Recordpub.com - Another chance at life: Edinburg woman beats lung cancer ... twice

Marty Hatcher, a music teacher, is a two-time lung cancer survivor.

By Diane Smith
Record-Courier staff writer
EDINBURG — Years ago, Martha Hatcher recalls, lung cancer was considered a death sentence.
But Hatcher has survived two separate bouts of lung cancer, and wants others to know that they can beat this disease and win.
“I don’t consider myself just a survivor,” the retired Southeast music teacher said. “I’m a victor. I credit my family, my friends and my faith in God.”
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and Ohio ranks high in both incidence of cancer and cancer deaths. According to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts and Figures for 2009, only four states had more new lung cancer cases than Ohio this year — California, Florida, Texas and New York. Only five states ranked higher than Ohio in lung cancer deaths — California, Florida, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania.
In 2006, Hatcher sought treatment for a cough that would not go away. After a series of CAT scans and chest X-rays, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. On June 19 of that year, she had surgery to remove her entire left lung.
Hatcher, a non-smoker, was never given any reasons why the disease would affect her. An estimated 10 percent of lung cancer cases occur in people who have never smoked.
“I never smoked,” she said. “I never was around smokers. But it’s more common in non-smoking women than we know.”
Only 11 days after her surgery, her mother, Eleanor McConnell, died of cancer. McConnell, who lived with her daughter during the last portion of her life, was kept in the dark about her daughter’s illness as much as possible.
But during those dark days, Hatcher said, she found many reasons to smile. Her church, Edinburg United Church, where she serves as organist, stepped up, as did many loved ones and her extended family.
“God sent people into my life to cheer me up,” she said. “I’ve had some good things come from something bad.”
Hatcher’s oncologist, Dr. Fred Marquinez, prescribed chemotherapy as a precaution, and she started 2007 with a clean bill of health. But in September, she started coughing again. The following January, she was diagnosed with cancer again, this time in her remaining right lung. This time, the cancer was different — it had “infiltrated” her lung, and wasn’t a single mass. And this time, surgery was not an option.
She was given chemotherapy, but when there was no change in the nodules, Marquinez referred her to Dr. Derek Ragahaven at the Cleveland Clinic. Clinic doctors prescribed Tarceva, a chemotherapy pill.
Since starting the medication in April 2008, her cough disappeared within two weeks. In June of that year, Marquinez reviewed her scan and found “significant improvement” that “could represent response to chemotherapy.”
She continues to get checkups from Marquinez every six weeks, and will be on Tarceva “for life.” Earlier this month, her oxygen level was 98 percent.
Ragahaven told her the drug is unique because it targets only the lung cancer, and not other systems in the body.
She said the doctor likened the body to a house, and explained that Tarceva knocks out the lights in one room, rather than every room of the house, as traditional chemotherapy does.
She suspects that her attitude has “a little to do” with her survival. She is enjoying spending this holiday season with her family, and looks forward to sharing her story with others so she can help them.
“If they do get it, they need to know it’s not a death sentence,” she said.

6.	Posted by LCAdvocate December 9, 2009
	For lung cancer organizations and links you can go to www.lungcan.org This website lists over 25 lung cancer organizations and has links to each of them. Depending on what you are looking for, each serves a different need. Patient services such as help with insurance, buddy systems, wigs & makeup, rides to cancer treatment and information about treatment options are best offered through: CancerCare, Caring Ambassadors Lung Cancer Program, Beverly Fund Lung Cancer Foundation, Lung Cancer Alliance, American Cancer Society and LUNGevity. National Lung Cancer Partnership offers a great way for advocates to get involved with fundraising and offers an advocacy summit each Spring which I recommend Martha try to apply for if she'd like to get involved in lung cancer advocacy. For public policy involvement, Lung Cancer Alliance, American Lung Association and American Cancer Society are the three that lobby the most on the Hill, but others back their legislation proposals. You may also want to share your story on the Beverly Fund website at www.beverlyfund.org/discoverthetruth.html which features nonsmokers with lung cancer. There is also a Facebook group called WTF? (where's the funding) for lung cancer and they are doing a campaign right now to spell out that in creative ways. Check out this http://www.wtflungcancer.com/campaign-alert-how-do-you-spell-wheres-the-funding-for-lung-cancer/ The LungCAN website is under construction, but coming soon before the end of the year. Check back in January for a full fledged place to go for resources and information. God bless you!