I Am…Inhaling and Exhaling
When my partner was first diagnosed, “lungs” suddenly meant scans, acronyms, and odds. People told us not to read the statistics. Others said to ask about trials, about immunotherapy, about combinations. In the middle of all that, one person simply said, “Don’t do this alone.”
I didn’t realize that I breathe easier in the community.
I am the patient who wants to finish treatment and also sleep through the night. A new friend on Smart Patients used three words that saved me weeks of suffering: "ground-glass opacities." They explained how steroids calmed the inflammation. Another said, "Ask for a scan. Pneumonitis can look quiet, until it isn't." I printed their comments and brought them to my oncologist and asked for a closer look.
I am also the person who once thought “lung health” just meant not smoking. I learned there are many paths to shortness of breath: surgery that changes how a lobe expands, small-airway disease that masquerades as asthma, autoimmune conditions like Sjögren’s that dry everything out and complicate every breath. Someone shared, “Take a video when the cough happens because you won’t have it in the clinic.” That small idea changed my appointment.
I am the caregiver weighing choices with my partner after surgery with clear margins. The questions spun: Chemo or immunotherapy? Watchful waiting or active surveillance? A Smart Patient explained adjuvant treatment in plain language, including what helps, what’s optional, and what to ask. Another reminded us: healthy lungs aren’t only about medical treatments for lung diseases; they’re about sleep, movement, hydration, stress, and steady follow-up.
I am the person who finds hope in unexpected places: doctors who became patients themselves, caregivers who became advocates, researchers using AI to find new purpose for old drugs. These stories keep my curiosity alive when fear tries to steal my breath.
I am not a statistic. I am a body learning, a family asking, a community answering. This month, I'm paying attention to every inhale and exhale—and to the people who help me keep breathing, in every sense of the word.
October is National Healthy Lung Month, a time to increase awareness and education around the topic of having good lung health. Join the Smart Patients lung-focused communities to compare notes on breathing changes, scans, and what helped day-to-day.
Real connection. Trusted resources. Shared progress.
Thank you to our partners: Lung Cancer Foundation of America and the Lung Cancer Connection.