I am also a nonsmoker diagnosed with lung cancer. Thank you for sharing your story. Your ability to self-advocate is so inspiring and also, thanks for sharing the four mental stages you go through - survival, recovery, healing and growth. This is SO accurate!! I think I already do this, remind myself in each stage that it's temporary, but labeling it and seeing that others with a cancer diagnosis go through this is helpful. Be well, Friend. ❤
Sorry for your ordeal. It is terrible to have cancer having 2 small children to take care of. Hope your family is supporting you. God helps you to get through this.
When I hear the patients in these stories say that their doctors reply that there is nothing wrong because the patient is young and ‘healthy’ I find it ridiculous. Everyone on this planet starts out young and most start out healthy. When the patient presents to the doctor with their concerns and symptoms the doctor now needs to shift from that rigid thinking to thinking outside the box. And that always starts with actually listening and hearing what the patient is saying. Then, rather than dismissing the concerns with labels such as young and healthy, the diagnostician/doctor needs to investigate and get to the source of the patients concerns. This seems so basic, yet the young and healthy words blind some doctors. (Clubbing of fingers certainly is a significant sign) Thanks for telling your story Ashley. Wishing you and your little boys all the best.
They’re also ignoring that we live in a toxic filled world today. We’ve grown up surrounded by chemicals, something that has never been the norm for humans in thousands of years. In terms of non smoker lung cancer, I personally believe that a lot of these are due to people being exposed to Radon, which is a silent killer.
When you are a provider you’re taught to look for the most likely diagnosis and not chase the ‘zebras.’ I, however, am not slow to order diagnostic testing when there is a red flag. I feel conspicuous when I do so but it it’s a safe test and the pt wants it and there is a justifiable reason who am I to say no 🤷🏼♀️
I watched one of these recently and the person’s insurance company would not pay for a colonoscopy because they weren’t 50 years old in spite of symptoms . Ridiculous. By the time they finally did one the cancer was advanced.
You truly inspire me in so many ways! As a breast cancer survivor living with a chronic illness like ulcerative colitis, I understand how challenging life can be. Remember, you are not defined by your illness but by the incredible resilience and strength you possess. Keep fighting and believing in brighter tomorrows. I wish you all the BEST!❤❤
Why should it take so long to diagnose something so obvious, with so many misdiagnoses. Why do doctors not listen to the person who knows her/his own body better than the doctor ever could understand the patient's health I wish this woman the very best in her treatment journey. I hope she will be as well as possible.
The reason she was misdiagnosed with such serious symptoms is that she was YOUNG , FEMALE , NOnSMOKER . There are serious bias in medicine including thinking that anyone young ( or female) can have as life threatening illness. Your BMI is neither high or low so you must be healthy ???!! What absolute BULLS__!!. 😢😮 So sorry for your diagnosis and the missed diagnosis. This could be due to pollution, suggest being evaluated for toxins ( this wld be functional medicine and probably put of pocket).
I told my Gyno I had uterine cancer, textbook example. She got mad and barked at me "Where did you go to medical school"? I have insurance. It was no skin off her nose, yet she refused to take a tissue sample. Three doctors later, all women who didnt believe me, I found a male Gyno who confirmed my cancer. I insisted on a male Oncologist who specialized in Reproductive Cancer. He took great care of me. My heart failure means I cant have anesthesia so no hysterectomy. I had radiation and now my bowel is haywire. Cancer is back. Ive had D&Cs with implanted IUDs. Its been 18 years. Im still here. Everytime it comes back we attack it. Not cured, but not dead either. Do Not Be Bullied.
@@queenbee3647 Thank you for sharing what maybe spare others your experience, which may save lives of those who read your story. I'll keep you in my thoughts, wishing you the best health possible under your circumstances. I'm so grateful you had the fortitude and persistence to survive the medical neglect to find better quality care..✨
You are awesome. You keep yourself together soooo well. I hope all goes well for you and let God be with you. I think I have cancer and I'm to scared 😨😳 to go find out thanks for sharing your experience
Thank you for sharing your experience with us, you will help a lots of people who has a similar symptoms, I have a similar misdiagnosis, anxiety, asthma,😢🥲. I wish you all the best 🇦🇺🍀🙏
Ashley, I wish you the very best. I am sorry your concerns were dismissed for such a long time. You are your own best doctor at the end of the day. Keep fighting for your health. I am sending you love from Africa.
