On October 23, 2018, Angie (Perkins) Downs was diagnosed with Stage 3 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. The diagnosis was as shocking as it is unfair. Let's get this out of the way: she's never had a cigarette in her life. We have dealt with grief, anger, sadness and frustration in the days since learning of her diagnosis, but the important point now is that the fight is on!
Angie is the mother of Liam (10) and Evelyn (8) and the wife of Jake. She works as a nurse anesthetist at Kaiser Permanente in Seattle and is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves--set to retire this year. Whether you are a family member, one of her many great friends, a co-worker, someone who served with her, or just someone who happens to know who she is, please send all the positive thoughts and prayers you have our way.
DIAGNOSIS. Angie developed a small cough during the summer of 2018. She went to the doctor in August, and was told she probably just had a lingering cold and that something was “going around." After rooming with a close friend on a trip in September, she was encouraged and convinced to go back to the doctor. Thank you Alitha Regalia--you are a hero and the definition of "awareness!" Angie had a chest x-ray, which only showed some sort of "atypical infection." She then underwent a CT Scan, which showed some unusual nodules in her lungs but they still suspected infection. Actual lung cancer in a 42 year-old nonsmoker is extremely rare. Blood work came back negative for infection, so they scheduled a bronchoscopy, which is a minor procedure that sends a tube into the lung to take samples of tissue. The samples taken in her right lung came back as adenocarcinoma (aka cancer). Based on the bronchoscopy and a subsequent PET scan, it has been confirmed that she has two cancerous nodules in separate lobes of her right lung and the cancer has metastasized to her mediastinal lymph nodes (middle of the chest) and her supraclavicular lymph nodes (right collar bone area)-- Stage 3C non-small cell lung cancer. Thankfully, the PET scan revealed that her condition had not yet reached stage 4 and is still confined to the right lung and surrounding lymph nodes. Currently, her condition is inoperable. We are awaiting results of genomic marker testing, and she will likely start a combination of therapies very soon.
OUR TEAM. We are just starting our cancer journey but are assembling a great team of experts who are going to help Angie beat this disease. We are working and consulting with doctors at Kaiser, Swedish, and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. We are also being advised of available treatments and trials by the good people at Cancer Treatment Navigator. A special thanks to Andy Ecklund and Foundation Medicine, Dr. Hartmut Stecher, Dr. David Lewis, and Dr. Eric Chen for your assistance and support during this initial stage.
HOW CAN YOU HELP RIGHT NOW? By all appearances, Angie is healthy. So for now, what she needs are words of encouragement, positive thoughts, and absolutely no pity or negativity. This disease does not define her, and she still needs to lead her life. So treat her just as you would under normal circumstances--she is still Angie. If you know our children, please give them the love and respect they have always deserved. They don't need pity either--mom is a warrior and is going to be there for them. Our children also don't need to see other adults becoming emotional over this. We don't know where this disease will take us, but the advancements that are being made in targeted therapies and immunotherapy are giving us hope and encouragement. On that note, if you research this issue on your own, please ignore the 5-year survival rates and other statistics as that is old data that does not yet account for the amazing advancements in the last couple of years. Again, we are well-advised by experts in this field, and we can only intake so much information related to cancer, cancer treatment, cancer stories, etc. So please be selective regarding what, if any, anecdotal stories of others you decide to share with Angie. That said, if you know of a female non-smoker with non-small cell lung cancer, we would love to know about them. Finally, if you still feel awkward and don't know what to say--like I did when I have known other people with cancer--here's a quick resource:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/promoting-hope-preventing-suicide/201705/ring-theory-helps-us-bring-comfort-in As her husband, I can tell you firsthand that we NEVER EVER thought something like this would happen to us. We are healthy, active people with no known genetic history of cancer. Just over a week ago, our biggest concerns in life were planning vacation and redoing our kitchen. Point being, cancer and many other diseases are not selective, do not have a face, and can strike when you least expect them. I don't say this to scare anyone, but rather to raise awareness that you should always seek medical advice if you have an unusual condition that lasts for more than a few days, and you should always hug and cherish your loved ones.
Finally, if you know veterans or current service members who served in Iraq or Afghanistan--particularly before 2010--please encourage them to get checked out. Angie served in Baghdad, Iraq in 2006 and 2007. There is evidence that many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are suffering respiratory problems and developing certain cancers, which could be attributable to the burn pits and other particulate matter in the dust and sand.
If you are family or a close friend, we apologize if you are learning about this for this first time via Facebook or this site--the fact that we may not have reached out directly does not mean that we love or appreciate you any less. It is just that the stress and emotional toll of telling people directly has been overwhelming, and this is an efficient and less taxing way to do it. Again, all our efforts needs to be focused on immediate treatment. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, love and compassion.
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