Fighting the Stigma of Lung Cancer

My name is Richard Barg and I am the "acquaintance" referred to in the article. My partner Nadine, a non-smoker, died of lung cancer at age 45. She carried the stigma of being a smoker nevertheless and her friends often said, “Nadine, I didn’t know you smoked”. She was initially given a poor prognosis, but persevered and was able to undergo surgery. That in turn made the clinical trials possible that added two years to her life. I was very moved by Melanie's essay on Paul Newman, an earlier blog post, which has an embedded link above. I found it to be thoughtful and incisive and gave a measure of dignity to Paul Newman’s death that had been undercut by all the rumor mongering about whether he did or did not have lung cancer. It is all too common for famous people diagnosed with lung cancer to refuse to publicly acknowledge their illness. There is clearly an historical stigma associated with lung cancer based on the idea that it is a self-inflicted disease, i.e. smoking, the cause of 87% of lung cancers. Lung cancer is in reality a addiction, a habit often taken up as a result of pernicious tobacco advertising aimed at youth (Joe Camel etc) and peer pressure. The air of “generality” with which Paul Newman's death was announced, that he died of "cancer", is too often the way patients and families hide from the disease, even after death. But I think we need to take Paul Newman at his word. He had a right to privacy and he accomplished great things during his life as Melanie pointed out. Not everything in life is knowable nor should it be. It’s enough people understand the general issue of stigma surrounding lung cancer and leave Paul Newman rest in peace.