Australian Lisa Briggs is proof that living on a different continent is no impediment to connecting with GO2 for Lung Cancer.

In 2014, after months of misdiagnosis, she learned she had stage IV lung cancer, ALK-positive. The 32-year-old healthcare professional, wife, and mother of a toddler and a newborn was stunned. Her prognosis was grim. Lisa underwent emergency surgery to stop bleeding in her lungs and soon entered a clinical trial of a new targeted therapy. But Lisa longed to connect with others and to find resources.

A serendipitous Facebook connection with a patient group led Lisa to GO2 for Lung Cancer and Bonnie Addario. “Lung cancer is such an isolating disease, but when I reached out to Bonnie, she set up a call to talk,” said Lisa, adding that after that conversation she felt hope for the first time.

“No matter who or where you are, Bonnie and the Foundation care about the person, their family, and the care you receive. A patient-first attitude means really listening to what people are going through, what they need and what barriers need to be broken to improve outcomes,” says Lisa. “Being a patient herself, Bonnie knows the struggles we face.”

It turned out that Lisa fit the criteria to be in the Foundation’s Genomics of Young Lung Cancer (GoYLC) Study researching unique disease drivers, like ALK-positive and other mutations, in healthy young people. That one piece of information changed everything.

What began as a long-distance relationship resulted in Lisa and her family traveling from Australia to California. Lisa and husband Kirk had always wanted to take their children to Disneyland. Now they also wanted to meet Bonnie.

When Lisa’s blood work for the GoYLC Study didn’t get through customs, Bonnie arranged for a phlebotomist to draw Lisa’s blood in her hotel room. “Nothing Bonnie and the Foundation do to support patients is ever any trouble; it’s straight from the heart,” says Lisa. “Bonnie doesn’t just fill gaps, she obliterates them!”

Fortunately, Lisa has rebounded from odds stacked against her. Targeted therapy led to her tumors being greatly reduced and eventually a scan showing no active cancer in her body.

“The hope, the love, the support I received from Bonnie and the Foundation were like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I am just so lucky to have Bonnie with me, in my corner, fighting every step of the way!”

Read more about GO2 for Lung Cancer efforts in our 2019 Annual Report.