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In This Issue:
Eileen Cody with her sons, Brendan and Liam, and her husband, Noel.
During her career as a nurse, Eileen Cody was devoted to caring for patients, and she treated them with respect and compassion. Now, as a lung cancer survivor, she is doing her part to bring awareness to a disease that is often overlooked by those who don’t smoke.
“As someone who never smoked in my life, it never crossed my mind that I would be diagnosed with lung cancer,” said the mother of two, who worked at BWH before being diagnosed with lung cancer five years ago. “The truth is: If you have lungs, you can get lung cancer.”
Last month, the former BWH nurse shared her survival story with viewers of “The Dr. Oz Show.” She was among patients in a segment featuring stories of non-smokers diagnosed with lung cancer. Cody also visited the Fox 25 studio to talk about her experience as a cancer survivor and the impact it had on her life and family.
“It’s a difficult diagnosis to come to terms with since I thought I had done all the right things to be healthy,” said Cody, who was diagnosed at age 32 and endured two rounds of chemotherapy and three surgeries.
Unfortunately, Cody is not alone. According to “Out of the Shadows: Women and Lung Cancer,” a groundbreaking report by BWH researchers released last year, more than 60 percent of new lung cancer patients have either never smoked or have already quit, and the majority of those who have never smoked are women.
“We believe that a better understanding of the roles that genetic, hormonal, behavioral and environmental factors play in this lethal disease will advance preventative, diagnostic and therapeutic practice and improve outcomes,” said Yolonda Colson, MD, PhD, cardiothoracic surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and founder of the Women’s Lung Cancer Forum.
Since Cody’s last surgery two years ago, in which her right lung was removed, she has been in remission and advocating for patients to be vigilant against lung cancer.
“As a non-smoker, you can easily ignore the signs and think ‘it will never happen to me,’” Cody said. “But being aware that it can happen to you is the first step to bringing attention to it, and I’m hopeful that eventually we will have more research in the area of lung cancer in non-smokers.”
View the video clip of Cody’s appearance on “The Dr. Oz Show” at www.doctoroz.com/videos/when-coughs-kill-lung-cancer-pt-1