A man who thought he was just dealing with a workplace injury ended up with a life-altering cancer diagnosis.
Brian, 40, broke his hand and injured his shoulder on the job last year. But it wasn’t the broken bones that changed everything - it was the lingering pain in his shoulder and armpit that pushed him to request an X-ray.
What doctors found was far more serious: a lung mass. Initially, they assumed it might just be a bruise or bronchitis. However, further testing in December 2024 confirmed that Brian had limited-stage small cell lung cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, limited-stage means “the cancer is only on one side of the chest and can be treated with a single radiation field".
This includes “cancers that are only in one lung, and that might also have reached the lymph nodes on the same side of the chest".
Brian had been trying to get answers long before his workplace accident. In an interview with The Patient Story YouTube channel, he said: “I’d been having this heartburn for years.
“I went to the emergency room a couple of times, and I was sure [that] I had cancer, but they assured me that I didn’t," he added.
Doctors instead diagnosed him with gastroesophageal reflux disease. “That was like three years ago when I went in,” he said. “That was the only sign.”
Before the diagnosis, Brian was powering through long days filled with physical labor.
“I was doing really heavy work,” he explained. “I was taking 25,000 steps a day, exerting myself and doing a lot of heavy stuff, and I felt fine.”
Now, his treatment involves aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy. He undergoes three straight days of chemo followed by 21 days off. He also receives radiation twice daily, five days a week, per the outlet.
Even with the intense schedule, the 40-year-old says the side effects have been manageable so far, limited to fatigue and flu-like symptoms.
That’s not always the case, as more severe chemotherapy side effects can include hair loss, blood clots, nausea, and memory issues. Radiotherapy can also cause sore skin, tiredness, hair loss, and trouble eating or drinking.
Still, Brian is holding onto optimism. His message to others going through a similar fight is to “take things day by day and hold onto hope".
"[Brian] believes that fighting, regardless of the outcome, is something to be proud of. He remains hopeful about his treatment and is determined to face his illness with resilience and courage," the Patient Story added.