Because of a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol, Elizabeth, a 67-year-old New York City resident, was vigilant about her health. A former smoker, she stopped when she was 28, had a healthy diet and exercised regularly.
While these efforts successfully kept her cholesterol at a healthy level, two years ago, her primary care physician recommended a precautionary calcium scan of her coronary arteries to check for plaque. Her test results were great: hardly any plaque and a few lung nodules, all benign. The radiologist was relatively positive about the results, and since she wasn’t high-risk, no follow-up was suggested. But to be on the safe side, her primary care doctor recommended a full chest CT scan a year later. During that follow-up, they found another “indeterminate” nodule that was outside the scope of the original scan.
“After six months of testing with no growth from the nodule, nobody thought it was cancer. But suddenly it incrementally grew,” said Elizabeth. And so began an eight-month roller coaster journey which included lung and thyroid cancer diagnoses, multiple surgeries and four rounds of chemotherapy.
“It was absolutely shocking,” Elizabeth said of the suspected diagnosis. “Initially, I didn’t know who to turn to. I wasn’t ready to join a support group, and I didn’t want to hear a terrible story. I needed factual information.”
Fortunately, Elizabeth was connected with Laura, a Lung Health Navigator, through the American Lung Association’s Lung HelpLine.
The Lung HelpLine is accessible by calling 1-800-LUNGUSA or submitting an online request. Lung Health Navigators are licensed health experts—including nurses and respiratory therapists—who provide free and customized one-on-one education and support for individuals and their loved ones facing lung diseases, including lung cancer. Lung Health Navigators help individuals to better understand their diagnosis and treatment options, find a specialist or a second opinion, implement lifestyle changes that can help minimize symptoms and access support, insurance coverage information and other resources.
“Laura gave me hope,” said Elizabeth. “She is such a lovely person. She provided me with a shoulder to cry on and good advice through every step of my journey.”
Before Elizabeth’s first appointment with a pulmonologist, Laura told her about robotic bronchoscopies, a technique utilizing a small camera to look inside the air passages with the aid of a robotic arm. She also mentioned biomarker testing, also known as tumor, molecular or genomic testing, which looks for mutations, additions, deletions or other key makers in a tumor’s DNA. Some lung cancer treatments target these characteristics directly, often with fewer side effects and improved outcomes.
After a broad range of tests and biopsies, Elizabeth was diagnosed with stage III lung cancer. Her slow growing non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) adenocarcinoma had spread to one lymph node in her mediastinum; the central part of the chest that includes the heart and other important structures. She was also diagnosed with stage I thyroid cancer. She had thyroid surgery and, a month later, four rounds of chemotherapy for her lung cancer. As a result of the biomarker test, Elizabeth’s oncologist added an immunotherapy drug to her chemotherapy regimen.
After chemo and immunotherapy, Elizabeth had a full lobectomy. Aside from removing her upper right lobe, they also took out many lymph nodes, resulting in the removal of one-third of Elizabeth’s lung. Following a final lung pathology report, her NSCLC lung cancer was restaged to stage I, “which gave me a very good prognosis. The immunotherapy drug and chemo really worked.”
Today, Elizabeth says there is no evidence of lung cancer, and she’s able to return to activities she loves, like going to the gym. “I was very, very lucky that the type of lung cancer I had was exceptionally slow growing,” she said. “I plan on having scans every six months, even beyond the five years they suggested. And if anything comes back, hopefully they’ll find it before it has a chance to spread.”
Elizabeth is also committed to ensuring that others know about and have access to lifesaving, early lung cancer screening which can detect lung cancer when it’s more treatable. “It was a fluke that they found my cancer. A chest CT scan (and great doctors) saved my life,” said Elizabeth.
The Lung Association’s Saved By The Scan campaign offers a free, online quiz to assess eligibility for lung cancer screening. The web page also provides questions to ask your doctor about lung cancer screening, insurance coverage information, and where to find a lung cancer screening facility. When lung cancer is caught before it spreads, the likelihood of surviving five years or more improves to 65%.
“I had a very good outcome, and I had Laura,” said Elizabeth of her lung cancer journey. “She not only listened; she gave me very good advice. I feel like I won the lottery.”
Blog last updated: August 1, 2025
