Why a forty-three-year-old runner’s near miss is the lung cancer story you didn’t know you needed to hear—a review of "One Scan Saved My Life" by Shira Kupperman Boehler
What is left out of this account is whether there was any basis for the husband's intuition to get the scan. Was she having any pulmonary or other symptoms that might have tipped him off?
ok, call me confused. I have one question & I'm shocked it was not asked nor answered in the article, especially by Dr Malone, of all people: What vaccines did she take & when did she take them? In particular, did she get the Covid mRNA vaccine? With this question seemingly ignored, like I'm reading an MSM article, it's hard to take this article or book seriously. Indeed, with mRNA vaccines now synonymous with cancer, the article is absurd. Correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe I need more coffee. But did I REALLY just read an article entitled, "The Cancer We’ve Been Looking For in All the Wrong People", debate "scanning for cancer more often" as a possible solution, and NEVER ask about what vaccines were taken, in the year 2026? 🤣🙃🤔 ok, I'm going to get another cup of coffee & I'm just hoping it's April Fools Day joke. A young person, a non-smoker, gets cancer, and whether her lung screen is covered by insurance and how much it costs is the question here? OMG. I must still be asleep and stuck in some nightmare.
There's much debate on radon mitigation. And in RI, where we lived for a couple of years, radon testing for buying/selling a home was BIG BUSINESS. It seems odd that you could drill a hole in the basement, stick a PVC pipe in it and problem solved.
I don't know the properties of granite and stone in kitchens, floors and bathrooms, but can it store radon from other sources?
Additionally, in any healthcare setting, daily exposure in high doses to disinfectants, LED light, EMFs from equipment, inhaling heaven knows what from your masks, glove powder and other aerosolized toxins would increase your risks, IMO. Just sayin', as I was in that environment for 25 years.
And what of the geoengineering effects? Particulates that are unregulated, and may alter the UV in unhealthy ways.
Finally, what are the risks of screening? To both the operator and the patient. We're constantly exposing ourselves to hostile elements. Determining the cumulative dose is daunting.
Edit: I agree with those here who question her vaccine status. It's paramount.
Granite contains uranium and therefore emits radon. I would never have real granite in my house although many stones called granite are not true granite.
One prolific Substack author recently posted an interview featuring former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. I skimmed through the comments and saw several teeing off on Susan, demanding that she be held accountable for her censorship, etc. I added my comment: that it was perhaps worth mentioning in the post that Susan passed away in 2024. From lung cancer.
I would love to read this story and I certainly hope she is doing well but 2 questions immediately popped up. Did she have the covid vax? And it's my understanding that it is widely accepted that we are all attacked by cancer cells every single day. Luckily our immune system gets rid of most of the cancer in the right circumstances. Sounds like she led a very healthy life. Is it possible that that stage one could have disappeared and she never would have known about it had she not had the scan which gives her additional radiation? I'm just being the devil's advocate. I totally accept that young people and old people are getting cancers for no reason out of nowhere, And often times tragically dying. I haven't read the book so I might be asking very obvious questions,but I'm in no mood to put my life in the hands of a bunch of scans and doctors who really don't care. I speak from experience having walked a horrendous colon cancer journey with my husband for the past 16 months. It is all simply a protocol, And a very destructive deadly one at that. Thank goodness we have been doing alternative alongside and the doctors "are baffled" on why he is still alive. But thank you, this sounds interesting.
A PS -40 years ago one of our sons got a home Radon kit for Christmas when radon was all the fashion. We were all just learning about it. He put it down in our basement and then sent off the sample. An analysis was part of the kit. Anyway the owner of the company personally called us! And told us our radon level was his high as he had ever seen in our basement. And that we really needed to do something about it. Of course that was all alarming and frankly I wasn't that surprised but, was busy raising a whole pile of little children and I just simply couldn't worry about it. So here we are all these 40 years later, Same house and same basement, We are in our eighth and ninth decades, Luckily for us nothing has ever happened to any of us in the form of lung cancer.
