The fight of a Knoxville woman with the # 1 killer of cancer in America

"I remember when I was diagnosed for the first time," Nerstad said. "It was two weeks after our return to Knoxville, I felt a slight pressure on my chest and decided to go for a jog.Later I decided to m & # 39; Register in a walk-in clinic, re-check and ensure you have not had pneumonia walking. "

She discovered that her case was much more serious than ambulatory pneumonia and that doctors later diagnosed her with stage IV lung cancer EML4-ALK positive, a cancer caused by a genetic mutation in her DNA.

At first, Nerstad was shocked, but her husband, Gary, said: Amanda knew that she needed to develop a plan and stay true throughout this lawsuit.

"I always refer to Joshua 1: 9. Be strong and brave, fear nothing, I am the Lord your God, and I will be with you wherever you go.It is on the fridge every time I take my pills, and on my bathroom mirror, and I always look at this scripture from God and I know he's with us, "Amanda said.

Her youngest daughter, Greta, says that she also prays for her mother every night, even though they are the same words.

"Please, heal Mom," Greta said. She even remembers promising $ 100 to God when he was healing his mother from breast cancer.

Her husband Gary said that he admired the resilience of his wife.

"It's even hard to put myself in her shoes, and I've never tried to do it, but one thing she's done right off the bat is that it's just that." she has always had her faith, "said Gary.

But Amanda's husband said he was even more proud of his ability to advertise and raise public awareness of the disease.

Nerstad has taken the initiative to speak to pharmaceutical companies and provide them with a patient perspective on the research that these companies are doing for cancer patients like her.

"Every day I take a chemotherapy pill, twice a day, and that keeps my cancer in check, which is really good.I will eventually find resistance to my pill, which is why it is so important to continue research and funding of more targeted treatment of pills with genetic mutations and hope for treatment. "

Although stage four lung cancer is still present in Nerstad's body, advances in medicine have allowed her to follow non-traditional cancer treatments, such as the chemotherapy pill, allowing her to keep her hair and avoid the side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Nerstad has sadly stated that her body will eventually become resistant to chemotherapy pills and that she will need another type of medicine to fight cancer in her body. For her and her family, continuing to raise money for research on the next set of chemotherapy pills is a cause for which they will continue to fight.

Her husband, Gary, said there was little or no money for lung cancer at the local and regional levels, because of the stigma surrounding cancer and the fact that it was not safe for people. act of a "smoker's disease".

"That's not true," Amanda says. "More than 60% of lung cancer cases are diagnosed in non-smokers," she said. Nerstad and her family have been fundraising at the lemonade booth to raise money for lung cancer research, which has helped pay nearly $ 28,000 to the LUNGevity Foundation to change the results lung cancer patients through research, education and support.

In honor of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, Nerstad encourages everyone to become familiar with the statistics behind the disease, which is the number one cancer killer in America. Nerstad wants to continue changing the rhetoric around lung cancer and the myth that only people who smoke cigarettes can get the disease.

"Anyone with lungs can contract lung cancer," said Nerstad.

Yet despite his diagnosis, Nerstad said his family was not always limited to cancer.

She said her family was doing fun things, such as beach family vacations, football games, hiking and boating.

"I just think it's important for our family to keep creating memories and having fun, we live every day with purpose and purpose, we trust in our faith and thank God for our Blessings on a daily basis I fight for my life, but I have a lot of hope and faith for a treatment. "