Lung cancer is the number one killer of men and women across the country today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but some say the disease carries a stigma associated with smoking.
10TV talked with a retired firefighter who says that’s not the case. At least it wasn’t for him, and many others.
It took some time to pinpoint the cancer in Timothy Smith, who served as a lieutenant with the Basil Join Fire District. “Maybe just the job and being a dad had gotten to me and maybe this was all just in my head and this is how everybody feels; just that tired all the time,” Smith said, recalling what went through his mind when he noticed his health starting to decline.
Firefighters typically work 24 hours on, 48 hours off, in addition to balancing a family, so fatigue isn’t unusual.
It took eventual swelling in his neck to set off the alarm for doctors, who told him he had stage 4 lung cancer.