Lung cancer still claims more lives in Ireland each year among both men and women than any other cancer.

Tracy Byrne from Donegal was only 35 when a severe back pain led her to investigating the cause. After an MRI she received a call from her GP. Nothing could have prepared her for the news that she received. Tracy had lung cancer, and it had spread to her lymph nodes and spine.

This is her story

In April 2019, I had spent the last 6 months suffering with severe back pain. This was under investigations however I was always told it was muscular issues caused by my desk job and long work hours. I knew something wasn’t right, so I kept pressing for more tests. I went for an MRI, and I received a call from my GP to make an appointment the next day. Nothing could have prepared me for what the GP told me. They had found a lesion on my spine which explained the severe pain however they had also found a lesion on my lung. I was absolutely floored. I was not experiencing any issues with my lung which made it so hard to understand.  I was rushed to A&E where more tests were performed. The doctor then took me aside and explained that the scans showed cancer in my lymph nodes, lungs and spine. He confirmed that it was stage 4 lung cancer. I still look back at that day in disbelief how my entire life changed forever after hearing those words.

After my initial diagnosis, the pain in my back got progressively worse over the next 2 weeks. I was rushed to hospital where I needed emergency spinal fusion surgery as the cancer had caused a lot of problems for my spine.

There was a real concern of paralysis which compounded the fear I was already experiencing with my shock diagnosis. Thankfully, the spinal fusion surgery was a success, so we were then able to focus on the cancer treatments. I was advised that the Lung Cancer I was diagnosed with is a non-smoking related lung cancer.  It is on the rise in non-smokers and younger people. The mutation I have is treatable by new drugs called targeted therapies however the treatments cannot cure the cancer. I have been on treatment for over 5 years. I was on my first line of treatment for nearly 5 years. This treatment stopped working at the start of this year, so I was moved to a new drug. There have been quite a few issues with side effects in particular over the last 18 months. I have undergone several radiation treatments, and I am currently waiting for a new plan to treat further metastases in my head. I have a great Oncology and Radiology team so I have every faith that they will find the best plan going forward.

One of the most difficult things I found with Lung cancer is the stigma that lung cancer patients are faced with (regardless of if they are smokers/nonsmokers). It leaves patients feeling very isolated, scared and lonely. Lung Cancer can affect anyone with lungs. People can develop lung cancer even if they have never smoked. We need to try raise awareness to show that lung cancer should be treated in the same way as all cancers. Lung Cancer patients deserve to have the same access to treatments, support and empathy as every other cancer type.  This was one of the reasons that I helped to form a group called the Irish Lung Cancer Community. This group provides support and information for anyone in Ireland who may be affected by lung cancer as a patient, caregiver, family or friends. They are passionate about helping anyone in Ireland who is impacted by lung cancer.

I really hope that by sharing my story, I might be able to help raise awareness around lung cancer and to reach out to anyone who may be feeling isolated, scared and lonely with their lung cancer diagnosis. I’m so grateful to have the continued treatments over the last few years and that I am still here and sharing my story. Lung Cancer can be a really lonely diagnosis, and I hope that by sharing my story, it might help someone else going through lung cancer, feel less alone and to give hope that there are treatments and support that can help us get through lung cancer together.

Tracy is supporting The Big Check Up 2024 from Marie Keating Foundation’s 2024 to help raise lung cancer symptom awareness and improve early detection and survival rates. Learn more about the campaign here

Tracy is also a member of our Positive Living Community for people living with a metastatic cancer for more information please click here

Ted O’Driscoll is 59, a Pharmacist from Fermanagh, married with 2 grown up children, and 2 grandsons aged 3 and newborn. Ted is currently undergoing treatment for lung cancer. Ted is supporting The Big Check Up  to help the Marie Keating Foundation raise lung cancer awareness. 

This is his story.

I am a recently retired pharmacist due to cancer diagnosis in 2017 of lung and subsequently secondary brain tumour. I am 59 and married to another employed pharmacist. I am originally from Fermanagh but have been living in Dublin for some 30 years. I have 2 children aged 28 aged and 31, a grandson aged 3 and another one due at end of October.

I was working part time from diagnosis but had to retire due to suffering a heart attack and cardiac arrest in July 2022.I currently attend a men’s shed to learn or develop new hobbies. I assist in minding my grandson though not on my own due to possible seizures from the brain tumour.

Recent scans showed no disease progression in either lesion and heart was stented so should be OK with that.

I was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer at the age of 54 in 2017 by a combination of my gp and rapid lung access clinic. My symptoms were a vague pain in my chest and breathlessness. On diagnosis I was treated with standard chemotherapy which unfortunately didn’t have a huge effect.

