Evy Schiffman’s husband Neil was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in 2011, a month before their 37th wedding anniversary. He passed away four years later. Then in 2018, Schiffman went in for a coronary artery calcium CT scan to detect heart attack and stroke risks. It likely saved her life as the imaging uncovered something on her lung. The diagnosis: stage I lung cancer, when the disease is most treatable and even curable. We talked to Evy about how she and Neil found a community through GO2 for Lung Cancer—and the power of storytelling.

What was it like to find out your spouse has lung cancer?

I always say that when someone is diagnosed with cancer, the whole family gets it because your life is irrevocably changed. There’s an expression: one door closes and another one opens, but its hell in the hallway. It was a total shock. The diagnosis came totally out of left field, as it always does in this case.

I mean, how could this person possibly have lung cancer? My husband was a researcher, so he very quickly started doing research about the disease.

How did you find your way to GO2 for Lung Cancer?

I asked Neil one night if he had any regrets. He said, “You know, I don’t think I’ve done enough with my skills to help other people. I didn’t volunteer a lot.” I replied that it wasn’t too late to do that. So he became really involved with the lung cancer community. And we found a community of people through GO2 for Lung Cancer. We would go to the Living Room – an online educational and support series – every month and sit in that room. And we saw that, okay, you can live with this disease. Neil shared everything in the Living Room because he knew it would help people.

This Lung Cancer Awareness Month we’re showcasing patient stories. And yours and Neil’s story is also featured in GO2 for Lung Cancer Co-founder and Board Chair Bonnie Addario’s book. What does storytelling mean to you?

I’m honored to be in Bonnie’s book. If my story and Neil’s story helps someone else, that’s all I really care about. I think when someone invites you to be in a book or to tell your story, it is a privilege and it makes me feel very valued.

Storytelling is invaluable. Stories around the campfire or stories in the Living Room are invaluable because it puts a face to whatever the situation is. There is nothing like understanding something from someone who has had lived experience. Especially with lung cancer, you see yourself in their stories and it gives you hope. Because if they’re okay, if they’re fighting it, I can do that too.

I mean, you have to have the facts and you have to understand the clinical piece. But it’s the heart and soul of somebody sharing their story that builds the community. When someone tells a story you’re invited into their life and into their heart.

That’s powerful. You also said something earlier about storytelling and courage. Can you talk about that a little more?

Do you know Man’s Search for Meaning? In it, Victor Frankl talks about the three things you need to survive. To me, GO2 for Lung Cancer offers all three.

First, you need something meaningful to occupy your time. For me and so many of the other volunteers involved with GO2 for Lung Cancer, it’s meaningful time. That’s why I write grants for the Living Room and other programs.

The second thing Frankl said you need is people to love and care about. The lung cancer community is an international community, but it has the feel and the heart of a small community. And we talk about how we’re family with Bonnie.

The third thing that Frankl said really blew me away: You need to have courage—courage that no matter what your situation is, you make the best of it. It’s how you perceive the situation. The Living Room not only gives people hope, it gives them courage. And that’s what stories do.

To join our Living Room community and attend an online educational and support session, click here. 

To order your copy of GO2 for Lung Cancer Co-Founder and Board Chair Bonnie Addario’s book, The Living Room: A Lung Cancer Community of Courage, click here.