How a Persistent Cough Led to a Stage 4 Small Cell Lung Cancer Diagnosis

Gail Fackler, a care partner for her husband, Jim, reflected on how a persistent cough eventually led to a stage 4 small cell lung cancer diagnosis and changed their lives in an instant.

Jim was a Vietnam veteran and former smoker who had quit 22 years earlier. In the summer of 2021, he developed a persistent cough. At the time, the couple had recently moved from Minnesota to South Carolina and had not yet established care with private doctors.

Jim initially contacted his doctor through the Department of Veterans Affairs about the cough. His blood pressure medication was considered as a possible cause, and he was later given an inhaler for suspected asthma. But after nearly two months without improvement, Fackler urged him to see another doctor.

That doctor ordered a CT scan. Soon afterward, Jim learned he had lung cancer.

“I just couldn’t even move. I was paralyzed,” Fackler recalled. “Our whole life changed in an instant.”

Further testing showed the cancer had spread beyond Jim’s right lung to his abdomen, hip bone and brain. Faced with the extent of his disease, Jim asked his oncologist how long he had to live.

Rather than giving him a set timeline, the oncologist explained that every patient responds differently to treatment and told the couple about a clinical trial that might be an option for Jim.

For Fackler, that possibility offered hope during a period defined by fear and uncertainty. She recalled how quickly they had to place their trust in an oncology team while navigating an unfamiliar diagnosis and making major treatment decisions.

“We got to rely on you,” Fackler said of Jim’s oncologist. “It’s like putting your faith in God, and all of a sudden the oncologist kind of becomes God at that moment.”

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