From Chronic Cough to Cancer Diagnosis

Dave Lamm is an avid cyclist and regularly pedals 30 to 60 miles on the weekend. During the week, he walks 12,000 to 15,000 steps per day. These would be impressive distances for most people, especially a 62-year-old man. In Dave’s case, you might actually call his athletic prowess a miracle.

In 2020, Dave had “all sorts of scanning, all sorts of scoping done” at various hospitals in Atlanta as he tried to find an answer for his chronic cough. Finally, the medical director at his company suggested he check out Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.

“When I came to Emory,” Dave says, “ultimately what they found out was that I had stage-four kidney cancer, and that the cancer on the kidneys had spread to the lungs.”

Dave had a new diagnosis of advanced heart disease and metastatic cancer. “In many places, it would be impossible to walk the fine line between the two,” says his cardio-oncologist, Anant Mandawat, MD, director of Winship’s Cardio-Oncology Center of Excellence. “We are grateful that Dave trusted us with his care. With Winship’s commitment to multidisciplinary care, Dave is doing well and has a new lease on life.”

In fact, Winship’s team approach made a big impression on Dave. “They have national experts here,” he says. “I felt some comfort that I had a team that was very knowledgeable.” Not only that, but he praised their frankness in sharing information with him. “It may not have been what I wanted to hear,” he says, “but what I needed to hear.” He especially appreciated their patience as he repeated questions and tried to digest everything he was hearing.

Two years on, Dave is relishing survivorship. “The course of treatment is working, and I’m pleased to say that,” he says. “It’s not a miracle cure—that you go on this and you’re done. But the cancer is not growing; it’s shrinking. And in that sense, I mean, I feel very blessed.” He adds, “Before, I couldn’t walk six feet. I now walk 12,000 to 15,000 steps a day and don’t run out of breath. Before, I couldn’t finish a sentence without coughing, and now I rarely cough. So I really feel blessed, a second chance on life.”