It was then decided to totally remove the lung but for various medical reasons such as location etc that wasn’t possible. The doctors then decided to treat me with immunotherapy, which at the time was very new. It is used in very specific conditions e.g., where tumour is extruding various enzyme, and I was lucky enough to fall into that category. The preparation for it was another regime of chemo and radiation which luckily I suffered few side effects. Having the once monthly IV treatment, the tumour has been stable. The only major effects  is breathlessness. I continued to work throughout this and felt quite well apart from a bit of fatigue.

Unfortunately, 2 years later I developed a secondary brain tumour which after radiation is stable. The major problem with this is that I am now prone to infrequent mild seizures which defers me from driving and other dangerous activities and as a result I continued to work part time. In July 2022 I suffered a heart attack and cardiac arrest which in no way was related to the cancer. After revival I had to give up work entirely and now and do voluntary work and explore or develop hobbies.

I am generally well except for breathlessness and not being able to drive (unrelated to cancer)

Therefore, it is possible to live a reasonable life throughout a cancer journey with the help of magnificent doctors’ modern medicines.

I was diagnosed 6 years ago and have been many holidays and enjoying life as I should.

Click here to learn the facts about lung cancer, its signs and symptoms and read other real stories and experiences. The Big Check Up 2024 from The Marie Keating Foundation.

Mum of 2 Gillian Ryan from Cork led a busy active life. She prioritised her health and fitness, so when she began to feel short of breath and dizzy, she knew something was not right. She never expected however that a lung cancer diagnosis was possible.

This is her story.

My name is Gillian Ryan. I was a busy working mum if time at the time of diagnosis which came days after my 40th birthday (whoever said life begins at 40).

On Sept 10th I was admitted to my local hospital as I had been feeling very unwell for the past few weeks. It was a Friday at work, and I began to feel very dizzy, short of breath, lightheaded, feeling like I was about to collapse. I remember one doctor coming into my room that evening saying to me I was probably just suffering from a little bit of anxiety, and he was happy to leave me home. Something in me made me stand up for myself and fight to have tests done. I said I was happy to be discharged once a cause had been found for my symptoms. I most certainly was not suffering from anxiety. My life was very good. I knew something was wrong in my body, I went from running 10k most days and working out 4/5 times a week to barely being able to make it up a flight of stairs without needing a break. I nourished my body with healthy foods, and I did not abuse it. I was proud of the body I had; it just was not working for me as good as it had been. I stayed and saw another doctor over the weekend who ordered lots of tests and repeated them over the course of the week. I was sent home and referred to a respiratory consultant. I was then sent for different checks over the course of the next few weeks. Cancer was never mentioned, and it was not a word in my vocabulary that I used or even thought of. Why would I? I was extremely fit and otherwise healthy.

I had a biopsy on Nov 1st, the day before my birthday, leading to a PET Scan a few days later. I was completely oblivious and naive. I thought the hospital were giving me the 5-star treatment with all the tests, not knowing what the reasoning behind it was. Cancer was not in my family; it had not been that unwelcome monster showing up in our lives.

I received the devasting news alone as we were still in the grips of covid, and it was 10 days after my 40th birthday. Even now I can vividly see the room I was in, where the consultant and nurses sat, even the clothes I wore. More upsetting though I can feel the immense fear building and banging on my chest, the tears flowing like a waterfall down my face and the silent screams my whole body was trying to let out but couldn’t. I was frozen in fear. I tried to say a mistake had been made, I was too young, I didn’t smoke, I only had asthma not cancer. A part of me died there and then. My carefree invincible amazing, beautiful happy life was all taken away by those three words “You have Cancer.” I had to get back in my jeep and drive 24 miles home and tell the people I loved most that I was sick. I felt so guilty to bring this horrible news to them, guilty that they were now affected by cancer too, it wasn’t just me. I was so scared I couldn’t breathe. Things moved very quickly after that, I’m nothing if not proactive and organised. I advocated for myself, did my research, and knew the quicker I had surgery they better my chances of survival. I had my admission date two weeks later on December 14th, 2021. I quickly bought the Christmas presents, wrote letters, and scrubbed the house, just in case. I had my upper right lobe removed and spent just over two weeks in hospital, the first week in ICU due to complications. I was told surgery had been a success and I was essentially cancer free.

