Dear Scientist, 

I’d like to start this letter with a simple “thank you,” and let you know my family would have a very different life without your work.

My name is Deanna Lee. I’m 45 years old, happily married with four beautiful children, and I have stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer. 

I was diagnosed in June of 2022, when our baby girl was only four months old. I was breastfeeding my daughter and as I was massaging my neck, I felt a suspicious lump. I got it checked out right away and about a month later, the biopsy result came back as malignant. It was suspected to be lung cancer. I couldn’t believe the report. I have never smoked in my life, I have always been healthy, and I don’t have a family history of any cancer.

In less than two weeks all the scans were done to narrow down on the diagnosis. Once the reality set in for my husband and I, we immediately went into problem-solving mode. It was only at nights when the kids were asleep that we would grieve our new reality and talk about our fear for the future. 

After doing research and learning about an advanced lung cancer program, our family of six quickly packed up our minivan and moved from Oregon to California to stay with my sister. We connected with one of the best lung cancer doctors, and our fears slowly eased as we learned about the available treatment options.

I showed a partial response to the first therapy I tried, but after about three months the cancer had metastasized to other organs of my body, including my brain. Immediately we stopped the targeted therapy and started a new treatment. My body responded right away and in six weeks all the tumors shrunk away except the primary lesion in my right lung and the ones in my adrenal glands. Since then, it’s been stable and still partially responding.

My question for you is: How do you see cancer treatments evolving in the future?

As you scientists put in the hard work behind the scenes in creating the breakthroughs of new drugs and treatment options, it gives us patients hope. I know if this drug I am taking doesn’t work for me, scientists are working hard to develop, and get approved, another one that my doctor and I can try. That’s a huge comfort for all cancer patients and their loved ones. So, thank you for all your hard work!

Sincerely, 

Deanna Lee