Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Nancy Michener Dies After a 7 Year Battle

After a 7 year battle with lung cancer, Nancy Michener has died from the disease on June 16, 2006 shortly after 7:30 p.m. She was surrounded by her family.

Nancy was a never smoker, and in my opinion, one of the louder voices in the fight for lung cancer. If you do a search for her name, you will find she was interviewed for many articles. She fought to raise awareness for herself and others with the disease. She even took her fight to the captial, to create a lung cancer awareness proclamation Unfortunately, her words were changed that the proclamation became an anti-smoking proclamation.

At that time, Nancy said:

Like most cases in non-smokers, my doctors and I have absolutely no idea what caused my cancer. Do you know what? What caused my illness does not matter to me at all. What matters is that I have cancer: I need to be treated and I want to survive.

But, the real problem with the proclamation’s obsession with causes is that by the time a person has lung cancer it is far, far too late to worry about the reason they have it. As a never-smoker with terminal lung cancer, at this point I really could care less why I have it; it simply does not matter. I am also so very, very, very, very tired of answering the eternal question “Did you smoke?” The answer to the question does not change the terrible fact that I have cancer and am fighting for my life.

Nancy was also co-chair of the CA Steering Committee of the Lung Cancer Alliance. To me, she did for lung cancer what Angelina Jolie does for children of third-world countries, without the drama. She made her voice heard in this fight against this insidious disease.

Nancy, and her husband Stuart, recently lost thier daughter Alision in a tragic boating accident. I am sure Nancy's untimely death only compounds this grief. For Nancy, and for others who have lost the battle to lung cancer, as well as for those fighting to win, we must make it know that lung cancer is not just a smoker's disease.

Posted by Lynda (Laurianne's Sister) :: 6:10 AM :: 2 people are more aware ---------------------------------------