Every year, the Cancer Community Award, sponsored by AstraZeneca, presents an individual or organization with the Catalyst for Change Award.

This award celebrates those who significantly improve access to cancer care for underserved populations.

In 2021, Tomahar Graves received the award for her work as a volunteer for the Lung Cancer Initiative of North Carolina.

She developed their Access to Care Gas Card Program, which helps patients travel to their treatment.

As we prepared for this year's awards, we reconnected with Tomah to learn more about what's happened since she received the award.

Well, Tomahar Graves, it's such a pleasure to get a chance to talk with you and catch up on everything you've been doing over the past year.

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

So, for people who don't know your story, do you mind briefly talking about your personal cancer journey?

Sure, it's a 15-year cancer journey.

And I was diagnosed in 2006 with the Stage 3B Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

I participated in a very aggressive clinical trial for nine months.

And it was initially successful.

I did go out of remission three years later, had a little more treatment, had a craniotomy along the way.

And 15 years later, I now am so educated about lung cancer.

I know that I have a mutation that I didn't know when I was diagnosed.

And I believe that I'm still here.

I'm supposed to share my journey so other people can have the same experience I've had.

They said your survival rate at one point was maybe 15%.

Correct. I think we're up to 21 now.

Unlike a lot of people who say they don't want cancer to define them.

You said that cancer does define you. What do you mean by that?

When I looked at the statistics and when I learned about lung cancer,

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