My name is Christian, I am from Germany, and this is my lung cancer story.

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I was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007. It was an adenocarcinoma in stage IIIB. At that time, I received all available treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Today there are more advanced options, but back then this was the full extent of standard care. The entire treatment period lasted about one year.

After completing therapy, I returned to my job as a software developer. About a year later, I became involved with a local lung cancer self-help group. Lung cancer continued to affect my life long after treatment, so I wanted to stay connected to the topic. Although the diagnosis was a very unpleasant experience, it also made me reflect more deeply on the value of life. I began to experience life and its beauty in a more intense way, and I wanted to preserve that awareness.

I also realized I needed support in dealing with what I had gone through. In Germany, we often say that talking helps in difficult situations. For me, it was especially helpful to listen to other patients. Hearing how they coped with their illness helped me develop my own coping strategies. Over time, I also felt a strong need to give something back to others who were facing similar challenges.

After joining the local self-help group, we quickly recognized that self-help in lung cancer comes with many difficulties. These challenges include stigma, limited treatment outcomes at the time, and generally low survival expectations. Because of this, we began connecting with other self-help groups in different German cities and eventually founded an umbrella organization.

The goal of this organization was to strengthen the self-help network, support the creation of new patient groups, and provide them with the structure of a registered organization. We also aimed to engage in patient advocacy. This included addressing stigma, promoting better treatment options, and working with other stakeholders in the healthcare system who shared similar goals.

Through this work, I became responsible for international connections with other patient organizations. About eight years ago, I became involved with LuCE, the Lung Cancer Europe network. Our organization has greatly benefited from this collaboration. It allows us to learn how patient groups in other European countries develop, what challenges they face, and how they address them.

A major benefit of LuCE is the material, resources, and projects it provides. As a small national organization, we would not be able to manage such initiatives on our own. For example, producing reports like the annual lung cancer report presented in the European Parliament would be beyond our capacity. Being connected to a strong European organization like LuCE makes it possible for us to participate in these broader efforts and amplify patient advocacy at a larger scale.