So.... My understanding is there certain areas of the country where if you have a basement you will have huge amounts of radon entering from the Surrounding soil. But I'm praying that this young ladies story ends with a happy ending.
I have the same question about the Stage I diagnosis.
From my reading of studies going back at least 20 years ago out of Scandinavia, a large number of women who were diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer were simply watched instead of being given agressive treatment. In many cases, the cancer would either be gone within the next year or never grew beyond that stage, even when they were rechecked over many years.
I have had several friends who were diagnosed with Stage I on their very first mammogram and immediately had a double mastectomy, followed by heavy doses of chemo and radiation. They have significant side effects but are "so thankful it was caught early".
I don't know the answer but, like you, I do wonder if maybe watching and waiting on a Stage I diagnosis might be an option?
One of my sisters had a STAGE 0 diagnosis of breast cancer. You read that right. Stage ZERO. Her doctor recommended mastectomy in the one breast that was affected. Nothing I could say would make her wait, and she, too, is "thankful that it was caught early". The cancer industry is just that--an industry, there to make money, and oncologists are part of that industry, spreading fear to make money, whether they do it knowingly or unknowingly.
I will always remember the friend I took to her chemo appointments and the dishes of candy (sugar feeds cancer) that were scattered around the building.
How was your sister diagnosed? I have never even heard of Stage 0! And yes, it IS an industry that makes billions of dollars every year and most patients never question anything the doctor tells them...
The same story with my mother 30 years ago. Mastectomy for stage 0- I think at the time it was called intraductal Carcinoma. She got the new big boobs she had always wanted and actually lived another 25 years. She absolutely trusted doctors and loved to go to the doctor. The flip side that did make sense to me in a way' was that if she chose the mastectomy option,she would not have radiation or Chemo.. That part of her decision I agreed with and it worked for her. And I absolutely agree Viking that we need to be having these conversations all of the time. My husband's team simply wouldn't discuss any other options and would just stated, "you'll be dead in a few months of a horrible death, Unless you do what we say" I the the wife was considered a complete pain i* t** a** for asking questions and bringing my typed pages Of questions and references to various scientific studies and alternatives in for the doctor with each visit. Who knows?
We are on the same page. Of course who knows our reaction if someone looks at us and says the cancer word. But I would like to think I would do watchful waiting and lots and lots of dietary and alternative non destructive things at least for a little while to see if that helped. I can tell you for certain that chemo and radiation are absolutely destructive and horrendous and immediately reduce the quality of life and probably set you up for more problems in the future especially if you are young. May we both stay cancer-free and not have to make tough decisions!!
I try to not judge whatever someone decides to do, because, as you say, cancer is a very scary word to hear. But, I do think this is a valuable conversation to have, before any testing is done, just to introduce the idea that not every diagnosis needs the same kind of treatment and that alternatives are available.
Thank you for suggesting this book. I've wondered about Radon ever since I did a search on what the PVC pipe was that the builders left sticking up in my basement when I had my house built. Once I found out it was supposed to be a temporary vent during construction, and was supposed to eventually be vented outside the house (something the builder never informed me of), I capped the pipe until I can get it vented properly.
Another health risk associated with radon, but often not mentioned, is hemolytic anemia. My eldest brother developed hemolytic anemia after spending several months in his antiquated house in NE VT, studying for the VT bar exam. I often thought that there was an association. He ultimately developed other serious health issues, one from which he ultimately succumbed, but I will always think that spending so much time in that old, musty, antiquated, unfinished basement, with no knowledge of his radon exposure, was the likely culprit.
Thanks, Big E. He died 4-days shy of his 65th birthday, from end-stage congestive heart failure, secondary to the damage done to his heart from a previous heart attack. The heart attack may very well have been precipitated by the hemolytic anemia. One health issue appeared to be hinged upon another until it all resulted in his death. Aside from our diametrically opposed political views, we were very close & fond of each other. I miss him very much.
