A small sign in Dawn Horner’s house has a motto she tries to live by: “Start each day with a grateful heart.”
Horner, 56, is five years into a Stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis, but she tries to keep a positive attitude.
“Every day is a gift,” Horner said. “Over the last five years I’ve known people who have died who didn’t have cancer, and I think, ‘That could be me.’ I’m very fortunate to be here.”
While the Felida resident is doing relatively well now, her cancer journey doesn’t end with a complete cure. Barring a major medical breakthrough, her body will always have some evidence of the disease. Horner can only hope to stem the progression of her cancer.
“When you say you’ve survived five years of Stage 4 lung cancer, people are all like, ‘Congratulations,’ but what they don’t realize is you’re in treatment forever,” Horner said. “There’s no cure.”
Since her diagnosis, Horner has spent time traveling to Houston and San Diego for treatment. Her current regimen calls her to Seattle every three weeks. She’s on a leave of absence from work, which is tough for a self-described “Type A busybody.” At this point Horner doesn’t have any traditional cancer treatments left, just clinical trials that can further research, which might benefit her or future lung cancer patients.
In the last five years, Horner has devoted her “busybody” mentality to raising lung cancer awareness. She’s sharing lung cancer survivor stories on social media each day in November, since it’s Lung Cancer Awareness Month. She’s visited Washington, D.C., three times to advocate for increased lung cancer research funding. And she’s helping plan an annual lung cancer awareness run/walk that will take place in June in Portland. She’s also educated her local friends on lung cancer — the 2019 Felida Open Golf Tournament raised more than $7,500 for lung cancer research in her honor.
Lung cancer kills about 400 Americans daily — “a jumbo jet plane each day,” Horner says — and it is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. at nearly 150,000 deaths a year, but it only receives 6 percent of federal government dollars spent on cancer research.
Horner said stereotypes about people with lung cancer and a lack of empathy are at the root of poor funding and the underwhelming awareness around lung cancer. Horner, who was a long-distance runner and completed the Portland Marathon in 2007, has always eaten right and stayed away from cigarettes. She wants people to know that about 10 to 20 percent of people with lung cancer have never smoked, according to LUNGevity, the largest national lung cancer-focused nonprofit. About another 60 percent of patients are former smokers.
“People look for a reason or cause for lung cancer,” Horner said. “They don’t look at it like a cancer diagnosis. There’s no empathy. They’re looking for an excuse so they can say, ‘I’ll never get lung cancer.’ ”
Horner said she’s met women much younger than her, in their 20s and 30s, who were also healthy and nonsmokers, but still ended up with lung cancer. She also wants empathy extended to those who did or do smoke.
“I think it’s important for people to realize that anyone with lungs can get lung cancer,” she said. “You don’t have to smoke, and if people did smoke, I don’t think it’s something that’s deserved.”
As frustrated as Horner can get with the lack of funding and awareness, she still minds the sign in her home, and is grateful each day. She can’t run long distances anymore; instead she walks her dogs for exercise. It’s a downshift in life, prompted by the realities of lung cancer, but by no means a concession. She saw her son graduate from Washington State University in May. She has more experiences she wants to check off with her husband and three children.
“Where I’m at right now is my new normal, and I have to accept that,” Horner said. “I’m living and breathing, and watching my kids grow.”
