Kathleen Bradley is Changing the Face of Lung Cancer

I am a physical therapist, living in the Northwest, by most definitions “athletic” and enjoy the outdoors. I have 10 and 11 year old boys and am married to my best friend.

In August 2014 I was diagnosed with Stage 3B NSCLC, underwent treatment, then 1 year later it was in my spine. I had XRT again and started on targeted chemo pill. I’ve let this beat me up physically and mentally more than I can handle sometimes. Other times I feel proud and strong that I can deal with this challenge.

For years I felt anger and jealousy for people who are not dealing with Stage 4 cancer and raising 2 active, wonderful boys. I heard a nice statement the other day that described those feelings as “a normal demonstration of your will to live, just a negative expression”.

Time to change that power to a positive expression I’ve taken the strategy of “owning it” vs. denying it, which has surprisingly (to me) helped me move forward (such as this email).