Marina Wild, a Spiddal-based artist and art teacher originally from Germany, was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 34. Six years on and now Mum to nearly three-year-old May, she and her husband John Caulfield have recently received the news that her latest set of regular scans are clear but it has been a long road here.
Marina says, “I try not to worry too much but you live from scan to scan.”
Alarm bells first rung for Marina when staying overnight in Dublin in March 2018.
“I woke in the middle of the night with a stabbing pain in my chest that got worse when breathing in,” she says. “I didn’t want to go to A&E, so I sat on the floor looking up potential causes. I remember seeing the words ‘lung cancer’ and thinking, you always find the worst possible reason online. Finally I managed to go back to sleep, and in the morning I felt fine, but I was concerned enough to go to my GP when I got back to Galway.”
Atypical pneumonia
Marina is grateful that her GP referred her for an X-ray once muscular pain was ruled out.
“Neither John nor I were worried initially. I was young, fit and healthy and had never smoked; lung cancer wasn’t on the radar,” she says.
Unfortunately, her X-ray showed, “an ill-defined nodular density”. Atypical pneumonia was suspected and she was put on a course of antibiotics. When the next X-ray showed no improvement, she had a CT scan.
“That’s when I really started to worry,” she says. “It turned out that the “nodule” (now a “mass”) needed further investigation, and I needed to see a pulmonologist urgently.”
A lot of tests followed and two weeks later – the longest two weeks of her life – she was told that she had cancer, most likely lung cancer, and that it was inoperable. This was because one of the affected lymph nodes was in the mediastinum, the space between the lungs that contains vital organs like the heart, trachea and oesophagus.
“I could tell by the atmosphere in the room, and the four chairs being set out, that something was seriously wrong,” she says.
“Even though I feared the worst after all the tests, nothing prepares you for hearing those words. I remember we went out after that meeting into beautiful sunshine but our world had just fallen apart. It felt like I was preparing for my execution.”
Another two-week wait followed and more tests, including a PET scan and a CT of the brain. Marina recalls one particular event related to this.
“We had to travel from the pulmonology unit to the imaging centre by mini-bus even though it was only a short walk away,” she says.
“Sitting in that bus with these much older, visibly ill patients was one of those moments that felt so unreal: I was now a lung cancer patient. I am always the youngest by decades in the waiting room and in that mini bus, it all hit me.”
Stage IIIa
When all the results were in, about two months after that initial pain, Marina was told that she had Stage IIIa ALK+ lung cancer - a rare form.
“Nobody knows its cause and it is not hereditary,” she says. “Most ALK+ patients are non-smokers, about half are under 50, and the majority are women.
“Most patients are already stage IV at diagnosis because there are no early symptoms.”
Marina was, therefore, lucky to be diagnosed at stage IIIa, she believes.
“Tumours can grow for quite a while and there are no symptoms because there are no pain receptors in the lungs. I only had that initial chest pain because the tumour was burrowing into the pleura (lung lining).”
Concurrent chemo-radiotherapy followed and some surgery in August 2018.
“My doctors decided to try surgery, as I was young and healthy so part of my right lung was removed.”
Bounced back
She remembers subsequent treatment as ‘tough’. She lost five kilos in weight and on the worst days, she could barely walk.
“I bounced back quickly though,” she says, “and also got through what was major surgery fairly easily; I was up walking the next day and back running within weeks.”
From the time of diagnosis, Marina explored complementary therapies to help her get through the ordeal.
“I always had a healthy lifestyle but I went even more extreme after diagnosis. In hindsight, neither conventional nor complementary treatment cured me but the complementary approaches like yoga and meditation helped me get through it. I would never advocate for a purely alternative approach but I believe in using both.”
Two years after treatment ended, Marina became pregnant and went on to have her daughter, May, in May 2021.
Marina and her daughter May.
“I am aware of how lucky we are, to be able to have a child, because most people are diagnosed at stage IV where treatment would make pregnancy inadvisable,” she says.
Recurrence
Marina and her family then had a whole year when everything went well but things took a worrying turn in July 2022 when a CT scan showed that she had a recurrence of cancer in three places.
“It was a huge shock although I always knew there was a high risk of recurrence,” she says.
“It was like being diagnosed all over again but this time with fewer options and an even worse prognosis. I was now stage IV. I started oral targeted therapy for ALK+ (Alectinib) that August. Targeted therapies just target the cancer, they are not systemic in the way chemotherapy is. There are side effects with the main one being fatigue but they are nowhere near as bad as the side effects with chemotherapy.”
Marina is thankful that she has had a good response to this drug which involves taking eight capsules a day.
“I hope that good response continues but eventually the cancer will develop resistance to the drug and I will have to try a new one. There is another one available after this, I’m glad to say, and I hope and pray that it will work.”
As it is, Marina is trying to accept that her cancer is officially incurable but she tries to remain hopeful.
“I won’t give up hope on a breakthrough in research or for some form of miraculous spontaneous remission but at the same time I can’t allow myself, psychologically, to think about the distant future.”
