About The Patients
They are your friends, your relatives, your neighbors: people you recognize and greet every day. People you love.
They are also the thousands of nameless people you may encounter during the course of a lifetime.
Some of these people are or will become members of an exclusive but grim club, a club that no one willingly chooses to join.
The only requirement for membership is a diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer. And the dues are heartbreaking.
Read the compelling stories of the patients featured in the “Breath of Hope”:
DORIS TAYLOR
“If you’re suffering from this there is hope. It’s not necessarily a complete fatal disease at all times. There’s hope.”
Doris and Aaron Taylor have been married for 51 years. They raised three children and have lived their entire lives in Sacramento. Doris was a nurse; Aaron worked for the phone company. In many ways, they have lived out the California dream of a good life in the sunshine.
But the dark cloud of lung cancer has cast its shadow over Doris and her family. Her brother, mother, nephew, sister and daughter all lost their battle with the disease. Now Doris, diagnosed with Stage I non-small cell lung cancer, hopes to break the deadly cycle.
DENNIS ZABALDO
“My son said…’Dad, all you got to do is stay alive today because another pill may come tomorrow. So just stay alive today, every single day and hope for that next pill’…And I do.”
Dennis Zabaldo of Tampa, Florida is a man with many interests: Careers as a builder, salesman, archaeologist, electrician and magazine publisher. Adventures with diving, river rafting, camping, and hunting, to name a few.
At age 62, Dennis was diagnosed with Stage IV Bronchioalveolar cell carcinoma, commonly called BAC. BAC tends to be resistant to chemotherapy and, as in Dennis’ case, often spreads to both lungs. With the upper lobe of his left lung removed and new cancer drugs on the horizon, Dennis faces an uncertain future.
JANICE SWEENEY
“I know that lung cancer is very serious and it takes a lot of people but I’m really hoping that I can be one of the lucky ones.”
Janice and Mike Sweeney of Worcestor, MA practiced healthy lifestyles. Both were both non-smokers and Janice at age 47, exercised regularly, walking up to 45 minutes a day.
Nevertheless, in late 2007 Janice was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer, which had metastasized and spread to several other organs, including her brain and spine.
Her doctor prescribed a targeted therapy to block cancer cell growth. For the moment, the Sweeneys continue to live their lives day to day, week to week, scan to scan.
JAN LESSER
“It wasn’t devastating. Isn’t that weird? It should’ve been but it wasn’t.”
Jan and Rick Lesser of Huntington Beach, CA lived a storybook life filled with travel and carefree adventure. But Jan thought her her luck had run out when she was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer which had spread to her brain.
Despite radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy, the cancer continued to grow. With her treatment options nearly exhausted, her doctors recommended targeted cancer therapies, the potential “magic bullets” of medicine. The Lessers certainly hope their magic bullet hits its mark.
KEVIN BRUMETT
“I’m gonna bring a whole world of hurt on it and I’m gonna beat this thing and show that it can be done.”
At age 29 Kevin Brumett had a group of good friends, a decent job and a steady girlfriend who would soon become his fiancee. Kevin, a life-long non-smoker and clean-living athelete, also had Stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer.
While battling the disease, Kevin has become an advocate for lung cancer awareness and research.
With a lot of help from his friends, Kevin is running again. He is somewhere along an unknown path in a race with lung cancer. And Kevin is running for his life.