Growing up, Angela Franks had ongoing respiratory problems.
"I always had bronchitis, just different things like colds - a lot of emergency room visits," she said.
Not knowing the effects of second-hand smoke on their child, Angela's parents smoked for the first 12 years of her life. When she left home, her health problems cleared up - until she turned 25.
"I'd be short of breath and have a hard time keeping up with my mom - who's older than me and I contributed that to being out of shape," she said.
Then she began coughing up blood.
"It became more frequent, to where it was once a week and then it became daily and at that's the time, I decided I needed to do something about it, this must be something serious," she said.
A chest x-ray showed a spot on the upper right lobe of Angela's lung. She had surgery, followed by chemo.
"They removed the upper right lobe of my lung and then we decided because of my age, it would be best to go through chemotherapy," she said.
Dr. Gary Kohler says certain symptoms should be taken seriously.
"Probably one of the most common things is a cough. Other things can be shortness of breath, coughing up blood, weight loss," he said.
The best way to avoid the disease is to avoid smoking or being around smoke. And early detection is key.
"I waited for two years after having symptoms before I went to the doctor and my situation could've been much different had my cancer not been growing very slowly," said Angela.
Angela is now cancer-free and hoping her story will encourage others to take a closer look at their own health.
Research dollars for lung cancer are still way behind funding for other cancers.
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