Thank You so so much for sharing your story. I Pray you are doing well. I believe STRESS is the underlying cause. I remember my Moms doctor showing me a study when my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. It said “ Cancer is not a disease….its a symptom. The first symptom was STRESS! My momma was ALWAYS stressed and a worry wart. 💔💔💔🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
i have one in reverse that lead up to stage 4. I was a smoker for 15 years , athletic in my youth with a scholarship but long story short, had my first child age 19 and married , 3 children in total now fully grown in their late 20's. 2023 discovered in ER that i have stage 4 metastatic breast cancer that prior was diagnosed in 2017 as stage 2B when i got 6 tumors removed and a double mastectomy , chemo treatment and radiation complete and turns out it was not related to smoking, in fact it would have happened without smoking meaning smoking did not cause this but the biggest shocker of it was to find out it is the slow growing cancer that i had active in my body since birth. Looking back on it years later, i did not know i was experiencing symptoms of cancer in my youth prior to ever smoking. I remember tiny lumps in my developing breasts that i thought were infections i would milk out and get a discharge that was like a wax like substance. I felt better and it was only like 2 -3 times a year i did that. I thought nothing of it as i was told discharge is normal. I felt tired all the time and i would get dizzy spells and nearly black out from getting up to fast or even while just standing but those were like only a few times a year as well. I would get dull pains in my right armpit. A gland in my arm pit would swell and after a week it would go back to normal. I thought this was normal. All of that happened starting age 10. But anyway as i got older got married super young and had children , I did not realize the disfiguration under my right breast after i had my third and last son in 1999 that after i was weaning my baby from breastfeeding,, months after, under my right breast was an indentation a deep dimple that i did not give a second thought about. I thought it was just minor disfiguration from breast tissue stretching from milk production and weight gain to dramatic weight loss often distorts bodily figure. I was age 23 back then and was clueless. I was tired all the time but would get energy boost and stamina from healthy juicing raw vegetables. I smoked some after i graduated from high school and did so for about a year and quit cold turkey. I picked up smoking again about a year after my divorce at age 26. I smoked and drank alcohol off and on till age 47 last year when a day before going to the ER i could not breathe i trashed the last pack of smokes i had on me. I got a full body scan at the ER, they all could not stop staring at me in astonishment as i was informed with the results showing me the pictures of proof that my right lung was entirely full of fluid and my left lung was 1/4 full of fluid. I was slowly drowning to death. They all could not believe how i even walked into the ER without passing out much less hold long winded convos with them lol. They were brutal in the hospital where i had to get a patient advocate involved. my sons were convinced that the medical staff that worked there that day would surely have me unalived before the cancer got me.
Self advocacy is vital, I fear for the elderly and weak who's voice is not as strong as younger patients - remember to the health system you're just a number printed on your wrist band - but to you and your family you are the world. Fight fight fight (politely, but with conviction) - no one knows your own body better than you, trust your gut - you may be wrong sometimes but never give up ❤
The same can be said for being overweight. It doesn't matter what your symptom is, most doctors blame it on your weight. Thank you for sharing your experience. Your comments on self advocacy are so important. I was in the hospital after surgery for over a month with a high fever of an unknown source. I knew that something wasn't right. In hindsight I realize that I was telling different doctors and nurses different pieces of the puzzle. It wasn't until my family doctor came by to see me that I broke down and told him everything. Finally, one person had the whole picture, and my severe pleural effusion was diagnosed in a couple of hours. Now I have a health journal. I write any symptoms down with ratings and dates. Also record the medications and supplements I take with dosages and length of time on them. If something rises to the level of concern, when I go to my doctor, I can be detailed. Though I am very conscious of that fine line between vigilant and hypochondriac. Wishing you the best in your health journey. ❤️ Your determination and courage are inspiring!
I am amazed at how well you are doing! I also went through the exact same scenario - diagnosed with bronchitis and pneumonia and asthma and panic attacks until i could hardly breathe any longer! In reality i have large cell neuroendocrine lung cancer. Inoperable. No genetic markers or mutations so did chemo and rads and that is all I can do now except wait for it to spread. Never smoker. Radiation for breast cancer suspected to be the cause. Totally bummed to have beat breast cancer only to face this. I am stage 3B. I am so happy for you. I hope you continue to do well!
I am so impressed with your descriptive summary of your experience with cancer. Thank you for sharing and good luck with your recovery. You are amazing!
