AUGUSTA -- A decade ago, Debbie Violette, of Augusta, was diagnosed with lung cancer and told she had a 10 percent chance of surviving the next two years.

She researched the disease and treatments available -- and managed to beat the odds.

Today, she uses her vacation time from her job with the state Bureau of Insurance to attend conferences on cancer, advocate for increased awareness and funding for lung- cancer research and aid people diagnosed with lung cancer.

"You pretty much have to be a partner in your own health treatment," Violette said. "I had to dig and find information. And I thought, if I'm doing that, there must be other Maine citizens doing the same thing. So I started advocating for raising awareness and helping other people through the health care and insurance arena."

Violette, 54, recently returned from a LiveSTRONG Summit in Ohio sponsored by Lance Armstrong. There, she received a Unity Award, which was presented in the form of a gas card to help her get to the Legislature to lobby for health care awareness and for more cancer research funding, she said.

She's also been to a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists in Chicago and attended a National Lung Cancer Partnership summit.

"Lung cancer is the No. 1 cause of death from cancer in the United States, the least talked about and the least funded," she said. "Our five-year survival rate has not changed in over 40 years. I have made it my personal mission to change health policy and raise awareness of this disease."

Violette is state chairman of the Lung Cancer Alliance, a Washington, D.C.,-based group.

Laurie Fenton Ambrose, president and CEO of the Alliance, praised Violette's work.

"Deb is a passionate and energetic advocate for increased public funding for lung cancer research," Fenton Ambrose said. "Through her dedication and commitment to raising awareness, she has provided hope to a community so long ignored."

A fact sheet from the Alliance says lung cancer kills an average of 439 people a day in the United States.

Violette also serves as an advocate for the Dana Farber Lung SPORE (Special Program of Research Excellence) program and a patient advocate for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Oncology Board.

"Deb Violette has been a tireless advocate for increasing awareness of lung cancer, and increasing research funding for the disease," said Regina Vidaver, executive director of the National Lung Cancer Partnership. "Deb is a 10-year survivor of lung cancer, which, by most people's accounts, is a miracle in and of itself."

Violette also helped set up the Lung Cancer Memorial Garden at Augusta's City Center, which has 250 white tulips dedicated to those who died from the disease and those living with it.

Currently she is helping with the national alliance's "Stand up to Cancer" fundraiser Sept. 5. ABC, CBS and NBC are donating one hour of simultaneous commercial-free prime time for the fundraiser, which begins at 8 p.m. More information is available at www.standup2cancer.org

"I just don't want people in Maine to feel alone with this disease," Violette said. "There's such a stigma attached to it. The first thing that people ask me is 'How long did I smoke?'"

Violette tells them she quit smoking three years before her diagnosis.

But she also says, "Simply not smoking is not going to make the diseases go away; 60 percent of all new diagnoses are people who quit decades ago or never smoked at all."

She also was instrumental in having the Legislature declare Nov. 1 Lung Cancer Awareness Day and the first week in November, cancer awareness week.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com