Finding a 'beautiful gift' within stage 4 lung cancer

contributed by Lara Zielin

Kristin Putney finds support in art and friendships while living with advanced lung cancer

Photos of Kristin and her artwork

Kristin Putney wasn’t exactly sure what it meant.

Her care team at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center had just informed her that she was eligible for targeted treatment for her stage 4 lung cancer.

“I could tell by my team’s reaction that I had just about won the lottery,” Putney said.

The team was right to be elated, and Putney soon found out why: there was about a 1% chance that she would be a match for this treatment, which targets specific abnormalities in cancer cells, zeroing in on them like a laser and leaving healthy cells intact.

It was a game changer for Putney, whose current treatments were leaving her sick, exhausted, and cognitively and emotionally wrung out. 

When she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in April 2022, she initially expected to have only a few months to live.

Putney wanted to make the most of the time she had left. She was ready to stop treatment altogether to maintain some quality of life.

Then came the surprise news from her care team, which ushered in a whole new approach: now, instead of chemotherapy, she takes pills every day that target her cancer’s specific mutations.

That was three years ago. 

“My cancer has continued to get smaller and smaller, and right now I have no active cancer,” Putney said. 

It’s one of the countless ways she says her Rogel Cancer care team has cared for her; “I’m literally alive because of this,” she said. 

Putney, who is 63 and has a master’s degree in social work, lives an hour and a half away from U-M in Kalamazoo but says she is happy to make the commute to Rogel.

“The difference in quality of care is phenomenal, and I wish I had known this years ago,” she said.

This isn't Putney’s first experience with cancer. In 2007, she went to a different facility after finding a lump in her breast.

“They biopsied the wrong thing,” she said, and told her she was cancer-free.

A year later, she went back because the lump had grown significantly.

That’s when she discovered it was stage 2 breast cancer.

She completed breast cancer treatment in December 2008.

When she learned she had lung cancer, she knew this time around she needed a dedicated, experienced team doing everything they could to help her. She says that’s part of what led her to Rogel.

“When you’re so vulnerable and your life is falling apart, having people who are bright and compassionate is invaluable.” 

Before her lung cancer diagnosis, Putney was at the height of her career. She worked as a therapist and trauma clinician as well as helped develop programs and curriculum in child welfare, holistic defense and criminal justice, on a state and national level.

She even helped build a scholarship program for foster care alumni with Western Michigan University that became a national model.

Prior to her diagnosis, she was also a busy single mom and primary support for her family.  

“I felt like I could handle things and I was most often in the role of the helper for others,” she said. 

After her diagnosis, she realized how many people around her had cancer but never talked about it.

“In a culture where we’re focused on having our stuff together, individualism and self-sufficiency, people don’t really know what to do with a person facing a terminal diagnosis.” 

She began to see that the people who had experience with illness, grief and suffering could move in closer to her and offer help.

“They knew what it meant to reach out and connect in times of great vulnerability and suffering,” she said. 

The love poured in when she needed it most.

“People contributed in so many ways when I was so broken open, and it’s had such a lasting impact on me. It’s changed who I am and my sense of community and belonging. The generosity of people, the goodness of people, is so profound, it’s left me in awe.” 

Rogel too, she says, has been an anchor, providing care that goes well beyond just her physical needs.

“They’ve helped me navigate and advocate for support services in a very complex, overwhelming healthcare system.” 

Rogel set her up with Sandra Drabant, a therapist who could help her process the often overwhelming emotions of this experience.

“There were many times on this cancer journey when I felt like everything was falling apart. Without my therapist, I don’t know how I would have done it.” 

Dabrant also helped her reconnect with her love for art. 

In high school, she says art “kept her sane” and that it had always been an integral part of her life.

But it wasn’t until six months ago when she took a sculpture class on death and dying called “Befriending Death” with Brent Harris at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts that she became deeply reengaged with creating her own pieces. 

Many of her pieces have soft, smooth lines and muted colors, evoking peace and serenity.

The themes are often feminine and spiritual with mandalas and symmetry.

“I try to use the time I have left to do the things that feed me and heal me like artwork. My oncologist, Greg Kalemkerian, M.D., says to do what I love, and that can be the best medicine. I try to do activities that express who I am, the things that light me up, my passions. I’m committed to living and contributing meaningfully, in whatever way I can.” 

She said she's incredibly grateful for the doctors and the team at Rogel who “made all this possible.” 

She’s still monitored regularly; there are scans, sometimes changes to how her medication is funded. She has regular visits and questions and conversations.

And she knows Rogel will be there for her through it all.

“The beautiful and rich support is amazing to me—not just physically but medically, financially and emotionally. It’s holistic, and that’s what it takes when you go through something like this because it affects the whole person. This level of care reflects true humanity, it reminds me of who we really are as people. I don’t know where I would be without Rogel. The impact is immeasurable. While the diagnosis has been devastating, the care and support I have received has been a beautiful gift.” 

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