Kate MacIntyre - “Let Others Help You”

Kate MacIntyre, Davidson, NC

In early 2005, Kate MacIntyre had vague, but persistent symptoms: hot flashes, fatigue and pain in her chest. "Sure," she explains. "Could have been menopause, pain from too much stretching, fatigue from too much activity." She went to her doctor and ended up having an x-ray, a CT and a bronchoscopy. As a non-smoker, she was not expecting a diagnosis of lung cancer on April 29, 2005. And a challenge to MacIntyre and her husband, Peter Macon, having been married for only two months.

Peter did some quick research and came up with a name at UNC Lineberger: Dr. Mark Socinski. After undergoing immediate whole head radiation for brain metastases, Kate and Peter came to Chapel Hill. She decided to enter a clinical trial. "I feel that being offered the chance to be in a clinical trial is a gift," Kate explains, "My parents were both involved in research - nuclear physics and speech pathology - so I believe strongly that we should use these opportunities to stretch research."

She was given a drug combination and then a single agent until December 2005. She will begin a new round of chemotherapy soon.

Despite her therapy regimen, she continued her job as Executive Director of downtown Davidson on an abbreviated schedule. Her colleagues prepared dinners for her and Peter when they returned home from days spent in Chapel Hill receiving chemo. "One lesson I have learned from my cancer experience is 'let others help you.' It meant so much to have the help and support from my colleagues. Another is 'everyone's cancer experience is unique so you need to do what is best for you.'"

She is now back at work and determined to "educate the public about lung cancer, bringing to the task the same spirit I see in breast cancer advocates."

Kate died from her illness in October of 2007.