A former Detroiter —a non-smoker -- battles lung cancer personally and collectively.
BARBARA LEWIS
Special to the Jewish News
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elissa Zagon's doctor didn't beat around the bush. "It's
bad news, but I can't talk about it on the phone," she
said. "Come into the office right away, and bring your
husband." .
Zagon knew what that meant: The bad headaches she'd been experi-
encing off and on were a sign of brain cancer. It was Sept. 25, 2000, the
day after Zagon's sixth wedding anniversary. She was 32.
Zagon, a Chicago attorney, was in for another shock. Later tests
showed the brain tumors were secondary to cancer of the lung. "I've
never picked up a cigarette in my life, " she said.
Her parents didn't smoke, and even forbade her grandmother from -
smoking anywhere near her when Zagon was growing up in Southfield.
She hadn't had any symptoms of a lung problem: no coughing, no
shortness of breath, no pain.
Zagon, daughter of Edward and Sherri Lumberg of West Bloomfield,
decided right away that she wasn't going to squander her resources feel-
ing sorry for herself On disability leave from her job, she set herself two
priorities: treating her disease and doing something to help find a cure.
is smaller, and there's no fluid in my lung," she said.
She recently bought a bottle of 500 multi-vitamins, a statement of
faith that she'll be here long enough to use them.
Soon after she came home from the hospital, Zagon met Gayle Levy,
another young mother with lung cancer. She and Levy shared their
experiences, hopes and fears, drawing strength from each other.
Through ALCASE, the Alliance for Lung Cancer Support and
Education, they found lots of information about lung cancer and anti-
smoking campaigns, but surprisingly little about lung cancer research.
"In October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, everywhere
you looked you saw pink ribbons on people who supported breast can-,
cer research, stories about breast cancer" in newspapers and on televi-
sion, and promotional activities to raise money for breast cancer
research, she said.
"Lung cancer kills more women than breast cancer, but there was no
organization dedicated exclusively to lung cancer research," said Zagon.
ALCASE doesn't get involved with research. The American Lung
Association funds lung cancer research, but has a broader-based agenda
that includes asthsma, emphysema and anti-tobacco efforts. The
American Cancer Society raises funds for every kind of cancer.
Disproportionate Funding
Birth Of LUNGevity
With a group of other lung cancer patients in the Chicago suburbs,
Zagon started the LUNGevity Foundation, an organization dedicated to
supporting research to reduce the number of deaths from lung cancer.
The group's first fund-raiser, a dinner and silent auction, will be held
Sunday, Oct. 28, in Northbrook, Ill., the Chicago suburb where Zagon
lives with her husband, Glenn, and daughter Hannah, 3.
"I was angry and terrified, but I didn't want to waste time wondering
how I got this. I wanted to solve it," said Zagon.
Surgery a week after her initial diagnosis removed the largest brain •
tumor, the size of a golf ball, and gamma knife radiation zapped four
smaller lesions in her brain. Zagon started chemotherapy for the lung
cancer in November and shortly afterwards started a clinical trial for an
experimental drug. She doesn't know if she's taking the drug, a placebo,
or a half-dose of each, but she's feeling better, even though she still tires
easily.
Statistically, her prognosis is not good; in patients whose lung cancer
has spread beyond the lungs, only 14 percent survive five years after
diagnosis. But she's determined on beating the odds.
"I'm not in remission, but everything in my lung is stable. The tumor
Zagon and Levy also learned that lung cancer, the leading cause of can-
cer deaths in the United States, is woefully underfunded. Last year, only
$950 per death was spent on lung cancer research, compared to $3,667
per prostate cancer death, $8,860 per breast cancer death and $34,000
per AIDS death.
"Gayle got a small group of lung cancer patients together last
November, and we started talking about what we could do," said
Zagon.
Some in the group wanted to do an
and-smoking campaign, but Levy and
Zagon, both non-smokers, wanted to
concentrate on research that would
lead to early detection and cure. They
brought the rest of the group around.
"The lawyer in me knew we needed
to establish a tax-exempt organization
to raise funds," she said.
The daughter of a woman in the
group suggested the name last January,
and the LUNGevity Foundation start-
ed taking shape. The seven members -
10/26
2001