We see the person beyond the disease.

Hello, my name is Maria Kalambaka, I am 49 years old. My mother has been diagnosed at early May 2022 with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Unfortunately..and this is very recent and very harsh

a dear friend of mine suffers from non-small cell lung cancer, which is quite aggressive.

So we’re on a two front-war right now.

 had to remain calm.

I couldn’t.

I didn’t wonder for a moment “why us again”? Because we needed to jump right into the fight.

Stigma, like cancer, came into our lives with a very loud noise. The first question I was asked: “Does your mother smoke?” I answered “Yes”.

The accusation I heard, shook me as much as the cancer diagnosis.

Over the next two days we moved to a different hospital. But the stigma remained

as well as the question: why didn’t we find it earlier? What are the gaps in the present medical system in Greece?

At this point, I would like to mention that I have nothing but the best impressions , from our interaction with the later physicians who took care of my mother, until now.

I realized however that the smoking stigma  is a very big barrier in the way we approach lung cancer.

Stigma is also a reason why people don’t get the necessary diagnostic tests done earlier, when they should; it is because they already feel guilty. They just  refrain from screening.

What we need to do is support people who have been diagnosed with the disease, whether they smoked or not. As well as their beloved ones.

Everyone deserves and needs our love and care.

My mother is not just another patient. To me she is everything.

Why should we condemn the patient and not the disease ?

Let’s talk about prevention. About screening. About early diagnosis. Let’s all do our best in the fight against lung cancer. Whatever the cause. This way we will stop it before it spreads even more.

Let’s be part of prevention. Not of criticism.