May is AANHPI Month. As we celebrate the heritage, resilience, and contributions of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities, I also think of a poorly recognized health disparity within our community: lung cancer disproportionately affecting women who have never smoked. I was one of these women. Exactly five years ago in May 2021, I underwent major thoracic lung surgery that literally saved my life. The shocking diagnosis made …

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May is AANHPI Heritage Month so it’s a good time to share again my journey from nonsmoker to lung cancer survivor. It is such an important issue to bring awareness to this little-known and potentially deadly health disparity because, according to the 2020 census, 6.2 percent or 20.6 million people identify as AANHPI (Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander).

Wait. How can you have lung cancer? You’re not a …

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“It’s adenocarcinoma,” said the voice on the other end of the phone.

I couldn’t believe it.

“Lung cancer? Me? How could that be? I’ve never smoked!” Shock, disbelief, and disappointment filled all the nooks and crannies of my mind and heart.

In January 2021, I went to my PCP after developing a nagging dry cough after starting lisinopril eight months prior, during the first months of COVID. I concluded that it was just …

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