In November 2013, Frank had a cough he just couldn’t shake. It was a chronic dry cough that began to disrupt his life, especially when he had to leave meetings for a coughing fit. He decided he needed to bring up the problem with his healthcare provider. He didn’t have any other health conditions, and his healthy lifestyle gave them no reason to suspect cancer. But his doctor still suggested a chest X-ray, which came back inconclusive.
Over the next six months, Frank continued to see doctors and receive tests. His doctor first suspected allergies, then walking pneumonia, then asthma. He sought out specialists and eventually his pulmonologist ruled out asthma and suggested a CT scan. Finally, the scan showed that he had a tumor on the left lung. An oncologist and surgeon were consulted and agreed Frank had stage IV non-small cell adenocarcinoma. The lung cancer had metastasized to his vertebrae, ribs and lymph nodes.
Despite this devastating diagnosis, Frank’s health team had a plan. “The doctors said they were seeing a group of individuals that fit my profile: never smokers who are generally healthy but get lung cancer. They suggested biomarker testing to see if I was a candidate for targeted treatment.”
