Sometimes bad things happen to people who do everything right. That's what happened to Millie Torchia. She went to the doctor after complaining about pain in her shoulder and cough that wouldn't go away. She was floored when she found out that she had stage 4 lung cancer.
"The first thing I thought about was my daughters because they are so young. I was like 'Am I going to see their next birthdays?'" she told CBS news. Torchia is a 44-year-old non-smoker.
New research shows that lung cancer rates are declining overall but younger women are now more likely to develop the disease than younger men. Doctors say the trend began about 15 years ago. The cause, however, is not clear. "We really don't know why this is and we are going to do further research.", said Dr. Otis Brawley, Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society. "We have looked at smoking issues, and smoking patterns don't fully explain this."
In the meantime, only research can help experts find out what's happening. That's why Torchia has decided to go public. "It needs to get funded so people like me can live so they can see their kids grow up. That is my hope."