Thank you for also mentioning the biased that comes with lung cancer. People say OH HE OR SHE MUST HAVE SMOKED. I also read a few yrs ago that the ALCA only gives 3 percent of donations to Lung cancer because they felt most were self inflicted. Thank you for your video and sharing your journey. You are a beautiful young lady and may God heal you so you can still smile your lovely smile in this world because we need it. ❤️❤️🙏🙏
You are correct cancer can hit anyone at Any age 😮 Our 7 yr old son had been complaining that his knee hurt 😞 he played baseball and football but our family dr wanted to see him and hubby took him and the dr said he did not want to GUESS so X-ray the next day after work I stopped by the dr office he showed me The X-ray and said That is a tumor and I do not know what kind 😞😩😩🏈💔💔 I fell to my knees HYSTERICAL I KNEW THE LIFE WE HAD WAS GONE
at the same time our healthcare system is healing a lot of people! definitely important to advocate and seek multiple opinions until you receive an answer that you're comfortable with.
Good grief, it takes so damn long for them to get to the bottom of everything! Everything should be taken seriously, just because you “look healthy” doesn’t mean you are. We have to push for ourselves no matter what. I’m currently going through something myself, not Cancer, but I have a 2nd opinion coming up this week out of state. Stand up ladies (and men). We know our own bodies! God Bless you young lady. You are so smart and beautiful! Warrior!!!
As an RN myself I question any and all doctors that I see, but usually it is not well received, like you said you don’t want to sound like your second guessing or questioning their determinations, but I’m not their to make friends I’m their to get answers. I hope you make a full recovery and wish you all the best.
It baffles me that doctors would order a couple of blood tests and tell you that nothing was wrong. It's so obvious to me that you should've gotten lung scans pretty much immediately. I've heard a similar story so many times. Routine bloodwork is normal - so you must just be anxious!
I remember watching an episode of Mystery Diagnosis of a woman complaining of difficulty breathing for several years. In all that time no one gave her a lung scan. By the time she had an xray, one lung had collapsed and the other one was partially functioning due to undiagnosed Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
@@smfarrie2943 Most likely if you complain of difficulty breathing, they'll automatically diagnose you with "asthma", prescribe an inhaler, and send you home. Without even doing any tests. (In my case, the methacholine challenge test--the gold standard of asthma tests--was negative, but that didn't matter. Eventually, it turned out I had a very rare serious lung condition that some doctors and nurses never heard of.)
Knowing Healing and Wholeness in and as every aspect of your Body, Mind and Spirit - All Bodily Systems recognizing their Divine Blueprint of Perfection with Ease and in Grace! Holding you in the Light - knowing every step of your journey is empowering and revealing to you what is needed in the next one. And Knowing that all that you need is revealed to you in every moment - and that you are fully expressing your Magnificence beyond your Wildest Human Imaginings in every step. Sending Love and Light to you and your Family!
This is the perfect example of why you have to advocate for yourself from day one. That means if you know your symptoms, you don’t except a diagnosis that is wrong. You knew what it was from day 1. People you have to be your own advocate from day 1. Every minute, hour and day count and make a difference with a cancer diagnosis.
Way to be your own advocate! 25+ years ago my bf's 5 yr old daughter had a droopy eye & other symptoms. Her research pointed to a brain tumor. She was practically laughed out of the ophthalmologist office. The ER wouldn't door an MRI, she planted herself and said you are going to need to call the police to drag me away. Finally, as she stood behind the technologist, He stopped to reach for the phone and she saw what he saw on the screen and flipped out. Stage 4 glioblastoma. Trust your instincts.
@@pam164 I have had stage 2 COPD for a few years even when I smoked but. I really haven't had any trouble breathing or getting my breath. Actually my lungs feel good and my doctor say they sound good I do have to have a CT scan every year because of being a x smoker and they want to be able to catch it in time.
@bobs1356 It tends to progress normally. My mother passed with that , she was in her 40s when she passed. She couldn't breath straight away and it just got worse where she couldn't breath at all. She was a very light smoker but still got it. I think at 74 just getting it now you have been lucky.
@@ldjt6184 no I was about 27 when I started. I would quit for awhile and start up again quit. I quit for good it was to expensive. I see my neighbor across the street from me in his 80's still smoking. Oh well I guess some of us don't have the cancer genes.
The medical community blames smoking for a bunch of different cancers. My late husband had bladder cancer and never smoked..the died 6 years after his bladder cancer due to pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver as well.
I 100% believe in self advocacy, but really hoping that people hearing her do not think it is a good idea to doctor shop until you find someone who will agree to give you a treatment that *you* think is best, In the absence of posessing a degree in medicine and a license to practice. Yes ask questions, yes inquire about certain lines of treatment, but she literally said that she wants the treatment she wants and if she does not get it she will find a doctor elsewhere who is willing to do it.
