla explained.
Prior to her diagnosis, the company where Carla worked closed its doors and she lost her job, so she was immediately concerned about healthcare coverage. Luckily, Carla qualified for Medicaid and once her application for coverage was approved, her care team began with additional imaging, laboratory testing, and biopsies to see if the cancer had spread. One of the laboratory tests Carla received was comprehensive biomarker testing, which was used to see if a targeted treatment would be a viable approach for her type of cancer. It was determined that, although the cancer had not metastasized, she had two different adenocarcinoma tumors: PD-L1 expression in the left lung, and KRAS mutation in the right lung.
She immediately began chemotherapy and radiation to shrink the tumors, but the tumor in the upper left lobe was more aggressive, so she had surgery to remove it. Her healthcare team continued to watch the second tumor on the lower right lobe, and when it began to grow, Carla had a second surgery to remove it. Though she was now tumor-free, her doctors suggested that she receive immunotherapy after she was fully recovered. For the next four and half years, Carla faithfully received immunotherapy treatments until, in August 2022, her doctors determined she could stop. “I had made great progress and my scans were clear, so my doctors decided to wean me off treatments,” said Carla. “Now I only have to go in once a year and so far, my scans are still clear.”
Becoming a Lung Cancer Advocate
When she was first diagnosed in 2018, Carla’s surgeon suggested she attend a cancer gathering where she could speak with other patients who were going through similar journeys. At the meeting, she ended up sharing her story and caught the attention of a representative from the American Lung Association, who approached her afterward about getting involved in the community. Carla thought it was a great idea, so they exchanged information. Since then, Carla has tried to attend Lung Association events in her area whenever she could.
A few years later, after Carla relocated to Texas, the Lung Association advocacy director in her area, Charlie, contacted her about having a more active role. Together, they began participating in virtual advocacy and so, when the opportunity came up in 2025, she was asked to represent Texas at Lung Force Advocacy Day. “I had the best time in D.C. Seeing us all march up Capitol Hill wearing turquoise was pretty breathtaking,” she recalled. “Spending time with other people who have been diagnosed [with lung cancer] and hearing their stories and realizing I am not in this alone, has been so powerful. We are all here to help each other and you can feel the energy and the love. It’s healing.”
In Washington D.C., Carla focused her advocacy on sharing how Medicaid helped her to survive. She explained how she had been working for a mom-and-pop shop that closed just before her diagnosis. Additionally, her husband had died from cancer a few years earlier, and she was also supporting her aging mother, so Carla was struggling to make ends meet. She certainly didn’t have the ability to pay $900 a month needed to continue her job-based insurance on her own. “I wouldn’t be here without Medicaid and Medicare,” she said. “I wasn’t able to work and there wasn’t anything that I could do to pay for those medical bills. It was scary.”
Now, more than seven years after her diagnosis, Carla feels blessed to be able to live her life as normally as if cancer had never touched her. “I feel great. It’s almost like it never happened,” she exclaimed. “But I do try to get the word out not to be ashamed of the choices that you made but to prioritize your health and get screened because it can happen to anybody.”
Blog last updated: September 8, 2025
