“ Given the fact that I don’ t smoke, it’ s the second leading cause, and we have high levels of radon in here, it seems to me pretty certain that that’ s what caused [ my cancer ], because it’ s kind of like, well, what else?” Lewis said.
Lewis had no symptoms for a long time, but after the cancer spread to her lymph nodes and formed a lump in her armpit, a biopsy confirmed the shocking diagnosis – lung cancer. It wasn’ t until her brothers suggested radon as a possible cause that she began to do research and connect the dots.
As the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, Lewis, like many others, began a housebound lifestyle at her home in The Dalles. She spent the next couple of years diligently working out daily in her basement to stay in shape. Little did she know, the radon level down there was off the charts.
When Lewis learned of her cancer, her initial prognosis was dire, and it left her numb.
But that quickly changed, and Lewis decided she wanted to tell everyone, especially neighbors, and warn them about possible radon risk in their homes. Some took her warnings seriously and tested their homes. A couple homes did, in fact, have high radon levels, and the owners have taken steps to lower those levels.
Lewis lives in The Dalles, bordering Mosier, along the Columbia River Gorge— an area ripe for dangerous radon levels because of the landscape’ s high concentration of granite— a common source of radon.
“ I mean, at first, you go through this period of, you know, shock and denial,” Lewis said.“ I didn’ t want to talk to anybody about anything.”