Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in America. Still, countless people put themselves at risk by puffing away on cigarettes. People living with and beating the disease offer a personal wake up call.

Ricki Kibby was getting ready to light a cigarette when the phone rang. It was her doctor calling to tell her that the tests ran a few days prior had come back positive. The avid exerciser had gone to her primary care physician to complain about a pain in her thigh, which she’d assumed was a pulled muscle. Her doctor thought the cause was more serious and ordered a few exams. That weekend, the then 59-year-old was told she had stage three lung cancer.

“I just didn’t think it would happen to me,” says Kibby, who had been smoking a pack of cigarettes every day for 35 years. “I used to joke with my sister and say, ‘I bet I’m gonna get some kind of lung cancer,’ but I never really believed it. Then, when it happened I was like, ‘Whoa, what I said actually came true.’ I was scared to death.”
She had every reason to be. According to the American Lung Association, approximately 175,000 Americans—usually in their 50s or 60s—are diagnosed with lung cancer each year. In fact, it’s the biggest cancer-killer, consuming more lives each year than breast, colon and prostate cancer combined. There is no cure.

“Lung cancer tends to be a very aggressive disease. There’s usually a shocking diagnosis and a quick decline into death.” —Regina Vidaver, executive director of the Lung Cancer Partnership

Many people believe smoking is the only cause of lung cancer.†While the unhealthy activity is responsible for 87 percent of diagnoses, it is not the sole source. Exposure to carcinogens such as secondhand smoke, asbestos and radon gas contribute, as well.