November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. It's the number one cancer killer in the United States. This Thursday is the Great American Smokeout because smoking is a huge risk factor for lung cancer.
But non-smokers are also diagnosed with lung cancer, including a woman who lives in West Knoxville. She found out she had lung cancer when she was 39, and is now advocating for more research for a cure.
About a year ago, Amanda Nerstad was jogging up a hill in her neighborhood when she felt a pressure in her chest.
"Maybe I just can't run these Tennessee hills anymore. So I thought well maybe I have walking pneumonia or something so I decided to go in and get an x-ray. I went to the doctor," she recalled.
After many tests and lung surgery, Nerstad finally got a diagnosis.
"They figured out that I have stage 4 lung cancer. Which was a shock. I'm a non-smoker," she said.
"And then many tests later, also we found out I have a genetic mutation called ALK-positive."
Amanda and her husband, Gary, went into full research mode. The statistics surprised them.
"We've realized that anyone with lungs can get lung cancer," Amanda said.
More people die from lung cancer every year than breast cancer, prostate cancer and colorectal cancer combined.
Yet research funding for lung cancer lags far behind those cancers.
"We joined this online group called ALK-positive lung cancer. There's many people in our group who are in their 30s and 40s who have the same genetic mutation, and we decided that these statistics aren't acceptable," she said. "The five year survival rate is only 17 percent, but we're all going to beat that."
The group created its own research fund.
"We teamed up with LUNGevity and we also have a couple specialized doctors working with us and within six weeks we were able to raise $200,000, and that is enough money for a research grant for a researcher for one year," she said.
The goal is a cure.
For now, Amanda takes a chemo pill twice a day with few side effects.
"Sometimes I get really tired, but it's hard to tell is that the chemo pill or is that just being a mom?" she said.
This mother of two little girls knows that at some point her body will develop a resistance to her medicine. There's an urgency to develop the next generation of chemo to treat a disease she never thought she would get.
"They all say the same thing, it's just really bad luck. They say something turned this genetic mutation on so we want to find a cure, what it takes to turn it off," she said.
Amanda relies on her faith and her family.
"I enjoy life more than I ever have," she said.
This week Brown Bag Food with a Purpose catering has two events to support lung cancer research.
On Tuesday, Nov. 14, the caterer will donate a portion of all sales.
Then Thursday, Nov. 16, Brown Bag will host a Thanksgiving dinner at its Hardin Valley location at 10649 Hardin Valley Road. Dinner will be served from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $20, and all of those sales will benefit lung research.
Call 865-250-5839 or email Britneymincer86@gmail.com to purchase your $20 ticket.