Rose H.'s Story: Lung Cancer From Smoking, Told for CDC's Tips Campaign

Rose H. Image from CDC's Tips From Former Smokers campaign.

Her story

Rose grew up in a small Texas town and loved its outdoor life — fishing, hiking, working outside — and her big extended family. She began smoking at 13, stealing cigarettes from her father, and was soon spending her school lunch money on cigarettes instead of food. She settled into two packs a day.

At 58, pain and weakness in her legs grew so bad she could hardly walk. Smoking had filled the arteries in her legs with plaque — peripheral artery disease — and her doctor told her so little blood was reaching her foot that she might lose it without surgery. Before that surgery could happen, a chest x-ray found lung cancer, and the focus turned to saving her life.

Treatment

For nearly two years Rose went through chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.

• Surgeons removed the part of her lung where the cancer had grown, but complications kept her in the hospital for a month with a chest tube — painful the whole time. She prayed each day it would come out, and by the last few days she was in tears. When it finally was removed, it hurt even more coming out than going in. In her CDC ad, her tip was to be careful what you wish for.
• The cancer then spread to her brain, and she needed a second surgery.
• She had to move in with one of her sons in a big city to be near her doctors, far from the small-town life she loved. Her family and friends cared for her throughout; she credited family support, faith and quitting smoking with getting her through.

Quitting

The threat of losing her foot is what made Rose quit — before she even knew about the cancer — and it was easier than she expected once she made up her mind. Her cough went away; she breathed better and could walk farther. Food tasted and smelled better again — she loved the smell of tortillas in the oven and beans on the stove. Though she never had the leg surgery, quitting stopped the blockage from worsening, restored some blood flow to her foot, and her leg pain went away.

She regretted ever starting: she had woken up with a cigarette and gone to sleep with one, every day. She cherished good days with family and friends, especially her three grandchildren — the youngest, Tomorro Rose, born around the time her fight with cancer began. She hoped her story would get people to quit before they get sick, and those who don't smoke never to start.

Rose died in 2015, at 60, of cancer caused by smoking.

Rose H. Image from CDC's Tips From Former Smokers campaign.

Rose's print ad for Tips From Former Smokers. CDC.

Her videos

CDC made three: her TV ad about her surgery and the chest tube; Rose's Story, about how smoking led to cancer she never believed would happen to her; and Three Keys to Recovery — family, faith and quitting. See the Tips videos, more real stories, and smoking and cancer.

Help to quit

Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-855-DÉJELO-YA in Spanish), text QUITNOW to 333888, try the quitSTART app, or visit CDC's Quit Smoking pages and Smokefree.gov.

Sources

Based on "Rose H.'s Story," Tips From Former Smokers, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain; rewritten in hubnx's own words. A smokefree.gov banner, a stock photograph and thumbnails linking to other participants' stories are not reproduced.