Once I was home the real trauma of it all hit. I had to navigate my new life. A life vastly different to my previous one. Dependent on others to do so much for me. Living with the fears of recurrence, of dying too soon, of it spreading etc. Checking my cough for blood. I had no real symptoms of lung cancer other than the shortness of breath, but I knew something wasn’t right in my body. I joke I’m a bit biblical I had a life Before Cancer (bc) and a life After Diagnosis [ad]

I have been having six monthly scans for the past few years and at my most recent scan in April 2024 I was told a nodule has been growing in my lower lobe for over a year but unfortunately it was not reported by the radiologist until now which meant it has doubled in size. I am due for a scan in November and then we will make a plan depending on what is found. Am I scared? No, I am absolutely terrified. Terrified of leaving those I love too soon but I try to remain positive and most days I am. However in the dead of night when the quietness is deafening the thoughts creep in like water on a sinking ship and it leaves you gasping for air. So much has changed, I can no longer run, or workout due to my lung being removed which has removed something that we such a positive outlet for my physical and mental health.

Lung cancer has extremely poor survival rates, it gets minimal funding and the stigma that surrounds it is appalling and unnecessary.  More and more young women and men who never smoked a day in their lives are being diagnosed with this Cancer. Knowledge and early detection are key to making more survivors.

All you need are lungs to get Lung cancer.

Gillian is supporting The Big Check Up 2024 ‘Look Out for Lung Cancer” to help the Marie Keating Foundation raise lung cancer symptom awareness and improve early detection and survival rates. Learn more about the campaign here.

Samantha Vaughan is 49 and the mother four living with her husband in Co Laois. She is also living with stage II Lung Cancer. Samantha is supporting The Big Check Up 2024 and is urging people to ‘Look Out for Lung Cancer’.

This is her story.

“In October 2022, I contracted Covid.

Post covid I began experiencing breathlessness, I was also dealing with repeated sinus infections. This went on for a number of months but was all put down to Long Covid. I was put on a few courses of antibiotics and given inhalers, but nothing had worked.

By May, I began feeling pain in my left side lower rib area, it felt as though I had pulled a muscle in my side. I decided to go to my GP and request to go to ENT and a referral for an x-ray.

When I got my results, I was told that a lesion had showed up in my right lung and there was nothing wrong with my left lung. I was told I would need a CT scan.

I ended up booking a CT scan privately as I wanted to get my results as soon as possible. I had my CT scan in the morning and by the evening, I had a phone call back from my GP to say they had found a tumor. My GP had arranged for me to go into her the next morning and spoke to me about the next stages.

I was totally shocked; I was only 47 at the time and felt I wouldn’t be affected by lung cancer as I was a non-smoker.

They needed to take a biopsy and remove the tumour, they also wanted to check my lymph nodes to see if the cancer had spread. I ended up having half my right lung removed but thankfully my lymph nodes were clear. I also had an airway removed as there were signs of some cancer.

I was in hospital for two weeks after my surgery, spending a number of days in ICU.

After that, I was given my final diagnosis. Lung adenocarcinoma, an aggressive form of non-small cell lung cancer. It was stage two, grade three.

“My consultant said no further treatment would be needed as they had successfully removed the tumour, with no lymph nodes affected, the cancer had not spread. I was asked if the lab could do further tests to see if I was sensitive towards treatments, which I agreed. I was told that I had met the criteria for a current cancer trial being run in Cork University Hospital, which would involve me taking a new medication each day for three years with the hopes that it will help protect me in the future. I feel very lucky to be able to do this and not to have to wait and worry about cancer coming back again.

I decided to agree to take part in the trial and I am happy to be involved. So far, it’s been up and down with side effects, I have been dealing with some abscesses and ulcers in my mouth and nose, spots on the face, upset stomach, taste buds aren’t great feeling sick, but I am managing this. My energy levels are also not the same, and breathing can be difficult sometimes as a result of the surgery.

“At the moment, it’s the mental side I am struggling with most with. I am experiencing bad anxiety which affects my sleep. I have been told to really cut down on my activity and I am also off work. I am a busy mum, I always like to be out and about and busy and I find no longer being able to do that very difficult. My recovery will take months not weeks.

“I decided to reach out to the Cúisle Centre in Portlaoise. I have found the counselling, mindfulness and reiki here, really helpful. At first, I thought I wouldn’t need these supports, but I have actually found them invaluable. Especially meeting other people who are going through the same as myself and understand.

On advice I would like to share with others, ‘Always follow your instincts’. My gut was telling me that something wasn’t right in my body. Sometimes you have to push for further testing, you know your own body best.

I have always felt healthy and to get lung cancer and not smoking was a very big shock to me.

My hope for the future is to life long enough to enjoy life to the best I can and spend all the special times with my family.”

Click here to learn the facts about lung cancer, its signs and symptoms and read other real stories and experiences. The Big Check Up 2024 from The Marie Keating Foundation.