Marina is glad to have her support team of her husband, family members and friends, oncologist, staff in University Hospital Galway and her complementary therapists.
“They have all gone above and beyond the call of duty for me,” she says.
“Cancer Care West have been there for me from the beginning too.”
Marina believes in being proactive, working with the mind-body connection and researching her illness to keep abreast of medical developments. She also walks or does some gardening every day.
Refocussed priorities
Living with an incurable illness has refocussed her priorities, she states.
“Some days, the fear and despair can hit me, but there have been a lot of good times as well. I see the beauty in everything more now and I’ve become more spiritual as well. My paintings are now also more colourful, everything seems heightened and I appreciate the simplest pleasures more. I do my best to live in the present and take it one day at a time; otherwise the worrying could easily spiral.”
Painting by Marina Wild of her and her daughter sleeping
She reads a lot and is busy painting and drawing also.
“Thanks to my daughter, the element of play is always there too – all of this is therapeutic.”
Lung cancer awareness
Marina wishes that more people realised that not all lung cancer patients are elderly smokers.
“Around 20% of lung cancer patients are non-smokers,” she says. “The stigma means lung cancer patients get less empathy, and it has dire repercussions when it comes to funding for research.”
Because of the stigma, she finds herself always telling healthcare professionals that she is a ‘never-smoker’.
“By highlighting my never-smoking status, I don’t mean to blame those who did or do smoke (it is an addiction), but raising awareness of the fact that even young people who never smoked can get lung cancer might help shift the narrative,” she says.
“As young lung cancer patients, we already feel isolated, and the taboo around this disease compounds that. We deserve the same publicity as other cancers. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, yet it is the one that isn’t talked about.
We need more funding for further research that will bring us new, improved treatments and more life and hopefully, one day a cure.”
She has this advice for Irish Country Living readers.
“If something doesn’t feel right, get it checked out and insist on further tests if your doctor doesn’t instigate them. Sadly, lung cancer is insidious as you may not have symptoms, andcurrently, there is no screening for it.”
Marina recently joined the Irish Lung Cancer Community and finds this helpful.
“No such group existed in Ireland before, and they are doing amazing work to raise awareness and give support,” she says.
For more information visit ilcc.ie or Instagram: @irishlungcancercommunity. To view her work visit marinawild.com
https://mariekeating.ie/cancer-information/lung-cancer/
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Marina Wild, a Spiddal-based artist and art teacher originally from Germany, was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 34. Six years on and now Mum to nearly three-year-old May, she and her husband John Caulfield have recently received the news that her latest set of regular scans are clear but it has been a long road here.
Marina says, “I try not to worry too much but you live from scan to scan.”
Alarm bells first rung for Marina when staying overnight in Dublin in March 2018.
“I woke in the middle of the night with a stabbing pain in my chest that got worse when breathing in,” she says. “I didn’t want to go to A&E, so I sat on the floor looking up potential causes. I remember seeing the words ‘lung cancer’ and thinking, you always find the worst possible reason online. Finally I managed to go back to sleep, and in the morning I felt fine, but I was concerned enough to go to my GP when I got back to Galway.”
Atypical pneumonia
Marina is grateful that her GP referred her for an X-ray once muscular pain was ruled out.
“Neither John nor I were worried initially. I was young, fit and healthy and had never smoked; lung cancer wasn’t on the radar,” she says.
Unfortunately, her X-ray showed, “an ill-defined nodular density”. Atypical pneumonia was suspected and she was put on a course of antibiotics. When the next X-ray showed no improvement, she had a CT scan.
“That’s when I really started to worry,” she says. “It turned out that the “nodule” (now a “mass”) needed further investigation, and I needed to see a pulmonologist urgently.”
A lot of tests followed and two weeks later – the longest two weeks of her life – she was told that she had cancer, most likely lung cancer, and that it was inoperable. This was because one of the affected lymph nodes was in the mediastinum, the space between the lungs that contains vital organs like the heart, trachea and oesophagus.
“I could tell by the atmosphere in the room, and the four chairs being set out, that something was seriously wrong,” she says.
“Even though I feared the worst after all the tests, nothing prepares you for hearing those words. I remember we went out after that meeting into beautiful sunshine but our world had just fallen apart. It felt like I was preparing for my execution.”
Another two-week wait followed and more tests, including a PET scan and a CT of the brain. Marina recalls one particular event related to this.
“We had to travel from the pulmonology unit to the imaging centre by mini-bus even though it was only a short walk away,” she says.
“Sitting in that bus with these much older, visibly ill patients was one of those moments that felt so unreal: I was now a lung cancer patient. I am always the youngest by decades in the waiting room and in that mini bus, it all hit me.”
Stage IIIa
When all the results were in, about two months after that initial pain, Marina was told that she had Stage IIIa ALK+ lung cancer - a rare form.