Why did her husband insist on a scan? What was she experiencing, if anything? I am an avid biker and never a smoker. When I am riding and go past a farmer fertilizing or working in his field, I often wonder what toxins I am inhaling. Then I ponder, if I had just done my lungs more harm by aerobic exercise and heavier breathing than by sitting on my couch. (I still bike)
The n-of-one examples when screening 'saved my life' abound. There are plenty of anecdotes when ovarian, pancreatic and many other cancers are detected when someone got a study not covered by insurance. Like it or not, this should not be the basis of screening policy applied broadly across a population. They are subject to the more is better bias, and ignore potential harms of screening.
There are some really good questions from readers about this situation! There is always an associated emotion to go with the dis-eased area. Lungs often are connected to unresolved grief, as the other major organs also have related connections to other emotions. Probably not so provable for a scientist, but I have been inclined to include this into my observations about health and illness as my experience with the traditional systems don't look at these areas. I speak from experience.
I almost skipped this read. I am so glad I didn’t. Dr. Malone’s story makes we proud I was instrumental in forming the radon industry in the late 80’s through my newsletter Radon News Digest. My mom was a heavy smoker who died of lung cancer but what about thousands of never smokers I was aware of who never smoked? I published a story in the mid 90’s that I believe answers that question….. the body’s p53 gene which suppresses tumors. It turns out this gene can be turned off with exposure to radon. That information is still being suppressed 30 years later. 🤬
"She isn’t picking a fight — she’s just telling the truth about what the data show." Misinformation. Disinformation. I'm sure she ought to be blocked on all social media.
On a more serious note, I live in rural Maine where radon levels are high, having moved from Colorado where radon levels are high. It's great to be able to both hire professionals and install radon reduction systems, but the cost can be prohibitive for those same people who can't afford out-of-pocket cancer scans. Thankfully, opening windows and allowing air circulation is free.
If you're building a house it's always a good idea to put radon mitigation into the concrete slab and have well water checked. Much more expensive to mitigate after a house is built.
This is timely for me in many ways, and I did enjoy and get a lot from your overview. Last year I bought, and I have been scanning "Should I Be Tested for Cancer?: Maybe Not and Here’s Why," by H. Gilbert Welch, 2004. Not new but really good info imho. I recently had a genetic test which indicated I have a two gene abnormalities that indicate a small percentage higher than average risk for Breast Cancer and the other is something else (not cancer) less than 1% chance. FYI the BC gene is NOT the scary BRCA. The worry with breast MRI's in particular is that the tendency is to find small blips and that these blips get treated as early cancer warning. With no other information, treatment is begun, sometimes aggressive treatment as prevention "just in case," and the blip may be nothing at all. My wonderful Hematologist Oncologist for my NHL Follicular Lymphoma says, as your article noted, that in 2-3 years a simple blood test (assay) would be able to confirm the presence of breast and many other cancers. My NHL FL was discovered through a swollen lymph gland that was removed, biopsied and revealed a very low grade NHLFL. Pet Scan confirmed activity but nothing large enough to warrant treatment. There is a current blood test for NHL and now a year later, mine always comes back negative. I am under "surveillance" for this which means blood test ever 3 months in 2025 but 2026 since I have no symptoms, I will only go for testing every 6 months. All that said I have agreed to the breast and the full body mri. I will do the breast MRI in May and then the other sometime this year. I will have to go Houston or San Antonio for the the full body. Thanks again for this great and helpful post. And... I will talk to my family about a randon test for this old house. PS. I never got the covid vaccine.
