Suvi lives in Finland. In summer 2023, when she was in her early forties, she started to notice something was wrong with her lungs. She was cycling, and found it hard to breathe. It felt as if she was trying to breathe in, but the air couldn't get in. At work, she was short of breath climbing the stairs.
“I really couldn’t breathe anymore. I went to hospital and a few days later I was diagnosed with lung cancer. ”
Symptoms she'd never had before
Suvi waited a few weeks, but when it got worse, she went to see her doctor. She explained that these symptoms were completely new to her. The doctor listened to her lungs and thought it might be the after-effects of flu, as Suvi had been ill a few weeks before. A few days later, her breathing got much worse, and she had to go to the emergency department.
Suvi talked to us at our first Lung Cancer Europe Conference in Vienna last April (2026).
Not wanting to take up a bed
At the hospital, the waiting room was full, and everyone seemed so much more unwell than her. When staff asked whether she would like to sit in the waiting room or go to a bed, Suvi chose to wait, because she felt others needed it more. But once they took her in and started tests, she realised there must be something in her lungs. She thought it was pneumonia. It wasn't. Never expecting lung cancer Suvi was shocked by her diagnosis. No one had thought it could be lung cancer, because she was young and healthy. She never thought she could have it. Now, she wants everyone to know that if you have strange symptoms you haven't had before, it is so important to get them checked.
The healthcare professional side
Lung cancer nurse Vee Rayson explains why the signs of lung cancer are so often put down to something else, and why many people don't want to bother their doctor.
