My name is Joseph and I am a Navy Veteran. My beautiful wife Kimberly had back pain that increased over a year which I would help her massage to relieve nightly. We mistakenly overlooked this as a minor issue until it became unbearable. At that point, we went to the ER. Kim’s diagnosis of stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer, which was sadly overlooked for years by many doctors, was given four days following Christmas in 2015.

Our worlds changed. We were only beginning our lives as I was 42 and she was 53, married for six years together. I immediately stood up to become her caretaker and while I learned on the fly, this wasn’t easy for either of us, especially Kim. My wife fought hard until year four when I lost her.

I continue to try my best to get through each day, thinking of Kim and what she would do and want me to do. When I have the strength, I try to advocate in her memory to help others. I attended GO2 for Lung Cancer’s Advocacy Summit to help raise awareness and advocate for vital lung cancer research funding. God bless lung cancer patients and caretakers.