What is left out of this account is whether there was any basis for the husband's intuition to get the scan. Was she having any pulmonary or other symptoms that might have tipped him off?
ok, call me confused. I have one question & I'm shocked it was not asked nor answered in the article, especially by Dr Malone, of all people: What vaccines did she take & when did she take them? In particular, did she get the Covid mRNA vaccine? With this question seemingly ignored, like I'm reading an MSM article, it's hard to take this article or book seriously. Indeed, with mRNA vaccines now synonymous with cancer, the article is absurd. Correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe I need more coffee. But did I REALLY just read an article entitled, "The Cancer We’ve Been Looking For in All the Wrong People", debate "scanning for cancer more often" as a possible solution, and NEVER ask about what vaccines were taken, in the year 2026? 🤣🙃🤔 ok, I'm going to get another cup of coffee & I'm just hoping it's April Fools Day joke. A young person, a non-smoker, gets cancer, and whether her lung screen is covered by insurance and how much it costs is the question here? OMG. I must still be asleep and stuck in some nightmare.
Absolutely. I lost 3 family members in 2 months. 2 were from cancer. 1 heart attack. All vaccinated to “stay safe.”
Perhaps that’s the answer to the question I raised above. What made the husband suspect that a scan was needed.
If she was vaccinated multiple times that would be enough to raise my suspicions!
There's much debate on radon mitigation. And in RI, where we lived for a couple of years, radon testing for buying/selling a home was BIG BUSINESS. It seems odd that you could drill a hole in the basement, stick a PVC pipe in it and problem solved.
I don't know the properties of granite and stone in kitchens, floors and bathrooms, but can it store radon from other sources?
Additionally, in any healthcare setting, daily exposure in high doses to disinfectants, LED light, EMFs from equipment, inhaling heaven knows what from your masks, glove powder and other aerosolized toxins would increase your risks, IMO. Just sayin', as I was in that environment for 25 years.
And what of the geoengineering effects? Particulates that are unregulated, and may alter the UV in unhealthy ways.
Finally, what are the risks of screening? To both the operator and the patient. We're constantly exposing ourselves to hostile elements. Determining the cumulative dose is daunting.
Edit: I agree with those here who question her vaccine status. It's paramount.
Granite contains uranium and therefore emits radon. I would never have real granite in my house although many stones called granite are not true granite.
Victor Davis Hanson (https://www.foxnews.com/media/victor-davis-hanson-offers-lung-cancer-recovery-update-unsure-when-hell-back-near-normal) is another person who was a non-smoker, athlete, and took care of his health. He got lung cancer! (He also regretted taking the COVID jab.)
So did Dana Reeve ("Superman" Christopher Reeve's wife).
More on this topic: https://www.startpage.com/do/search?q=nonsmokers+who+got+lung+cancer&segment=startpage.brave
That was my first thought, did the COVID vaccine play a role. I've read many articles on vaccine injury and cancer.
So did Howard Temin,vanother nonsmoker
Likely a long list of non-smokers exists (hadn't heard of Howard Temin but looked up his Grokipedia page: https://grokipedia.com/page/Howard_Martin_Temin)
One prolific Substack author recently posted an interview featuring former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. I skimmed through the comments and saw several teeing off on Susan, demanding that she be held accountable for her censorship, etc. I added my comment: that it was perhaps worth mentioning in the post that Susan passed away in 2024. From lung cancer.
I would love to read this story and I certainly hope she is doing well but 2 questions immediately popped up. Did she have the covid vax? And it's my understanding that it is widely accepted that we are all attacked by cancer cells every single day. Luckily our immune system gets rid of most of the cancer in the right circumstances. Sounds like she led a very healthy life. Is it possible that that stage one could have disappeared and she never would have known about it had she not had the scan which gives her additional radiation? I'm just being the devil's advocate. I totally accept that young people and old people are getting cancers for no reason out of nowhere, And often times tragically dying. I haven't read the book so I might be asking very obvious questions,but I'm in no mood to put my life in the hands of a bunch of scans and doctors who really don't care. I speak from experience having walked a horrendous colon cancer journey with my husband for the past 16 months. It is all simply a protocol, And a very destructive deadly one at that. Thank goodness we have been doing alternative alongside and the doctors "are baffled" on why he is still alive. But thank you, this sounds interesting.
