Community Spotlight: Rhonda (Part 1)

Since her diagnosis in 2019, Rhonda has been on different treatments like chemotherapy and immunotherapy to treat her late-stage lung cancer. This is Rhonda's story about resilience and learning to live with lung cancer.

A shocking diagnosis experience

I received my diagnosis in January 2019. I had a CT scan the day before, the same day I was told I had multiple “lesions” in my liver. I was pretty sure I knew at that point, but I received a phone call from my primary care doctor who told me it was cancer. I was then scheduled for a biopsy and they did the biopsy on one of the tumors in my liver as it was easier to do, and easier on me. Two days later, I found out that it was stage 4 non-small cell squamous lung cancer that was metastasized into my liver.

A week later, I met with my first oncologist. The oncologist in my town had just retired, so my doctor was from another town who came to my cancer clinic every week. He was exactly what I needed. He went over everything, drew pictures of where my tumors were, answered all my questions and he was so optimistic! Of course, one of my first questions was, “How much time do I have?”. His answer was that he didn’t talk about that, he wanted to talk about how WE were going to fight. He told me that his goal was to shrink my tumors to the point they were very small and possible radiation at that point. He told me that I was not a candidate for surgery and that my treatment would be chemo along with Keytruda. He was still waiting on my biomarker testing but said he was going to go ahead and start with Keytruda and it could be changed if my testing was different than what he was thinking. I left there feeling more hope than I had in the previous 2 weeks!

From chemotherapy to immunotherapy

I began chemotherapy along with Keytruda in February 2019. I had 6 rounds of chemo (Carboplatin/Taxol) with Keytruda. I had these treatments every 3 weeks (6 hours a treatment). Yes, I lost my hair but it was ok. I called it my “warrior look”. Started wearing turbans, but they caused heat bumps that really bothered me, so I decided that I was just going to be me. Bald and all!

I had a CT scan at the beginning of April 2019 and it showed great progress! One of the tumors on my hilar region was gone and the other one had shrunk more than 50%. The tumor in my right lung had decreased by 50% and the number of tumors in my liver was “greatly reduced” and the two large ones were almost 50% smaller! After my chemo ended in June 2019, I had a PET scan in July 2019. I received a call the next day from the PA that I have such a great relationship with. She was almost crying...she told me she couldn’t go over the entire test, but for me to listen to the last line of the findings. Complete response to therapy. No signs of cancer, no active tumors!

I remained on Keytruda with treatment every 3 weeks, until about 4 months ago. At that time the FDA approved dosage of Keytruda at 400mg every 6 weeks, rather than the 200mg every 3 weeks that I had been receiving for over a year. Since I had done so well, they wanted me to try it. I did have a pretty bad rash at first after I came off chemo, but I have had no issues with the new double dose and I only have to go to infusion every 6 weeks.

Just found out that the oncologist (we have a new doctor in town and a brand new cancer clinic) wants me to have scans every 6 months vs every 3 months. And I will be staying on Keytruda until the one small tumor in my lung that is not active and shrinking every scan is either gone or is stable (not getter smaller or bigger) to make sure it doesn’t “wake up”.

Lessons from lung cancer

I think the most important thing I’ve learned is that you are a lot stronger than you think you are. I thought I would be dead within a few months when I was first diagnosed. I didn’t know about all the great new treatments and how chemo is much better now.

I learned that YOU are your best advocate. I set out to learn all I could about my disease and I will admit that I had some heated discussions about my treatment. My first oncologist made the mistake of saying that he might just stop the chemo because my platelets were getting dangerously low. Nope, I would take a small break, but I was going to get every treatment that was originally planned because I wanted the cancer GONE. And yes, I got my way!

What everyone should know about lung cancer

The words “lung cancer” used to be, and not so long ago, a sure death sentence. That’s not true anymore. More and more people are surviving longer than ever before. Research is making great strides, and I hope that the future holds a real CURE for this disease.

I did smoke for many years but quit a year before my diagnosis. However, many people get lung cancer that never smoked, so the stigma needs to end.

Read the continuation of Rhonda's story in Community Spotlight: Rhonda (Part 2).