In this episode, stay-at-home mom Christy Erickson discusses how she went from a roundabout lung cancer diagnosis to riding a motorcycle and competing in strongman competitions.

Erickson wasn’t worried about lung cancer when she was younger. Breast cancer had a stronghold on her family tree. Her mom died from it when Erickson was seven years old.

She took preventative measures for breast cancer, including a mastectomy. But a few years later, in 2006, scans for an unrelated health issue revealed spots all over Erickson’s lungs.

Her biopsy came back negative for cancer at the time. But 10 years later, she was diagnosed with stage 4 EGFR-positive lung cancer.

Receiving that news after dedicating years to prevention measures pushed Erickson down an emotional spiral.

But her condition stabilized with osimertinib. “I sort of hit this point where I thought, 'Well, I'm still here and I'm relatively healthy. If I'm not dying, I want to go live,’” she said.

Erickson spoke with Deborah Doroshow, assistant professor of medicine, hematology, and medical oncology at the Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

A transcript of this conversation is available on the Cancer History Project.