It took several months of doctoring and an accidental finding on an MRI of my back to find the tumor on my lower right lobe.
I had a biopsy done that indicated the tumor was cancerous. Luckily, for me, my lung cancer was found early and I was able to be treated with surgery and chemotherapy. I had my lower right lobe removed and endured 4 months of chemotherapy. Although I am cancer free now and have been for 6 years, lung cancer will always be a part of my life. I spend my time advocating for other lung cancer survivors like me. Because I was a non-smoker and living a pretty normal and healthy lifestyle, my Dr. didn’t have any answers for me to why I got lung cancer. This put me on a mission. A mission to find out more about lung cancer and possibly the answer to “why me?”
About a year after my treatment was over I started really researching lung cancer and contacting as many advocacy groups as I could. It didn’t take long for me to find out there were way too many people like me that were diagnosed at an early age living normal and healthy lives with no known cause of lung cancer. There was one thing that kept sticking out to me and that was the fact that Radon is the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer. Everything I read boasted this statistic. This made me curious as
I also found out that I lived in Southeast Nebraska, the state with the 5th highest Radon levels in our Nation. The first time we tested our home the Radon level was very high registering at 14pcl’s. We were told to test again in 6-12 months. The 2nd test showed the Radon level in my home was off the charts registering at 28pcl’s.
I had been living in a home with extreme Radon levels for 8 years! We installed a mitigation system and now we can monitor our Radon level and it always below 1pcl.
I feel it is very important that everyone be made aware of the risk of high Radon levels in your home.
Having lung cancer changed my life in so many ways. I am so grateful that I was diagnosed early and was able to be treated. I am also grateful that I can share my story so that others can benefit from what I went through.
Kimberly Buchmeier
Board Member
In 2011, at age 37, I was diagnosed with non-small cell adenocarcinoma lung cancer. I was a young, healthy individual, and non-smoker with no family history of
lung cancer.
Contact:
Kimberly Buchmeier
RADON ACTIVIST / CANCER SURVIVOR
402-414-0551
1015 Central Ave
Auburn NE 68305
Email: [email protected]
Board Member of Citizens for Radioactive
Radon Reduction .
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