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Many times when you think lung cancer, many people think of the stereotype of an older person who has smoked all their life, but doctors say that just isn’t true.
24-year-old Jessica Watson of Rocky Mount is a mother of a 3 year old and never smoked a day in her life. about a year ago she had a cough she just couldn’t get rid of. Her co-worker convinced her to go to the doctor, and that’s when a specialist found a tumor in her left lung.
Watson couldn’t believe she had lung cancer. she says, “Most of the time when you think of lung cancer, you think of somebody that’s been smoking half their life. I never smoked a cigarette in my life. So I was like where did this come from. It surprised me.”
Watson had her entire left lung removed and underwent chemotherapy treatments after that. she is thankful that the cancer was detected in the early stages.
She says, “Sometimes you sit back and think why do things happen, but I’m glad because if I didn’t go to the doctor there’s no telling where I would be right now.”
One of Watson’s doctors at the Leo Jenkins Cancer Center in Greenville, Oncologist Paul Walker, says more and more “never smokers” are getting lung cancer. “It is becoming an epidemic. Anyone can get lung cancer. Unfortunately somebody who has never smoked can get it. many times no one thinks of lung cancer and therefore there’s a delayed diagnosis or they get blamed you must have done something you really did smoke.”
Walker also says another problem is that people ignore their symptoms because they don’t think lung cancer can happen to them. He hopes that stories like Watson’s will open the door for discussion about lung cancer and people will realize it doesn’t discriminate.
Latest Comments
Posted by: gntcpw07 Location: Fountain on Feb 27, 2011 at 06:40 AM Has anyone thought about the fact that cancer is bad in any form? If it’s in your make-up to have cancer, you will get it. It doesn’t matter if you smoke or not. I’ve lost family and friends to colon cancer. It happens. all you can do is be prepared to handle it when it does. Posted by: Obama Snake Oil co Location: Washington on Feb 26, 2011 at 05:15 PM Luz C. Hoffman Location: canyon lake, my point was, lung cancer come natuarlly for some people without reason. I don’t blame tobacco for what people choose, its their right, I didn’t say it was smart. It just seems odd that so many people around here die from lung cancer and none ever smoked period. I am not sure you post is accurate about tobacco companies, its sort of like saying the US government created AIDS….I just don’t see the argument in reality. Posted by: Phyllis Location: Albany, NY on Feb 26, 2011 at 12:48 PM I am a never smoker, my father, his brother and two of my best friends were never smokers; also two of my friends gave up smoking decades ago. all died from lung cancer except me. I am lucky my lung cancer was diagnosed at early stage. Only 15% of us survive five years or more while breast, prostate, and colon cancers have 90%, 99% and 65% survival rates respectively. 80% of newly diagnosed lung cancer cases are in never smokers or former smokers who had given up smoking decades ago. no one deserves to get lung cancer. We shouldn’t blame the victim. If blame is to be placed, it should be on tobacco companies who have put addidtives in cigarettes which are carcinogenic and make them more addictive. the Lung Cancer Alliance (lungcanceralliance.org) provides advocacy and patient support services for those who have or are at risk of lung cancer.