PROFILES IN LUNG CANCER – DAY 23: RACHAEL WILLEFORD
Lung Cancer Awareness Month 2015

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.  This year I am participating in an effort to raise awareness through a Lung Cancer Blog Chain.  This is my second contribution.

I’d like to introduce….

RACHAEL WILLEFORD, Lung Cancer Advocate and Co-chair of Lafayette (Louisiana) Free to Breathe*

 

Rachael with Dr. Brendan Stiles at the Free to Breathe Lung Cancer Action Summit

[*Free to Breathe is a partnership of lung cancer survivors, advocates, researchers, healthcare professionals and industry leaders, united in the belief that every person with lung cancer deserves a cure.    http://www.freetobreathe.org/  ]

Rachael’s Twitter handle:  PollywogPrinces

Rachael, what is your connection to lung cancer? 

“Four members of my mom’s side of the family have died from lung cancer. Two of them were my mom’s best friends – her brother and her cousin. They both were ever present in my life. In 2012, I learned that someone had started a fundraiser called Free to Breathe in my town, and I decided to participate.  Afterwards, I volunteered on a committee and would eventually become the co-chair of the event a few months later. After I learned that my mom’s cousin, (who passed away in 2009,) and her father, (who also passed away from lung cancer in 1978,) had virtually the same survival rate, I dove headfirst into advocacy. I now focus on patient and community education and outreach, locally, with Free to Breathe.

What is your typical day like?

“Well…I’m a mom with a full time job, so my days are hectic. Until recently … read more on Luna Okada’s blog “Cancer….an unexpected journey.”

PROFILES IN LUNG CANCER – DAY 22
Lung Cancer Awareness Month 2015

Sandy Arlin Jauregui-Baza, Survivor and Advocate

“Life doesn’t have to end after diagnosis. It can be a wake-up call to start making YOU your biggest priority in life.”

[***Por favor, lea la traducción española de abajo***]

Who are you? — I’m a 32 year-old “kid” from Los Angeles, California with an amazing husband and two lovely fur babies: Gambit and AmaDablam. I love everything about the great outdoors, from camping, hiking, jogging, kayaking…. well, you get it. 🙂

What is your diagnosis history? — I was diagnosed a few months short of 30, at age 29, with NSCLC. At the time of diagnosis, I’d already developed multiple lung nodules in both lungs and lesion along my spinal column; in other words, I was considered a stage IV patient.

After the FISH test came back, I was positive for the ALK mutation. I’d like to think that if I was just absolutely destined to get cancer, I got the right kind, because there is so much research taking place in this field, which just gives me so much hope!

How does LC impact your life? — I like to think that I’m pretty optimistic, so when asked the question about how LC has changed my life, I must say that it has been a complete eye opener. LC forced me to … read more on Lisa Goldman’s blog “Every Breath I Take.”

PROFILES IN LUNG CANCER
Lung Cancer Awareness Month 2015

D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD  “Progress will come from changing the way we think about cancer”
Director of the Thoracic Oncology Clinical and Clinical Research Programs, University of Colorado

I am incredibly fortunate to have Dr. Ross Camidge as my lung cancer oncologist, clinical trial researcher, advocacy cheerleader, and friend. He goes above and beyond to help lung cancer patients better understand their options and find hope.  And he adores his two small daughters.

A sample of the hope Dr. Camidge offers shows in his “User’s Guide to Oncology” presentation.  He explains the basic of cancer in understandable language, talks about how to sort through information available online and elsewhere, shares do’s and dont’s of cancer care, and offers some patient inspiring stories.  I’m honored that he chose mine as one of them.

Oh, and he has an awesome British accent.

What is your connection with lung cancer?

The first lung cancer patient I remember was called John and he was a plumber in Edinburgh in Scotland. He had never smoked and was one of the first people to go on an EGFR inhibitor in a trial and had a great and long lasting response. He was the nicest of people and introduced me to all his tradesmen friends and I will be forever grateful to him for getting me on the inside track for fixing up my ‘fixer upper’ at the time. We didn’t know about EGFR mutations at that point but it was enough for me to see the potential and the need for breakthroughs in this common serious disease. Now, 15 years later, I run the lung cancer program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center where I am a physician and a clinical and translational researcher.

What does your typical day look like?

Get up before my wife and daughters, try not to wake them on my way out to work. If its a clinic day (two days a week) talk through the plan for every patient … read more on Janet Freeman-Daily’s blog “Gray Connections“