Lung cancer: ‘I was 47 at the time, and the only person in my family who has never smoked’

Samatha Vaughan from Co Laois was aged 47 and the only person in her family who had never smoked when she got the shock diagnosis

Samantha Vaughan: 'Although the cancer is completely gone from my body, I have a high chance of it coming back'

Thu Nov 13 2025 - 06:01

Samantha Vaughan went to see her GP after her symptoms of long Covid didn’t seem to be improving.

She was referred for ENT (ear, nose and throat) examinations, along with a chest X-ray. “I was feeling breathless and fatigued and although it was put down to long Covid, I just kept thinking that something wasn’t right,” she says. “I went to the doctor and was given things like steroids, inhalers and antibiotics but nothing seemed to be working. So I asked if I could get an X-ray done as I also felt like I had pulled a muscle in my side. It took a while to get the appointment and when it was finally done, I was told that there was a lesion on my right lung.

“I didn’t know what they meant by that and initially they said that, because I had been through pleurisy [an inflammation of the lining of the lungs], it could be a bit of scarring. I had to wait for further results, but it took so long that I decided to go privately and have a CT scan to see what the lesion was – and within a couple of days, I had an appointment.

“I wasn’t expecting to get results for a while, but that evening my doctor rang and told me to come in to see her the following morning with my husband. She said that something had shown up on the scan which looked like a tumour. I was totally shocked.”

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This was 2023, and the mother-of-four, a nonsmoker, had to face that she might have lung cancer. It seemed so unlikely, but deep down, she was preparing for the worst. “I couldn’t understand it. I was 47 at the time, and the only person in my family who has never smoked – how could it be possible that I’m the one getting scanned for lung cancer? My husband, Stephen, and I went in the next day and I was given the horrible news that it was lung cancer and that I would be fast-tracked to the nearest hospital which could take me, which happened to be Cork University Hospital.

“I just couldn’t believe it and was on autopilot as I began the journey up and down from Laois to Cork for appointments and scans. On September 7th I had a biopsy so they could see what kind of tumour it was and then when scans revealed that it was very close to my heart, they decided that the safest thing to do was to remove most of my right lung. It was a gamble, but I remember feeling almost blasé and saying, ‘Yeah, whatever, just do it’. But my husband was more cautious and asked lots of questions. They told me that it was a case of live or die, and said that I had a 50-50 chance of survival. So although the odds were not great, I said that I wanted to go for it.”

The Laois woman was put on a waiting list and, very soon afterwards, got a call to say that there was a bed available the following day. “I remember thinking, Oh my God, this is happening, and packed my bag in a daze. I wasn’t really aware of what was going on, and was sort of on autopilot, just going with the flow. I had prepped my children [aged 15-30] as we had promised we would hide nothing from them, and it was very hard ringing my daughter in Australia and the other in Liverpool because they were not at home. We told them all not to panic and if there was anything to worry about, we would tell them, but it was going ahead.

“Thankfully, the surgery was a success, even though I was in ICU for four nights instead of one because I felt very bad afterwards. During surgery they took the top and middle section of my right lung, some lymph nodes and an airway.

“I was left with the lower part of my right lung, which meant that I had difficulty breathing and needed to learn how to breathe again. And when they tested what they had removed, they discovered that I had a mutation which means that, although the cancer is completely gone from my body, I have a high chance of it coming back.”

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Vaughan, who works as an area manager in the retail sector, was discharged after two weeks. She agreed to take part in a targeted treatment study, which she has been on for the past two years. She is tested every six months and so far continues to be in remission. However, she can only stay on the medication for three years, “due to the cost”, and is hoping to be able to avail of another treatment after.

In the meantime, despite suffering with a number of related symptoms such as fatigue, upset stomach, ulcers and continued breathing difficulties, she is cancer free. And, although the treatment is “extremely hard” at times, she is back at work.

“Mentally, I felt that I needed to start working again, I wanted to get a bit of me back. However, having said that, the old Samantha is gone and I have to learn to live like the new Samantha, who is more restricted in what she can do. Mentally, I’m getting there, but physically it is still a bit of a struggle as I get very breathless and although I don’t have to carry oxygen around, I do have an inhaler and have to make sure I plan my day accordingly.

“But I also try to push myself out of my comfort zone as well and each year for my anniversary [of my diagnosis], I try to do something challenging. The first year I climbed Croagh Patrick and the next I did the Stairway to Heaven [Cuilcagh mountain in Co Fermanagh]. I just want to know that I can do these things.

“Of course, I do have to take lots of medication to enable me to do it and afterwards I’ve had issues with blood pressure and pain because there was a lot of nerve damage after the surgery, but that’s just a small issue and things are never going to be perfect, but I can get some of myself back.”

November is Lung Cancer Awareness month. Every year almost 2,600 people are diagnosed with the disease in Ireland. It is the fourth most common cancer in the country, and while a very serious form of cancer, early diagnosis can make all the difference.

Vaughan says that although she has no idea where she gets her energy from, she just wants to get as much from life as possible and this involves trying to spread awareness on lung cancer as there “is absolutely nothing in this country” to help people who are going through the disease. And “apart from charities like the Irish Cancer Society, a lot more needs to be done to help people with rehabilitation”.

With this in mind, she would encourage others with lung cancer to ‘speak up’ and not be afraid to ask for help – and if they think that something is wrong but feel they are not being taken seriously, they should ask for a second opinion. “I always tell people to follow their gut,” she says.

“You need to be your own advocate, and if you feel there’s something not right, get it checked. There is a mistaken thought that only people who smoke get lung cancer, but basically anyone who has lungs can get lung cancer.

“The other thing I would say to people is that they should try to always be positive about things, because if you’re being positive, it sends a positive message to your body and gives you a kind of strength to heal too. Just remember that there is hope out there.”

Lung cancer key points

Almost 2,600 people are diagnosed every year in Ireland.
About seven in 10 people diagnosed with lung cancer in Ireland are aged 65 or older.
It’s rare in people younger than 40.
Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer as seven in 10 people who get lung cancer either smoke or used to smoke. But you can get lung cancer even if you have never smoked.
Early diagnosis can make a big difference to how treatable your lung cancer is.
If any concerns, seek medical advice. For more info see cancer.ie, hse.ie, mariekeating.ie