Weight Loss, Swollen Face Led to Stage 2 Lung Cancer Diagnosis

Donna Rigby, a grandmother living in Asbury Park, New Jersey and a former licensed practical nurse (LPN), experienced a series of health troubles in 2023 and 2024, including a car accident, back pain, weight loss, a rash and high blood pressure, all before she was awoken in the middle of the night one evening, with her face swollen.

After visiting the emergency department at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, tests showed a tumor on her lung — stage 2 lung cancer.

Rigby, 65, had previously had colon cancer, and both of her parents had had cancer as well. She underwent chemotherapy and immunotherapy, as well as a robotic-assisted right upper lobectomy, to shrink and remove the tumor, followed by additional immunotherapy treatments.

She sat down for a conversation with CURE alongside two members of her care team, Dr. Thomas L. Bauer, chair of surgery and chief of thoracic surgery, and Dr. Michel J. Levitt, program director of the hematology and medical oncology fellowship program at the hospital.

In the first part of our interview, Rigby discussed the path to receiving her initial diagnosis.

Can you tell me a bit about the path to your diagnosis with lung cancer? What symptoms were you experiencing and what was that experience like for you?

Well, I was little shocked. I'd been losing weight. I didn't know why, so I went through a series of trying to figure out things on my own, what was going on. So, it was a little scary, because I'm already a thin person, and to lose any little bit of weight was traumatic to me.

It ended up that I needed to have epidural injections in my back because I had been in a car accident the year before, and they had told me I had to take my blood pressure medication on a regular basis. And I said, “OK, no problem.” So I did. I was very compliant, and took my blood pressure medication for a week. At the end of that week, I woke up at like, 2:30 in the morning, and I felt my face was swollen, so I went into the bathroom and I looked, and it was like the size of a football field. And I said, oh my goodness, I'm having an allergic reaction. And the only new medication I really had taken was Tylenol, because I couldn't take the ibuprofen. So I'm thinking, “I'm having an allergic reaction to Tylenol.” My granddaughter was home from the University of Bridgeport at the time, and she was staying at my house. I woke her up and said, “Hey, we have to go to emergency room. I think I'm having an allergic reaction.”

What happened next?

Thank goodness for the emergency room doctor that was on call that morning, because he came in and saw me, and I told him what I thought. I brought all my medications with me. And he looked at me and he started smiling. He's like, “Well, Miss Rigby, you're not allergic to the Tylenol.” He says, “I believe it's the blood pressure medication.” So he kept on doing this assessment. I had been having some shortness of breath, but I do have asthma, and I explained that to him I couldn't find my inhalers, but I have been experienced shortness of breath, so he took it upon himself to do a chest X-ray, and that's where we found the little culprit of what had been going on with me. After that, they decided to keep me in the hospital so they could get a biopsy done as soon as possible.

What was your cancer history like?

Back in 2004 I had colon cancer, and it had been misdiagnosed for a couple of years, so I guess they didn't want to take any chances with me having a lung tumor, so they kept me in the hospital. And after that is when I got to meet the wonderful Dr. Levitt. He happened taking care of the lady next to me in my room, and I knew I was going to need an oncologist. The second day he came in, I said, “You know what? I really like you, and I'm not a really good doctor person. But I'm going to need an oncologist. Do you have openings?” And he just laughed at me and said, “I was coming to see you next Miss Rigby,” and that's how the ball got rolling. Dr. Levitt said, “I'm going to talk to my good friend and my good colleague, and he's at the top of the game,” and that's all he said, he was just at the top of his game, and they were going to the tumor board, and they were going to come up with a plan, and that was it.

I was in chemo within 30 days or less, and here I am. I got to ring my bell the end of October, and I have these two guys to thank, them and their team.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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