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Lung Cancer Survivor Offers Advice to the Newly Diagnosed

Cancer survivor offers his advice to the newly diagnosed as they start their treatment journey.

Lung cancer survivor Larry Whipple thought things were looking grim when he received a stage 3b lung cancer diagnosis in September 2017. But thanks to his insistence on a second opinion and the best care he could find, he’s cancer-free today and sharing some advice for others who have recently received a diagnosis of their own.

The most important thing, Whipple notes, is to seek out a second opinion and become your own best advocate. Identifying support groups and other organizations that offer information is a key next step, as well as having a positive outlook from the start.

Transcription:

First of all, make certain you get a second opinion and do not delay. If you’ve just been diagnosed, then you’re halfway there. Now it’s a question of making sure that the therapies that you are (going to receive) are best for you.

And there’s a ton of research, and there’s a ton of support groups. If you don’t have a laptop, get access to one so you can go online and study the things that are written by organizations such as CURE® or other support groups or organizations like the American Cancer Society. (This) at least gives you some sort of a knowledge base from which you can then operate and go forward.

And do not give up. One of my daughter-in-law’s closest friends, when she heard that I was diagnosed with cancer, she said, “Oh, I feel so sorry for cancer.” Because I’m a fighter and I don’t give up!

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