It was January 29th 2008. 5 years ago the surgeon told Tom he had stage 4 lung cancer. 5 years ago Tom asked the surgeon how much time he had. The surgeon said without treatment we won't be having this conversation this time next year. So Tom said I guess we better do the treatment. 5 years ago we went to the oncologist who stepped out of the box. 5 years ago. Where did the time go? There by the grace of God lives Tom. Thomas Murphy is officially a 5 year, Stage IV NSCLC Lung Cancer survivor. He took a licking but he keeps on ticking.