Lana was a young, fit and healthy 30-year-old when she started to experience strange back pain. “I was super healthy,” she remembers.
I was going to gym every morning. Then, in June 2019 I started getting this weird back pain and it just wouldn’t stop. I asked the doctor for a scan and he was very dismissive and just said, ‘Have you tried mindfulness?
Lana was eventually referred for a scan six months later and was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. The news completely shocked her, but Lana was no stranger to the devastating diagnosis, having watched her grandmother Cass receive the same diagnosis just a few years earlier.
When a large tumour was discovered in Cass’ tongue in 2016, and subsequent tumours and legions in her lung, she was told she had limited options and would likely have three months to live. After she responded well to chemotherapy and radiation, Cass was able to begin an immunotherapy trial thanks to lung cancer research. Six years later, Cass serves as inspiration for her granddaughter, offering support and continuing to defy the odds.
Since her stage IV diagnosis, Lana has undergone a range of treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery for both her lung cancer and brain metastases. “It can be really hard hearing that you’re unlikely to be around for two to three years, given the rarity of your cancer,” she says. “Or even if you want to get to your 35th birthday or 40th, it’ll be a medical miracle. But once you get used to the ups and downs and find the right supports, especially for me, you just want to help people, so that they don’t end up in the same situation that you are in.”
After her diagnosis Lana felt as though she had no direction, no purpose. She made a website telling her story but she didn’t know where or what the next step was to raise awareness regarding her illness. However, through Lung Foundation Australia, she found a way that she could support others like herself. “When I found Lung Foundation Australia it was such a relief,” she says. “I thought ‘now I can help others through advocacy’. It’s shocking just how unjust the current system is.”
Lana’s drive to help others is something that she attributes to being an older sister and working within the health insurance industry for a decade. She claims “I love connecting with people and helping them in any way that I can, like public speaking, I’m terrified of it, but if it’s helping somebody else, I do not care. I know that’s what I’m here to do.”
“I love connecting with people and helping them in any way that I can, like public speaking, I’m terrified of it, but if it’s helping somebody else, I do not care. I know that’s what I’m here to do.”
Lana is a member of Lung Foundation Australia’s Lung Cancer Consumer Advisory Committee and is a strong and vocal advocate. From meeting with politicians in Parliament to speaking to media, Lana continues to raise awareness about the impact of lung cancer in Australia. Both herself and Cass are passionate about using their voice to champion change and improve outcomes for Australians with lung cancer.
“I’m in a good spot right now,” Lana says. “I’m feeling really good, really healthy. Due to support from my doctors, my family, friends and also the Lung Foundation Australia, I’m still here.”