“Nobody knows its cause and it is not hereditary,” she says. “Most ALK+ patients are non-smokers, about half are under 50, and the majority are women.
“Most patients are already stage IV at diagnosis because there are no early symptoms.”
Marina was, therefore, lucky to be diagnosed at stage IIIa, she believes.
“Tumours can grow for quite a while and there are no symptoms because there are no pain receptors in the lungs. I only had that initial chest pain because the tumour was burrowing into the pleura (lung lining).”
Concurrent chemo-radiotherapy followed and some surgery in August 2018.
“My doctors decided to try surgery, as I was young and healthy so part of my right lung was removed.”
Bounced back
She remembers subsequent treatment as ‘tough’. She lost five kilos in weight and on the worst days, she could barely walk.
“I bounced back quickly though,” she says, “and also got through what was major surgery fairly easily; I was up walking the next day and back running within weeks.”
From the time of diagnosis, Marina explored complementary therapies to help her get through the ordeal.
“I always had a healthy lifestyle but I went even more extreme after diagnosis. In hindsight, neither conventional nor complementary treatment cured me but the complementary approaches like yoga and meditation helped me get through it. I would never advocate for a purely alternative approach but I believe in using both.”
Two years after treatment ended, Marina became pregnant and went on to have her daughter, May, in May 2021.
Marina and her daughter May.
“I am aware of how lucky we are, to be able to have a child, because most people are diagnosed at stage IV where treatment would make pregnancy inadvisable,” she says.
Recurrence
Marina and her family then had a whole year when everything went well but things took a worrying turn in July 2022 when a CT scan showed that she had a recurrence of cancer in three places.
“It was a huge shock although I always knew there was a high risk of recurrence,” she says.
“It was like being diagnosed all over again but this time with fewer options and an even worse prognosis. I was now stage IV. I started oral targeted therapy for ALK+ (Alectinib) that August. Targeted therapies just target the cancer, they are not systemic in the way chemotherapy is. There are side effects with the main one being fatigue but they are nowhere near as bad as the side effects with chemotherapy.”
Marina is thankful that she has had a good response to this drug which involves taking eight capsules a day.
“I hope that good response continues but eventually the cancer will develop resistance to the drug and I will have to try a new one. There is another one available after this, I’m glad to say, and I hope and pray that it will work.”
As it is, Marina is trying to accept that her cancer is officially incurable but she tries to remain hopeful.
“I won’t give up hope on a breakthrough in research or for some form of miraculous spontaneous remission but at the same time I can’t allow myself, psychologically, to think about the distant future.”
Marina is glad to have her support team of her husband, family members and friends, oncologist, staff in University Hospital Galway and her complementary therapists.
“They have all gone above and beyond the call of duty for me,” she says.
“Cancer Care West have been there for me from the beginning too.”
Marina believes in being proactive, working with the mind-body connection and researching her illness to keep abreast of medical developments. She also walks or does some gardening every day.
Refocussed priorities
Living with an incurable illness has refocussed her priorities, she states.
“Some days, the fear and despair can hit me, but there have been a lot of good times as well. I see the beauty in everything more now and I’ve become more spiritual as well. My paintings are now also more colourful, everything seems heightened and I appreciate the simplest pleasures more. I do my best to live in the present and take it one day at a time; otherwise the worrying could easily spiral.”
Painting by Marina Wild of her and her daughter sleeping
She reads a lot and is busy painting and drawing also.
“Thanks to my daughter, the element of play is always there too – all of this is therapeutic.”
Lung cancer awareness
Marina wishes that more people realised that not all lung cancer patients are elderly smokers.
“Around 20% of lung cancer patients are non-smokers,” she says. “The stigma means lung cancer patients get less empathy, and it has dire repercussions when it comes to funding for research.”
Because of the stigma, she finds herself always telling healthcare professionals that she is a ‘never-smoker’.
“By highlighting my never-smoking status, I don’t mean to blame those who did or do smoke (it is an addiction), but raising awareness of the fact that even young people who never smoked can get lung cancer might help shift the narrative,” she says.
“As young lung cancer patients, we already feel isolated, and the taboo around this disease compounds that. We deserve the same publicity as other cancers. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, yet it is the one that isn’t talked about.
We need more funding for further research that will bring us new, improved treatments and more life and hopefully, one day a cure.”
She has this advice for Irish Country Living readers.
“If something doesn’t feel right, get it checked out and insist on further tests if your doctor doesn’t instigate them. Sadly, lung cancer is insidious as you may not have symptoms, andcurrently, there is no screening for it.”
Marina recently joined the Irish Lung Cancer Community and finds this helpful.
“No such group existed in Ireland before, and they are doing amazing work to raise awareness and give support,” she says.
For more information visit ilcc.ie or Instagram: @irishlungcancercommunity. To view her work visit marinawild.com
https://mariekeating.ie/cancer-information/lung-cancer/
Read more
Meet the Maker: Ciara Gache and Niamh Mooney
‘An agricultural course ensures a balanced regional economy’
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