February 2025
Two years ago, 38-year old Lauren was celebrating her first year as a mom. Ready to step up her fitness, she decided to start training for a half marathon.
It wasn’t long before she noticed a tweaked muscle in her neck. An X-ray showed something speculated to be a past injury. Lauren didn’t think that sounded right, so she asked for another X-ray.
That X-ray highlighted a mass in her lung that later testing showed was stage 3 lung cancer.
“In the course of 24 hours I went from perfect bloodwork, feeling like I was in the best shape I’ve been in since the baby to a CT scan to figure out what it was,” she remembers.
“It was exceptionally overwhelming,” she said. “The devastation around that time of not knowing. I remember saying ‘am I going to make it to (my daughter Elle’s) second birthday?’”
Because she hoped to have another child, Lauren underwent fertility preservation before chemotherapy and radiation to shrink the tumors for surgical removal. Half her left lung was removed after a month of recovery.
“I knew I would fight so that I could stay here for Elle. She gave me the motivation to get up and get infusions when I was feeling my worst. I held a picture of her for every scan. I couldn’t bear the thought of taking that smile from her face.”
Lauren learned she had an EGFR mutation, which often shows up in nonsmoking patients in their 30s and 40s.
Her one-year scan showed no evidence of cancer; however, she will continue regular scans to make sure she doesn’t have a recurrence.
She is grateful for her supporters, including those she’s never met. “Your support literally saves lives by fueling the best and most innovative cancer research in the world – helping people like me have more treatment options and better outcomes. I’m hopeful that together, we can make sure new treatments continue to emerge.”
> Learn about biomarker testing for EGFR and other genetic mutations
> Find a patient support group
> Donate to fund lung cancer research