Non-smoking yoga-obsessed mum thought she had Long Covid - but it was lung cancer

As a non-smoking, vegetarian, yoga enthusiast, 57-year-old Melanie Erwin is not the stereotypical lung cancer patient. Myths inactive perpetuate that it’s a illness that affects smokers, the aged and those exposed to dense pollution, specified arsenic miners. The reality, however, is precise different.

According to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, each time 44 women successful the UK volition dice of lung cancer, much than bosom and ovarian cancers combined, and worryingly, rates successful women are increasing. One successful 15 women volition beryllium diagnosed with the illness successful her lifetime, and much younger women than men volition dice of it this year.

In addition, astir a 4th of those diagnosed yearly are non-smokers. Melanie, who was diagnosed with signifier 4 lung crab earlier this year, is precise acquainted with the inaccurate perceptions.

“People thin to beryllium precise amazed erstwhile I archer them what benignant of crab I have. They look astatine maine and my precise steadfast lifestyle, having ne'er smoked, and they can’t recognize however I person this disease.

“I’ve ne'er wanted anyone’s pity oregon sympathy, but it tin beryllium hard to consciousness that radical presume we lung crab patients person someway ‘caused’ our ain illness,” she says.

Melanie, a parent of 3 who lives successful East London with her spouse Sarah, 39, was diagnosed successful August 2020 during the pandemic.

“Ironically, it was Covid that saved my beingness astatine that time. I had it successful April 2020, past began to endure from symptoms of Long Covid successful the months that followed, including unspeakable fatigue, though nary cough.

“Fortunately, my GP sent maine for an X-ray and humor tests, and the aforesaid day I received a telephone to accidental a ‘mass’ had been detected successful my near lung,” says Melanie.

“Further scans and tests revealed the wide was unrelated to Covid and that, devastatingly, I had non-small compartment lung crab (NSCLC), which is the astir communal type.

“I received that quality by telephone telephone and it was an tremendous and crushing shock. I was terrified. Sarah was my rock, but it was truthful hard for my grown-up children and parents arsenic nary of them could beryllium with maine due to the fact that I needed to shield to support myself.”

Within weeks, Melanie had country to region fractional her near lung and spent 4 days unsocial successful infirmary arsenic Covid restrictions meant nary visitors.

“After that, I needed to person some chemotherapy and radiotherapy due to the fact that though a biopsy revealed my tumour had been detected successful the aboriginal stages, immoderate crab cells had been recovered successful my lymph nodes.

“The chemotherapy was incredibly gruelling, I was precise poorly during that time, but I had to judge it would each beryllium worthy it.”

Melanie finished attraction successful March 2021 and for the adjacent twelvemonth recovered, and underwent regular scans. In April 2022, a fig of tiny nodules were spotted successful her close lung.

“The beardown suspicion, due to the fact that of my erstwhile diagnosis, was that they were cancerous but they were excessively tiny for a biopsy to beryllium performed. The uncertainty was precise hard to bear, but I had to marque a conscious determination that determination was perfectly thing I could do, and nary constituent wasting precious clip worrying.”

In March, owed to the flimsy maturation of the nodules, it was imaginable for a biopsy to beryllium performed and sadly Melanie discovered she had Stage 4 lung cancer, specifically a mutation called EGFR positive, which affects astir 10-15% of the 39,000 radical diagnosed with lung crab successful the UK.

It’s much communal successful women and successful radical who person ne'er smoked, and affects a higher ­proportion of patients successful immoderate Asian countries.

“Despite the information I knew determination was a beardown anticipation the crab had returned, it was inactive shocking, and similar galore radical do, I heard ‘Stage 4’ and instantly thought ‘death sentence’,” says Melanie. “Since past however, I’ve learned attraction for lung crab is ­developing and improving each the time.

“I americium taking a regular medicine which has lone been disposable successful the UK for a fewer years and which inhibits the maturation of tumour cells, and whitethorn adjacent trim them down to nothing. There’ll travel a constituent erstwhile it stops working, due to the fact that my crab cells volition get omniscient to it and mutate again, but my anticipation is that by past different cause volition beryllium available. My extremity is to unrecorded with Stage 4 lung crab and yet dice with it, not of it.

“Alongside the medication, I unrecorded an incredibly steadfast and holistic life, with supplements, a practically sugar-free diet, nary nutrient oregon alcohol.”

And arsenic good arsenic yoga, Melanie practises qigong – Chinese meditative ­movement said to assistance healing.

“I consciousness precise good with tons of energy, and emotion spending clip with Sarah, my household and small granddaughter Maya, present 21 months old,” she says.

“I’ve besides started penning astir my acquisition connected Substack, thing I’ve recovered incredibly therapeutic. Delving into my emotions and putting them into words has helped maine judge what has happened to maine and what I americium surviving with. I anticipation different idiosyncratic volition work it and cognize determination is beingness aft a lung crab diagnosis.”

November is Lung Cancer Awareness period and Melanie, a diligent advocator for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, who has had enactment from foundation EGFR Positive UK, is passionate astir highlighting its often chartless symptoms.

“I’m delighted determination is present overmuch much cognition astir the signs of cancers similar bosom and ovarian, but what to ticker for successful presumption of lung crab inactive has a agelong mode to go.

“Symptoms see the much evident ones similar a persistent cough oregon repeated thorax infections, to lesser known ones similar enarthrosis and thorax pain, and unexplained fatigue.

“Last year, a nationalist lung crab screening ­programme was rolled retired for radical aged 55-74 with a GP grounds including a past of smoking, and I impulse anyone eligible to instrumentality vantage of it. The astir important happening to retrieve is that anyone with lungs tin get lung cancer, irrespective of property oregon lifestyle. I americium impervious of that.”

• The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation ( roycastle.org ) has much information. Read Melanie’s Substack astatine melerwin.substack.com