A PS -40 years ago one of our sons got a home Radon kit for Christmas when radon was all the fashion. We were all just learning about it. He put it down in our basement and then sent off the sample. An analysis was part of the kit. Anyway the owner of the company personally called us! And told us our radon level was his high as he had ever seen in our basement. And that we really needed to do something about it. Of course that was all alarming and frankly I wasn't that surprised but, was busy raising a whole pile of little children and I just simply couldn't worry about it. So here we are all these 40 years later, Same house and same basement, We are in our eighth and ninth decades, Luckily for us nothing has ever happened to any of us in the form of lung cancer.
So.... My understanding is there certain areas of the country where if you have a basement you will have huge amounts of radon entering from the Surrounding soil. But I'm praying that this young ladies story ends with a happy ending.
I have the same question about the Stage I diagnosis.
From my reading of studies going back at least 20 years ago out of Scandinavia, a large number of women who were diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer were simply watched instead of being given agressive treatment. In many cases, the cancer would either be gone within the next year or never grew beyond that stage, even when they were rechecked over many years.
I have had several friends who were diagnosed with Stage I on their very first mammogram and immediately had a double mastectomy, followed by heavy doses of chemo and radiation. They have significant side effects but are "so thankful it was caught early".
I don't know the answer but, like you, I do wonder if maybe watching and waiting on a Stage I diagnosis might be an option?
One of my sisters had a STAGE 0 diagnosis of breast cancer. You read that right. Stage ZERO. Her doctor recommended mastectomy in the one breast that was affected. Nothing I could say would make her wait, and she, too, is "thankful that it was caught early". The cancer industry is just that--an industry, there to make money, and oncologists are part of that industry, spreading fear to make money, whether they do it knowingly or unknowingly.
I will always remember the friend I took to her chemo appointments and the dishes of candy (sugar feeds cancer) that were scattered around the building.
How was your sister diagnosed? I have never even heard of Stage 0! And yes, it IS an industry that makes billions of dollars every year and most patients never question anything the doctor tells them...
The same story with my mother 30 years ago. Mastectomy for stage 0- I think at the time it was called intraductal Carcinoma. She got the new big boobs she had always wanted and actually lived another 25 years. She absolutely trusted doctors and loved to go to the doctor. The flip side that did make sense to me in a way' was that if she chose the mastectomy option,she would not have radiation or Chemo.. That part of her decision I agreed with and it worked for her. And I absolutely agree Viking that we need to be having these conversations all of the time. My husband's team simply wouldn't discuss any other options and would just stated, "you'll be dead in a few months of a horrible death, Unless you do what we say" I the the wife was considered a complete pain i* t** a** for asking questions and bringing my typed pages Of questions and references to various scientific studies and alternatives in for the doctor with each visit. Who knows?
We are on the same page. Of course who knows our reaction if someone looks at us and says the cancer word. But I would like to think I would do watchful waiting and lots and lots of dietary and alternative non destructive things at least for a little while to see if that helped. I can tell you for certain that chemo and radiation are absolutely destructive and horrendous and immediately reduce the quality of life and probably set you up for more problems in the future especially if you are young. May we both stay cancer-free and not have to make tough decisions!!
I try to not judge whatever someone decides to do, because, as you say, cancer is a very scary word to hear. But, I do think this is a valuable conversation to have, before any testing is done, just to introduce the idea that not every diagnosis needs the same kind of treatment and that alternatives are available.
Thank you for suggesting this book. I've wondered about Radon ever since I did a search on what the PVC pipe was that the builders left sticking up in my basement when I had my house built. Once I found out it was supposed to be a temporary vent during construction, and was supposed to eventually be vented outside the house (something the builder never informed me of), I capped the pipe until I can get it vented properly.
Another health risk associated with radon, but often not mentioned, is hemolytic anemia. My eldest brother developed hemolytic anemia after spending several months in his antiquated house in NE VT, studying for the VT bar exam. I often thought that there was an association. He ultimately developed other serious health issues, one from which he ultimately succumbed, but I will always think that spending so much time in that old, musty, antiquated, unfinished basement, with no knowledge of his radon exposure, was the likely culprit.
