One Chinese-American Woman Fights Advanced Lung Cancer

November is Lung Awareness Month. According to a study by the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research, and Training, the Chinese-American population has the highest death rates for lung and bronchial cancer among all Asian-American groups. The number one cause of cancer death in the United States, lung cancer will kill more Americans this year than breast, prostate, colon, and liver cancers combined.

Lung cancer patient, Ellen Chung, refuses to let these statistics affect her positive outlook on life. Chung was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in December of 2002. She never smoked and her only symptoms were some indigestion and pain in her left chest and shoulder.

Resiliency is not a new concept for Chung. Born in Hawaii, her father worked in a sugar cane field, and she was fifth of six children. She worked two jobs to make her dream of moving to New York City after high school come true. Chung has since moved to four different cities, had four children, returned to college in her 30's, and is now retired and enjoying life as a grandmother.

"My first oncologist gave me nine months to live and said the only effective treatment option was chemotherapy, which may or may not give me more time - I decided to try another oncologist," Chung said.

According to Chung's current oncologist, Dr. Nick Chen, M.D., Ph.D., Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center, there are currently four...

Multilingual Asian American exit poll survey expands in eight states, to document voters' experiences and choices in key congressional and state races.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), a 32-year-old civil rights group, today announced details of its Election Protection 2006 efforts on Election Day. Tomorrow, more than 620 attorneys, law students, and volunteers will cover more than 60 poll sites in eight states and Washington, D.C., with a focus on precincts where Asian language assistance is provided, where Asian American voter registration has increased, or where Asian American voters historically have experienced intimidation.

AALDEF will document incidents of voter discrimination at poll sites, receive reports via its toll-free hotline, 800.966.5946 and via e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloak31d5cdb88077a8cc8d95639a9822b711').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy31d5cdb88077a8cc8d95639a9822b711 = 'votingcomplaints' + '@'; addy31d5cdb88077a8cc8d95639a9822b711 = addy31d5cdb88077a8cc8d95639a9822b711 + 'aaldef' + '.' + 'org'; var addy_text31d5cdb88077a8cc8d95639a9822b711 = 'votingcomplaints' + '@' + 'aaldef' + '.' + 'org';document.getElementById('cloak31d5cdb88077a8cc8d95639a9822b711').innerHTML += ''+addy_text31d5cdb88077a8cc8d95639a9822b711+''; , and conduct a multilingual exit poll of Asian...

Library of Congress’ Asian Division Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington D.C. Photo by Lia Chang

On the first Saturday in May, I was in the Library of Congress’ Asian Division Reading Room, located in Room 150 of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E. in Washington, D.C., to photograph the Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection, on display through May 31, 2012.

Selected scripts from the Performing Arts Playwright Series in the Library of Congress’ AAPI Collection. Photo by Lia Chang

Sponsored by the Library of Congress’ Asian Division, the display of 54 of my “In Rehearsal” photographs, drawn from the AAPI Collection’s Lia Chang Theater Portfolio, along with select working scripts from the Playwrights’ Archives including the plays of Rick Shiomi, Velina Hasu Houston, Christine Toy Johnson, Reme Grefalda, Jeanne Sakata, and Lani Montreal, is being held in conjunction with the Library of Congress celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM).

Members of the Mabuhay Inc. Culture School in the Library of Congress’ Asian Division Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington D.C. on May 5, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

I was delighted to meet up with 10 children, their parents and chaperones from the Mabuhay Inc. Culture School, who had driven in from College Park, Maryland, for their second field trip in the Library of Congress’ Asian Division Reading Room.