Rita H.

I am a 53 year old never smoker. At 50 I had a blood test at my yearly gynecology exam that showed cardiac protein levels were high. I went to a cardiologist for stress test and scan of my heart. My heart was great but he noticed "inflammation" on my left lung. I immediately went to a Pulmologist who gave me more blood tests and another scan. I was diagnosed with lupus. I made my way to the rheumatologist who took even more blood tests. It was a false positive. I continued this cycle for another 2 years. My scan did not change so we agreed to scans every 6 months.

On June 28th 2016 I was diagnosed with lung cancer. On July 12 I had a lobectomy and I am now cancer free. I feel lucky. If I did not continue with the scans it would have been much worse. I did not chose this path. I hope others will learn from my story that you have to listen to your body. I want to educate others that the face of lung cancer is me.