LINKS OF HOPE

Following are links to a variety of subjects that may help you cope and better understand your lung cancer journey as a smoker or an ex-smoker. Even better, I hope some of you will simply ask your doctor for a pulmonary scan or x-ray. It could save your life. It saved mine.

Lung cancer is rarely diagnosed in the early stages, as there is no screening process in place for early detection, in Canada. This explains why most lung cancer diagnosis are in the "TOO LATE" stage for most patients. People with an increased risk of lung cancer from smoking or other factors, may consider discussing lung cancer screening with their doctor, which is as simple as having an x-ray or a CT scan.

According to data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) covering the years 2015 to 2017, the lifetime risk of developing lung cancer in the United States among all groups is 6.3% (or roughly one out of every 15 people). This information was obtained in the following article by 
https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-percentage-of-smokers-get-lung-cancer-2248868
 
In 2014, after I had stopped smoking, for possibly more than the 100th time, my doctor sent me for a pulmonary x-ray, just to have a comparison in years to come, of my lungs improvement if I didn't start smoking again. That x-ray saved my life. I had been smoking since I was 14 and quit just months before my lung cancer diagnosis which was discovered through that x-ray. I has now been 8 years. 

The stigma associated with lung cancer has distorted the reality of this disease, as most people honestly believe they cannot get lung cancer if they never smoked. The truth is, if you have lungs you can get lung cancer.