Wortman Lung Cancer Foundation

Early 2008 Linda was enjoying her 35th year of working for Northwest Airlines (now Delta) as a flight attendant wearing many hats -- including Government Affairs Chair and Chairwoman for Airlines Safety & Health Committee.

Flying has given Linda many fond memories -- including meeting her husband, Jerry a pilot, on her third flight in 1973. Together "The Flying Wortmans" traveled the world. In 2006 Linda began to develop respiratory issues, concerned with the outbreak of SARS in Asia, and TB in Europe, she decided to be examined at a local clinic where she was prescribed z-pac for respiratory infections, on more than one occasion. Linda continued to fly through her concerns with her respiratory difficulties, symptoms that included a choking cough and night sweats.

On January 11, 2008, Mayo Clinic diagnosed Linda with stage one, non-small cell adenocarcinoma Lung Cancer. She was in a state of shock, thinking all awhile, "You have the wrong person. I never smoked and my lung capacity is 110%... I can't have lung cancer!"

Linda immediately underwent surgery to have a three centimeter tumor, her upper left lung lobe and a portion of her lower left lung lobe removed. While recovering, Jerry stood by her bedside and told her to breathe, breathe, breathe... because she did not know where her next breath would come from.

It took a 3 month course in paced breating working one to one with an oncology nurse, and three years of non stop physical therapy breathing to regain athletic activities with just three and one half lung lobes.