Stage 4 lung cancer survivor says, 'I never smoked,' pay attention to symptoms

Julie Paup considered herself a healthy person, except for a cough that wouldn’t go away. After six months of coughing, Julie, who has never smoked in her life, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in January 2015.

According to the CDC, about 10% to 20% of lung cancer cases occur in people who have never smoked or smoked less than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime.

Julie went to the doctor about her cough several times before her diagnosis. After coughing up blood when her lung collapsed, she was given a chest X-ray and diagnosed four days later. The cancer had metastasized to her lymph nodes, pelvic bone and her spine.

“I thought it was a sciatic nerve problem until they did the CT scan and found that it had metastasized further along than I had ever imagined,” said Julie. "The prognosis for recovery from stage 4 is 5% or less. My outlook was very bleak."

Julie never thought she could be experiencing the symptoms of lung cancer. She wants people to know that you do not have to smoke to get lung cancer.

“It’s frustrating to hear people say, ‘Oh you must have smoked.’ No, if you have lungs, you can get lung cancer,” Julie said.

Symptoms of lung cancer are the same for smokers and non-smokers. Some people have general symptoms of not feeling well or feeling tired all the time. Others, like Julie, experience a persistent cough, cough up blood, or have chest pain, wheezing or shortness of breath. If you have any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor.

Julie doesn’t want lung cancer's association with smoking to get in the way of somebody’s diagnosis.

“Don’t ignore your symptoms.” she said. “‘If you know something is not right, be your own advocate. Don’t let someone talk you out of it. If you think you need a second opinion just to make sure, don't hesitate to do that.”

According to the American Lung Association, lung cancer has a five-year survival rate of 18.6%. It's now been six years since the diagnosis and Julie is cancer free.

“Unfortunately, with lung cancer, it most of the time gets diagnosed too late and that’s part of the problem too. If it’s late in the stages, the treatment might not be there,” Julie said. “I am very lucky; I really am, and I know that. But a lot of other people are not.”

You can learn your risk for lung cancer today by taking our lung cancer risk assessment. Exposure to secondhand smoke, air pollution and radon can be risk factors for lung cancer as well.