RETpositive
Melissa, diagnosed with RET positive NSCLC in 2005
Melissa, diagnosed with RET positive NSCLC in 2005
I was diagnosed with lung cancer ‘accidentally’ in 2005, following a chest x-ray done as part of a routine physical for a new job. Despite a left upper lobe resection followed by six rounds of chemotherapy, by 2008 the cancer had metastasized to my liver. Now, oligometastatic stage IV, I underwent a plethora of treatments including stereotactic and proton beam radiation. I’ve had chemotherapy, immunotherapy and have been in six clinical trials. In 2016 I partnered with LUNGevity to start the RET Renegades Facebook group as a means for people with the RET mutation to connect and support one another. I started the Loxo-292 trial in 2017 and am now NED, or with ‘No Evidence of Disease’. I’ve been through some very tough times, but I have been dealing with this for fifteen years and I am still here.
