Focusing on the Positive After Cancer
- Actress Kate Micucci, 44, known for her role on the TV sitcom “Big Bang Theory,” connected with one of her Hollywood heroes, actor Dick Van Dyke, at an event recently. Micucci is a few months removed from undergoing lung cancer surgery.
- Her diagnosis came as a surprise given she’s never smoked. While cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for the disease, nonsmokers can and do get lung cancer.
- Treating lung cancer depends on the cancer’s location and how advanced it is. Treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, or a combination of any of these treatments.
- Micucci underwent surgery to treat her cancer. She shared how grateful she was that the cancer was caught in early stages.
Though recovery from the procedure can be painfully grueling, the resilient actress still takes time to cherish joyous moments in life, including hanging out with fellow Hollywood star Dick Van Dyke, 98.
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In an Instagram post, Micucci stood alongside Hollywood producer Sid Krofft and Van Dyke, posing for the camera while donning big smiles.
“What a joy celebrating Bob Baker Day with the Grand Marshal…the incredible Sid Krofft. And then Sid’s friend Dick Van Dyke came by! Very cool to get a photo with two of my heroes,” Micucci said.
Micucci, an Emmy-nominated actress, portrays “Lucy” on the Big Bang Theory television series. She’s also given life to “Scooby Doo” character Velma in recent years.
Earlier this year, Micucci revealed she had been diagnosed with lung cancer despite having never smoked – a leading risk factor for lung cancer.
“I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life, so it was a surprise,” Micucci said on her TikTok video.
She says she’s grateful her cancer was caught in its early stages, which is rare considering lung cancer’s subtle symptoms make it difficult to detect during its early stages when it is easier to treat.
She underwent surgery for treatment. Research published in the open-access journal Cancer Medicine notes patients who undergo lung cancer surgery “often suffer pain after discharge.”
“Managing pain after surgery is difficult once you get home,” thoracic surgery nurse Melissa Jane Culligan tells SurvivorNet.
While recovering from surgery, patients may have trouble sleeping.
“It’s important that you stay connected and, as things change that maybe don’t feel right, that you connect with your care team and make sure that either they do something to make you feel better or that they reassure you that this is to be expected because your pain will change in location and nature,” Culligan said.
Helping Patients Understand Lung Cancer Risks
Culligan says after surgery, patients may experience a little more pain as they become more active. However, that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong. She says it means you may need to take a little bit more pain medicine as your body continues to recuperate.
Understanding Lung Cancer
Lung cancer forms when cancer cells develop in the tissues of the lung. It is the second most common form of cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women in the U.S., SurvivorNet experts say.
It’s “completely asymptomatic,” says thoracic surgeon-in-chief at Temple University Health System Dr. Joseph Friedberg.
“It causes no issues until it has spread somewhere. So, if it spreads to the bones, it may cause pain. If it spreads to the brain, it may cause something not subtle, like a seizure,” Dr. Friedberg adds.
WATCH: Detecting lung cancer in the absence of symptoms.
Scans such as X-rays can help doctors determine if a shadow appears, which can prompt further testing for lung cancer.
There are two main types of lung cancer, which doctors group together based on how they act and how they’re treated:
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type and makes up about 85% of cases. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is less common, but it tends to grow faster than NSCLC and is treated very differently.
While lung cancer often doesn’t present symptoms until it has spread, some people may experience signs like:
- A cough that doesn’t go away, that gets worse, or that brings up bloody phlegm
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Chest pain
- Hoarse voice
- Appetite loss
- Weight loss
If you are experiencing these kinds of symptoms consistently, contact your doctor for further tests.
Understanding the treatment options for lung cancer.
Treatment options for lung cancer depend on its type, its location, and its staging. In general, treatment methods include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, or a combination of any of these treatments.
Smoking and Lung Cancer Risk
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths for men and women in the United States. Nonsmokers still get lung cancer, but cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for the disease. Tobacco smoke contains a mixture of more than 7,000 different chemicals, at least 70 of which are known to cause cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.
The CDC says cigarette smoking is linked to about 80 to 90 percent of lung cancer deaths, and people who smoke cigarettes are 15 to 30 times more likely to get lung cancer or die from lung cancer than people who don’t smoke. Additionally, second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer.
Smoking is, of course, the primary cause of lung cancer, but nonsmokers, like Micucci, can and do develop this disease.
Researchers have made progress in understanding the differences between lung cancer in smokers versus nonsmokers, says Dr. Ronald Natale, a medical oncologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and they’re developing targeted treatments that will be able to address the genetic drivers of lung cancer in nonsmokers.
“Among patients who are nonsmokers, or former very light smokers, we identify a mutation that we can target with pills in about 60% to 70% of them. That leaves 30% or so, 40%, in whom we either have a target for which we do not have successful treatment,” Dr. Ronald Natale, a medical oncologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet.
“Among patients who are smokers, who have more complex cancers that have hundreds, sometimes thousands of mutations, don’t have a driver mutation that we can give a pill for, which is only a tiny percentage of lifelong smokers. Chemotherapy is the primary treatment in most patients,” Dr. Natale explains further.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
If you find yourself diagnosed with lung cancer and are concerned about the long-term impacts, here are some questions you can ask your doctor.
- Has my cancer spread to other parts of the body?
- Based on my cancer stage, what are my treatment options?
- What are the side effects of my recommended treatment?
- Are there ways to help minimize the effects of treatment?
- How long will I be unable to work or carry out my daily activities?
- What financial resources are available to get the treatments I need?
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