It’s November, which is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of this, a group of lung cancer bloggers will be interviewing people in the lung cancer community and profiling a patient, caregiver, advocate or health care provider each day. I will be posting them for your enjoyment. I am excited to participate and help raise awareness.

Andy Trahan – “If you have lungs, you’re at risk for lung cancer.”
A 35 year old father of 3, husband, and stage 4 lung cancer survivor. Diagnosed 2-14-13

Andy has been involved in advocacy by speaking to Representatives and Senators to share his story. Along with LCA he helped convince them to sign the bill for Low-Dose CT as a screening option. He and his wife, Leslie, also got a lung cancer specialty license plate in their state of Louisiana. He occasionally connects with other survivors that need support. His dad does a lot of research and connects with other survivors too and his sister created a Facebook page “Andy’s Team.” His brother has helped Andy with his work when he’s not up to doing it himself. Everyone has come together and has a role in the family to support Andy.

What is a typical day like for you? I work from home sending reports to banks and finance companies so I drop my kids off at school then … read more on Lysa Buonanno’s blog “Faith, Family and Friends”

As part of Lung Cancer Awareness Month 2015, I am participating in a Blog Chain.  Along with several other lung cancer bloggers, I will be interviewing members of our lung cancer community.  Our hope is to raise awareness by bringing to our readers the faces and stories of people fighting our battle, those that care for us, and our doctors that are giving us a fighting chance.

I’d like to introduce…

JILL FELDMAN, Lung Cancer Advocate and Warrior, (in that order.)

• Who is Jill?  She is the 13-year-old granddaughter who lost two grandparents to lung cancer within weeks of each other.  She is the daughter whose father died at 41 years old of lung cancer, nine months after her grandparents died.  She is the daughter whose mother died at 54 years old of lung cancer.  She is the niece whose aunt died at 56 years old of lung cancer.  She is the former president of LUNGevity who was diagnosed with lung cancer, during her term, at age 39.  She is a wife and mother of four teenagers ages 18, 17, 15, and 13 years.  Jill has been a lung cancer warrior for 6+ years.
• How does Jill incorporate lung cancer into life?: She is a tireless advocate for lung cancer patients.  She was active in the leadership at LUNGgevity (president and board member) because of … read more on Luna Okada’s blog “Cancer….an unexpected journey.”

AnneMarie Ciccarella is a 58 year old passionate Lung Cancer advocate although she was diagnosed and treated with breast cancer, which she is currently NED.

Why is she so dedicated to lung cancer advocacy?  She lost her father to complications from treatment of this horrible disease on July 19, 2007.  His body couldn’t take the second round of chemotherapy.  In addition to her father, she lost her grandfather when he was merely 55 to lung. These thoughts still bring tears to her eyes.  Finally, she lost her high school love to lung cancer not too long ago.   So three of the first men she loved were all  taken too early by this disease.

A typical day for AnneMarie involves writing on her blog, which started a a joke (chemobrain), but morphed into a blog for advocacy and research.  When she met … read more on Samantha Mixon’s blog “Keeping my Faith – Living with Stage IV Lung Cancer.”