Brittany's Story
Vibrant, energetic, beautiful, athletic, courageous…that was Brittany Coppedge from day one. At 19, she was the picture of health and loving life. Brittany was a college sophomore, a gymnast and a coach. Until September 2006. What started as a nagging cough and lethargy quickly became a cause for concern. After waking one morning with chills and painful breathing, Britt went to the campus clinic for some help. Two days later, with no improvement, she visited a local physician and received the diagnosis – pneumonia. Two more days of antibiotics and still no better, her parents drove up and together they went to the emergency room. Again, a diagnosis of double pneumonia and ten days of medicines were prescribed. She was sent home with the reassurance that all would be fine once the antibiotics began working.
The ten days came and went and the coughing and tiredness hadn’t improved. After filing for a medical withdrawal for the semester, she returned home and visited a local doctor who proclaimed her pneumonia-free, but began treatment for a reactive airway. Inhalers and more antibiotics were prescribed with instructions to return for follow-up visits in one month. Because there was no reason to suspect otherwise, no x-rays were taken.
October was well under way and she had a trip planned to Vermont and Canada. Taking her medicines and inhalers, off she went on vacation. After spending almost two weeks with friends, Britt returned home feeling rested but still coughing profusely. She returned to the local doctor, as instructed. Again, the lungs sounded clear and no x-rays were taken. However, he referred her to a pulmonary specialist, with an appointment 15 days later. By now, it was Thanksgiving and everyone was preparing for the holidays. About 12:30am Thanksgiving Day, Brittany was in tremendous pain and unable to breathe. This courageous young lady was scared, for probably the first time in her life. She wanted to go to the hospital. Little did we know that she wouldn’t be coming home again.
For ten days, Britt endured test after test. Everything was coming back with negative results. At first, they suspected a form of TB, based on the chest scans. Five antibiotics, no results. Her energy was drained, her oxygen levels were low, she was losing weight. A bronchioscope was performed and those results were also negative. Finally, the doctors ordered an open lung biopsy and the slides were sent to four major hospitals across the country. Three days later Brittany was diagnosed with a lung cancer so rare in her age bracket that a leading cancer center had only four cases total in their records, though none as young as she. A double lung transplant looked to be her only option and she was transferred to UNC Hospitals. However, the cancer was very aggressive and upon admittance she began declining very quickly. The doctors only held out hope for 48 hours. Due to the unusual nature of this cancer, the transplant was no longer an option and she was to be treated with a new targeted chemotherapy drug. It had shown some quick results in clinical trials, but unfortunately the cancer didn’t respond as hoped. She would need the full three months of treatment, and she just didn’t have that amount of time. Three weeks after being diagnosed, Brittany lost her battle with lung cancer. It was three days after Christmas.
No one suspected she would have lung cancer at 19…and yet she did. This beautiful young lady, not quite 20, was a fighter right up until the end. A role model of grace and dignity, she’s left a wonderful legacy for her siblings and friends to follow. Our prayers now are that her legacy lives on and her battle continues through us. “Brittany’s Battle” is far from over…we are fighting on until the day NO ONE has to fight anymore. Our mission is to raise awareness, provide support for other families as they fight their own battle with cancer, and to raise desperately needed research dollars.
