Jo Wilson, 56 from Worksop, saw her life turn upside down when doctors confirmed she had incurable lung cancer.
Sharing her experience as part of our campaign Let Go of the Labels for lung cancer awareness month, Jo wants to raise awareness of the disease – and the somewhat surprising symptom she had – to help other people get diagnosed and treated quicker than she did.
“I started with severe back pain,” explains Jo. “My GP was treating me with painkillers. They thought it could be osteoporosis, so I had an MRI. However, before I could get the results, I ended up in A&E because the pain was so bad. That’s when I found out I had lung cancer.”
How can it be lung cancer?
The news came as a huge shock, especially as Jo had never smoked.
Further tests revealed the cancer had spread to both lungs, meaning the chance to cure the disease had gone. Jo is now receiving a targeted therapy to keep her cancer stable, but she lives with the knowledge that, one day, the treatment will stop working.
“I feel like I am living in the dark,” continues Jo. “I don’t know what’s round the corner, or what the next scan will say. That unknown is a very scary place to be.”
We need to better understand lung cancer
Yet despite this uncertainty, Jo is sharing her experience to help others.
“There’s still so much about lung cancer that people don’t understand,” Jo concludes.
“Lung cancer is not something I ever really thought about because I never smoked, and even more so because I didn’t have any symptoms that are typically associated with lung cancer. I didn’t have cough. I wasn’t short of breath. All I had was back pain.
“In a way, I’m fortunate the pain was as bad as it was. It was so severe that I ended up in A&E and immediately got the tests I needed. However, I don’t want people to have to be in this much pain before something is done.
“The sooner lung cancer is caught, the more that can be done to successfully treat it. Surgery wasn’t an option for me as my cancer had already spread.
“But if someone is reading this has similar symptoms, or there’s something that’s just not quite right, I hope my story gives them the push they need to get help.”