Jill Feldman: I’ve lost a masssive piece of my heart with the loss of Ivy

Jill Feldman shared on X:

“I’ve been steering clear of social media this past week as I try to process the heartbreaking loss of Ivy Elkins.

Personally, I’ve lost a massive piece of my heart

 I will cherish the numerous and unique experiences we shared over the past 10 and a half years, ones that many people will never have in a lifetime. Jivy But it’s more than that.

Our community lost a relentless advocate who embodied patient-centered research and care and changed lives in a mere moment by sharing knowledge and hope.

Lung Cancer has taken yet another bright light from our world, a beautiful soul who could light up a room with her infectious laugh and magnetic personality, but it can never take away Ivy’s impact on countless lives. Ivy’s indomitable spirit made many believe there would be another treatment just in time.

Ivy benefited from advancements in research, but it’s not enough.

Frankly, I’m angry and frustrated that we couldn’t do more for Ivy and so many others! We MUST approach research with more urgency and a wider, proactive perspective, knowing resistance is inevitable.

RIP, sweet friend. ”

Source: Jill Feldman/X

Jill Feldman is a lung cancer patient and advocate. She is the Co-Founder EGFR Resisters, an advocacy group of EGFR positive lung cancer patients who are resistant to targeted treatment. She is the Past President of the LUNGevity Foundation, Deputy Chair of IASLC’s patient advisory board and a member of The Chicago Institute of Translational Medicine’s patient advisory board.

Jill is committed to understanding and promoting patient-centered research as a member of the programmatic panel for the Department of Defense Lung Cancer Research Program, as a planning committee member on IASLC’s North America Conference on Lung cancer and as a member of the the ECOG-ACRIN Research Group’s patient advocate committee and thoracic committee.