'You must have mixed up my file': Cork woman on her lung cancer diagnosis 

Gillian Ryan, a 42 year old mother of two from Cork, is sharing her story of lung cancer to raise awareness and call for increased funding for Breakthrough Cancer Research.

When Cork woman Gillian Ryan was diagnosed with lung cancer aged just 40, the non-smoker told doctors they must have mixed up her files with someone else.

The mother of two wants to see her teenagers grow up so she is calling for funding to support research into this devastating condition.

Gillian, who lives in Bandon, was alone when she was diagnosed in November 2021, as covid restrictions were in place.

“I was a busy working mom. I had never been sick, I was just healthy,” she said, saying she loved mountain hiking and the gym. 

So when she became breathless at work, asthma was the most serious possibility that crossed her mind as she waited for hospital tests.

“When I got diagnosed, my whole world just stopped there and then, so I said ‘no, you’ve got it wrong’,” she recalled.

“[I said] ‘there’s probably a patient outside in the waiting room, you’ve mixed my file up’.” 

She was, at 40, at least 10 years younger than the typical lung cancer patient.

“You hear the word cancer and you think ‘I’m going to die, how long do I have left’”, she said.

She had surgery that December, spending Christmas in hospital.

I went in to take out the tumour in my lung and said goodbye to my family, literally not knowing whether I was going to make it, whether I was going to see them again.

The percentage of people who are still alive at least five years after lung cancer stands at just 24%. In comparison, it is 99% for prostate cancer and 89% for breast cancer.

Gillian Ryan: 'I would love it if lung cancer got as much recognition and funding as other cancers. There’s a stigma because it’s associated with smoking, but that’s not always the case and it certainly wasn’t in mine.'

“I still have trouble breathing but I’m alive and that’s all that matters,” Gillian said.

“And that’s why I’m so passionate about cancer research. I would love it if lung cancer got as much recognition and funding as other cancers. There’s a stigma because it’s associated with smoking, but that’s not always the case and it certainly wasn’t in mine.”

She added: “I want to see my kids get married and have kids of their own and be a nana and have the kids dropped to me on the weekends. And I just want to live.” 

Gillian is calling for increased funding for the Cork-based charity Breakthrough Cancer Research.

Chief executive Orla Dolan said it already supports some projects but would like to expand its reach.

“[Our] priorities include increasing research investment into poor prognosis cancers, integrating cancer research into clinical care, funding the development of new therapies, and harnessing big data to improve detection and personalised treatment,” she said.