Historias compartidas

During October 2001, my mom, Ann, was busy enjoying life when she developed a peculiar cough that never improved, regardless of the medication or treatment she tried.

I am here today asking you to protect the NIH, CDC, and Medicaid.

My journey has really opened my eyes to the gaps in health awareness, especially when it comes to lung cancer. It's something that doesn’t get discussed enough, and I want to change that.  

My name is Veronica, and I live in Bloomfield Connecticut. I would like to share my story with you and the impact that lung cancer has had on my family.

The week before Thanksgiving 2018, my father went to the emergency room with severe dizziness, he couldn’t stand unassisted.

I had been experiencing a persistent, mildly irritating cough—“to clear my throat”—for several months. My physician assistant and I chalked it up to allergies.

My mother, Delores Inez Pollard Carter, was born on April 22, 1927, in Princeton, New Jersey. She was an educator, social worker, and artist.

Eleven years ago, my husband died from lung cancer.

My life has been upended by cancer three times. The first for breast cancer and the 2nd and 3rd for lung cancer.

A random flyer in the mail, in 2016, advertising “Body Scans” for a reasonable price started my cancer journey. 

My lung cancer journey began when my mom, Sheila Mays, contracted COVID shortly after a family vacation in September of 2022.

I started receiving low-dose CT scans in 2015 because my insurance began covering them, and my primary care physician strongly recommended I get them.

When you are a couple, you work as a team to get through your busy lives. My wife, Emeli Bowers, and I were no different.

I was diagnosed with lung cancer almost 10 years ago.

At the time, we did not know it, but our journey began with my wife Alesha’s persistent cough in 2017.