So sorry for the loss of your brother.
Thanks, Big E. He died 4-days shy of his 65th birthday, from end-stage congestive heart failure, secondary to the damage done to his heart from a previous heart attack. The heart attack may very well have been precipitated by the hemolytic anemia. One health issue appeared to be hinged upon another until it all resulted in his death. Aside from our diametrically opposed political views, we were very close & fond of each other. I miss him very much.
Why did her husband insist on a scan? What was she experiencing, if anything? I am an avid biker and never a smoker. When I am riding and go past a farmer fertilizing or working in his field, I often wonder what toxins I am inhaling. Then I ponder, if I had just done my lungs more harm by aerobic exercise and heavier breathing than by sitting on my couch. (I still bike)
The n-of-one examples when screening 'saved my life' abound. There are plenty of anecdotes when ovarian, pancreatic and many other cancers are detected when someone got a study not covered by insurance. Like it or not, this should not be the basis of screening policy applied broadly across a population. They are subject to the more is better bias, and ignore potential harms of screening.
There are some really good questions from readers about this situation! There is always an associated emotion to go with the dis-eased area. Lungs often are connected to unresolved grief, as the other major organs also have related connections to other emotions. Probably not so provable for a scientist, but I have been inclined to include this into my observations about health and illness as my experience with the traditional systems don't look at these areas. I speak from experience.
I almost skipped this read. I am so glad I didn’t. Dr. Malone’s story makes we proud I was instrumental in forming the radon industry in the late 80’s through my newsletter Radon News Digest. My mom was a heavy smoker who died of lung cancer but what about thousands of never smokers I was aware of who never smoked? I published a story in the mid 90’s that I believe answers that question….. the body’s p53 gene which suppresses tumors. It turns out this gene can be turned off with exposure to radon. That information is still being suppressed 30 years later. 🤬
"She isn’t picking a fight — she’s just telling the truth about what the data show." Misinformation. Disinformation. I'm sure she ought to be blocked on all social media.
On a more serious note, I live in rural Maine where radon levels are high, having moved from Colorado where radon levels are high. It's great to be able to both hire professionals and install radon reduction systems, but the cost can be prohibitive for those same people who can't afford out-of-pocket cancer scans. Thankfully, opening windows and allowing air circulation is free.
If you're building a house it's always a good idea to put radon mitigation into the concrete slab and have well water checked. Much more expensive to mitigate after a house is built.
This is timely for me in many ways, and I did enjoy and get a lot from your overview. Last year I bought, and I have been scanning "Should I Be Tested for Cancer?: Maybe Not and Here’s Why," by H. Gilbert Welch, 2004. Not new but really good info imho. I recently had a genetic test which indicated I have a two gene abnormalities that indicate a small percentage higher than average risk for Breast Cancer and the other is something else (not cancer) less than 1% chance. FYI the BC gene is NOT the scary BRCA. The worry with breast MRI's in particular is that the tendency is to find small blips and that these blips get treated as early cancer warning. With no other information, treatment is begun, sometimes aggressive treatment as prevention "just in case," and the blip may be nothing at all. My wonderful Hematologist Oncologist for my NHL Follicular Lymphoma says, as your article noted, that in 2-3 years a simple blood test (assay) would be able to confirm the presence of breast and many other cancers. My NHL FL was discovered through a swollen lymph gland that was removed, biopsied and revealed a very low grade NHLFL. Pet Scan confirmed activity but nothing large enough to warrant treatment. There is a current blood test for NHL and now a year later, mine always comes back negative. I am under "surveillance" for this which means blood test ever 3 months in 2025 but 2026 since I have no symptoms, I will only go for testing every 6 months. All that said I have agreed to the breast and the full body mri. I will do the breast MRI in May and then the other sometime this year. I will have to go Houston or San Antonio for the the full body. Thanks again for this great and helpful post. And... I will talk to my family about a randon test for this old house. PS. I never got the covid vaccine.