Why more non smoking and younger people are getting lung cancer 😢? Or is it about cancer in general 😢? Do we have any statistics or explanation? I'm so sorry for this beautiful woman and I wish her all the best ❤
What is it going to take to get these Drs to take their patients seriously? Story after story of people at the mercy of a person who should know better!! Not only do they waste precious time for these patients, they waste money by ignoring the symptoms so that they have to go to Dr after Dr, ER visits, etc.. We SHOULD trust that this person who attended many, many years of schooling to know MORE than we do. That just isn't the case alot of times obviously. Not only is it frustrating, it is SCARY!!!
I can't get over the fact that drs themselves could be so dismissive and ignorant to the patient and the physical symptoms they're literally showing. ive seen many times the explanation by drs to patient on why they don't scan for tumors right away is because insurance companies would be "overloaded" and that it would bankrupt insurance companies. WHAT the hell!!!!!!!!!!! plus, if the case is as simple as they don't want to approve and spend money on scans and treatments, why do they approve all the other UNnecessary things that delay care. And then it's worse for everyone, most of which sadly is always the patient. amazing persistence and patience to Ashley for advocating for the truth, even though it should've never been that way
Thank you for sharing. Did your bloodwork not show anything ? before you got the CT scan. Later stage lung cancer often give elevated calcium levels. ?
I'm so sorry this happened to you. It makes me so angry when I hear about the many ways that women are dismissed in healthcare. The answer is always. You're too thin. You're too fat. You're too stressed. You don't exercise enough. You exercise too much. I wonder if men are treated the same way.
She is very well spoken and communicates very well, but I was curious about that too... Of course the message that she is passing is much more important, but I was just curious as well...
Wish you the best! Take care cause your lung limits- i suspect- is far more than a normal human: You exercise many years which means that your symptoms delay. But when they come present, its a little bit something to worry about. What is doctors prediction; what you have to do;
Hi, I haven’t been diagnosed with Cancer yet, but I’m trying to find a Dr. that will take me serious that something is wrong with my Body. I have Severe unintentional Weight loss. Bad Fatigue, some Nausea here and there. I guess an overall sense of Malice? I weigh 125Lbs now. I’m 5’ 11” Tall, I’m 63 Yo Male, and my regular Weight is 175-185Lbs. I have a lot of Back problems, with 4 Fusions in my Neck. And 2 in my lower Back. I just had MRIs and I need 3 more Fusions in my lower Back. I now have a Syrinx attached to another Tumor of Unknown Origin at the T10 Level in my Spinal Cord. A Hyper tense Atypical Hemangioma at my T4 Vertebrate. I don’t know if these are causing all my problems and can’t seem to get an answer from my Dr.s. They just keep saying I need to see a Different Dr. ?????? I also can’t feel any Hunger?? When I tell the Dr.s that, they look at me like that’s impossible? I just never feel Hunger even if I don’t eat? I wish I could find an Answer to something??? I really hope you are Cancer free. You’re a Beautiful young Woman with 2 Beautiful Kids, and deserve to have a Happy wonderful Life. I wish you the very best and will definitely add you in my Prayers. God Loves you and I hope you talk to him for Forgiveness and Healing. God does Amazing things, but you have to Pray for them to happen.😁❤️
Why are all of these stories the same? Doctors act like they know so much more than you and when it comes to cancer they don’t know shit. I was horrified how I was treated and misdiagnosed only to find out that it is the norm, not the exception with most cancer victims. I feel like more of a victim of the medical industry than cancer itself. If you suspect ANYTHING is wrong with your body, never let a doctor tell you otherwise.
Don't know where you are but in the uk the only people that are being checked early are people that smoked or smoke. So if you get lung cancer here you are probably stumped as it is likely to be found late if a none smoker!
And it’s in the food and then they wait until it get bad before they want to treat you it’s a wait and see and oh it’s bad now let’s treat versus preventing it earlier on. As well as chemicals
Thank you for also mentioning the biased that comes with lung cancer. People say OH HE OR SHE MUST HAVE SMOKED. I also read a few yrs ago that the ALCA only gives 3 percent of donations to Lung cancer because they felt most were self inflicted. Thank you for your video and sharing your journey. You are a beautiful young lady and may God heal you so you can still smile your lovely smile in this world because we need it. ❤️❤️🙏🙏
