Sydney Yolande Barned, MD, is a practicing physician at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland. She is also a lung cancer patient and an advocate. We asked her to share some insights from her unique perspective as a patient and a physician.

Q: Dr. Barned, please tell us what you were doing when you first received your lung cancer diagnosis.

I was in my intern year of medical residency, trying to de-stress. That’s when I noticed decreased exercise endurance and that I was wheezing, which was unusual as I did not have asthma.

Q: What were your emotions when you were diagnosed and how did you find the courage to move forward?

Diagnosis was a whirlwind of emotions. What?! How? I’ve been so antismoking! Why me? I planned for my life. Am I going to die? Am I going to have chemo? Am I going to be able to actually become a practicing doctor after all these years? It’s hard to focus when you have so many questions and no one has the answers. I was overwhelmed by the unknown. I had clear 5-year and 10-year plans before cancer, but my diagnosis made it all fuzzy.

I moved forward because I had no alternative. I couldn’t go into a corner and think “woe is me.” I continued working since it took my mind off of what I was going through and because it made me feel normal. Work was something I could control. Work kept me looking toward the future.

Q: You are now a practicing physician. Tell us more about your professional life.

I work as a Medicine Hospitalist. I see patients that are admitted, organize their general care, and, when necessary, arrange for meetings with specialists. For the past few months, I’ve been placed on the oncology ward, since it was kept COVID-19 free. Initially I thought it would be hard, because it would be a constant reminder of what I might eventually go through. But, I found it fulfilling. I am able to help people during one of their lowest moments—and

I don’t just help them medically. For those I believe might benefit, I share my diagnosis, my experience, and my hope. I find that my story can inspire patients to find their own inner strength to bring them out of despair. I enjoy making people better, now on more planes than I had expected.

Q: You’ve been a lung cancer advocate since diagnosis. What have those activities meant to you?

They have meant quite a bit. Lung cancer is so underrepresented in the mind of the general public, which reflects the stigma that is associated with lung cancer as a smoker’s disease. Every chance I get I inform people of the possibility of young people like myself getting lung cancer, and that you do not have to be a smoker to develop it. When I speak, it means one more person becomes aware of the fact that anyone who has lungs can get lung cancer.

Q: What advocacy topics resonate with you?

Awareness about the need for more lung cancer research, for more general awareness, for more empathy. The unique issue of women and lung cancer, getting rid of the stigma, and obtaining research funding on the same level as breast, ovarian and other women’s cancers. This should be achievable because lung cancer kills more people than those cancers combined.

Q: What advice would you provide to others living with lung cancer?

There are many of us surviving lung cancer—l am living with it and enjoying every day that I have. While it may seem like the end of the world, it is not.  No one day is promised to anyone. Plan for your rainy day, but live each day to the fullest.

Dr. Barned has participated in several of our recent Advocacy Summits. View a 2019 interview where she discusses the issue of women and lung cancer.