When I was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer at age 50, I received treatment from a local oncologist, close to my home in northern Virginia. But when the cancer came back just a few years later, I went to MD Anderson.

I was not satisfied with the possible outcomes of the treatment plan my original oncologist suggested. If this was my last chance to live, I wanted to go to the best. And that meant MD Anderson, the No. 1...