Melanie R., WY

Last spring, I started coughing, had a low-grade fever, and just didn’t feel well. After about three weeks, I went to our local clinic and got antibiotics so we wouldn’t be ill for all the company coming for my oldest daughter’s high school graduation. Most of the summer was normal. I felt great but still coughed from time to time. As I researched what I thought I had, I learned that sometimes these coughs last 2-3 months.

By the time school started last fall, I wasn’t feeling well. My coughing was getting worse, causing me to vomit at times because I was coughing so hard and couldn’t stop. From time to time, I’d get chills, body aches, a low-grade fever, or a runny nose. I tired quickly and started going to bed early.

The local PA I visited twice gave me antibiotics and cough medicine, then antibiotics and steroids. In the meantime, I tried every home remedy and over-the-counter medicine I could find, but nothing worked. I remember getting so frustrated one night because nothing was helping. I just felt like something was a little off.

Finally, at the end of September, I saw a different family medicine doctor. He gave me an inhaler and a nebulizer, but they didn’t help. He immediately ordered imaging. The chest X-ray showed a mass in my left lung. The doctor called and asked my husband and me to join him on a phone call. He said things didn’t look good, and it could be either an infection that had mutated or a tumor. It was a scary call to get.

We sat on our bed together, and my husband just held me. The doctor ordered more tests: a contrast CT scan of my chest, an ultrasound of my neck (since we found lymph nodes there), blood tests, and labs to rule out everything from TB to a muscle condition. He also referred me to a pulmonologist at Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. We had to wait a week for the virtual appointment, where we told him my history (first question: “Do you smoke?” “Never”) and what had been going on. He was going out of town but scheduled a CT scan, bronchoscopy, and biopsy for Oct. 22.

When I came out of the biopsy, he spoke with my husband and me. He said he was pretty sure it was lung cancer. Two days later, the call confirmed it: I had Stage IV lung cancer, adenocarcinoma.

We went back for a PET scan a few days later and then an MRI to check my brain the day after that. There were 18 brain mets, which was terrifying. A couple of weeks later, I had genetic testing and learned that my cancer was caused by the ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase) mutation. Less than 5% of lung cancer patients are ALK positive.

Though that diagnosis isn’t easy, in a way, I feel grateful because I qualify for targeted TKI (tyrosine kinase inhibitor) therapies. I take pills every day, which have side effects that can be tough but are much better than the alternative. We have chemotherapy and radiation as backup, but so far, we’ve found a treatment that works for me.

Though there is hope, it’s hard. This is not a cure, but a treatment that will confuse the cells for a while until it stops working. The hardest part was telling my children. It was devastating to see them so upset. But we’ve chosen faith over fear and a positive attitude over a negative one. We have such a great support system.

Telling people I have cancer feels surreal. It’s always about someone else’s aunt or a friend’s cousin. But when it happens to you, it feels unreal. But this is my reality now, so we’re doing the best we can to make the most of it.