My ‘Long Covid’ turned out to be incurable lung cancer – even though I’ve never touched a cigarette in my life

A mother-of-three has revealed the unlikely symptoms of her fatal lung cancer – which did not include coughing.

Melanie Erwin, 57, from London, believed she was suffering from Long Covid as her main sign that something was wrong was terrible fatigue.

The vegetarian yoga enthusiast, who has never smoked, visited her GP at the end of 2020, who referred Ms Erwin for an X-ray.

Devastatingly, the scans revealed a ‘mass’ in her left lung, which was later diagnosed as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) – the most common type of the disease.

Despite being treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, another growth was discovered in March 2024, indicating the disease had returned. Doctors concluded her disease was stage 4 and incurable.

According to the Lung Cancer Coalition, lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer in Britain, claiming more than 35,000 lives every year.

About a quarter of people diagnosed with the disease each year are non-smokers.

“People are often very surprised when I tell them what type of cancer I have,” Erwin told The Mirror. “They look at me and my very healthy lifestyle, because I have never smoked, and they don’t understand how I have this disease.”

Melanie Erwin, 57, from London, pictured with her partner Sarah, 39, thought she was suffering from Long Covid as her main sign that something was wrong was terrible fatigue

The vegetarian yoga enthusiast, who has never smoked, visited her GP at the end of 2020, who referred Ms Erwin for an X-ray, but she was later diagnosed with lung cancer

Ms Erwin said she believes Covid ‘saved her life’ and is grateful her GP ordered an x-ray.

But it wasn’t long before the disease became a problem again.

In April 2022, several small nodules were noticed in her right lung during routine scans, but these were too small for a biopsy to check if they were cancer.

It wasn’t until March this year that the lumps became large enough to perform a biopsy, and it was revealed that her disease was in its most advanced stages.

Erwin was diagnosed with a specific mutation called EGFR positive, which affects around 10 to 15 percent of the 39,000 people in Britain diagnosed with lung cancer.

Although many assume that people with lung cancer are smokers, this type is more common in people who have never smoked, and also affects a greater proportion of people in Asian countries.

The symptoms are similar to other types of lung cancer and can cause chest pain, weight loss, shortness of breath, fatigue and coughing.

According to EGFR UK, lung cancer in never-smokers is the eighth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Britain, with more deaths each year from never-smoking lung cancer than from ovarian cancer, cervical cancer or leukemia.

Mrs. Erwin now takes medication every day that inhibits the growth of tumor cells

The diagnosis came as a ‘shock’ to Mrs Erwin, who assumed the news was a ‘death sentence’.

However, she now takes daily medications that are intended to inhibit the growth of tumor cells.

Speaking about the drug which has only been available in Britain for a few years, she said: ‘There will come a time when it won’t work anymore because it will make my cancer cells sensible and I hope that by then there will be another drug that will do. are available.

“My goal is to live with stage 4 lung cancer and ultimately die with it, not from it.”

In addition to her medications, she lives a healthy lifestyle, avoiding sugar, meat and alcohol.

Mrs. Erwin has also started to write about her online experience, which she admits has been very “therapeutic.”

But she insists she is “proof” that “anyone with lungs” can get lung cancer, regardless of your age or lifestyle.

Although people who have never smoked can develop the condition, most cases of lung cancer are caused by smokers. According to Cancer Research UK, this habit is linked to more than six in 10 cases of lung cancer in Britain.