Besides leading to nosy questions, what does that stigma mean?
Research into the disease is underfunded, and I think the stigma does contribute to that. We tend to believe lung cancer is self-inflicted, and there’s a moral judgment about people who smoke. We haven’t had a powerful enough lobby [to change that perception], but a groundswell is growing. People like Dana Reeve help. We need people to speak up. It’s difficult to admit you’re a lung cancer survivor people continue to judge you. But as more people who never smoked or quit decades ago are diagnosed, the myth [of lung cancer as self-inflicted] will disappear. How were you diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002? The tumor was discovered by mistake when my doctor ordered a CT scan of my abdomen for another problem. The radiologist happened to look at the scan more carefully after I left and discovered something in my lung. While I was lying on the table, he held my hand and said my abdomen was all clear, and then he called a couple of hours later and told me [about the suspicious spot]. I had q
