“If you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.”

This powerful statement was shared by Dr. D. Kyle Hogarth from the University of Chicago during September’s Lung Cancer Living Room to emphasize the importance of having a pulmonologist on your lung cancer care team. A pulmonologist is a medical professional who plays an important role in diagnosing and treating lung cancer, as well as monitoring the effects of treatment and overall lung function.

Dr. Hogarth provided a wide variety of information including:

  • How biopsies are performed
  • A pulmonologist’s role in biomarker testing and lung cancer staging
  • Ways that pulmonologists treat and manage symptoms or complications related to lung cancer treatment and care

He also talked about how pulmonologists can help people living with lung cancer keep doing the things that make them happy, despite compromised lung function.

Speakers: D. Kyle, Hogarth, MD, FCCP, Professor of Medicine, Director of Bronchoscopy and Interventional Pulmonary, University of Chicago; Danielle Hicks, Chief Patient Officer, GO2 for Lung Cancer

Discussed in this episode:

  • A biopsy is a procedure where tissue or fluid is removed from the body to determine if a suspicious area is cancer.
  • After you are diagnosed with lung cancer, biomarker testing tells your health care team what mutations or changes the cancer has. These results guide your team to recommend the best treatment for you.
  • The stage of your lung cancer will determine which treatment options will be most appropriate for you. Non-small cell lung cancer has four stages: 1, 2, 3, and 4, and small cell lung cancer is staged as either limited or extensive.
  • Palliative care is care given to prevent or treat symptoms and side effects related to lung cancer to improve a person’s comfort and quality of life.
  • When traveling after a lung cancer diagnosis, taking additional precautions to ensure your comfort, such as flying with supplemental oxygen, may be necessary.

Please join us on November 16 at 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET for the next Lung Cancer Living Room covering “Coming Together Globally to Combat Stigma.” Join in person at our San Carlos, CA office or watch on YouTube Live.

For more information on the Living Room, other GO2 for Lung Cancer programs, or for support through diagnosis and treatment, please contact GO2’s HelpLine at 1-800-298-2436 or email support@go2.org.