Tania Rodrigues’ Unexpected Diagnosis

While driving to work one morning in January 2024, Tania Rodrigues experienced an odd visual disturbance.

“It was like looking through a kaleidoscope or maybe a fly’s eye,” recalls the 66-year-old from Marin County, California. “Everything on the road appeared in multiple images.”

Feeling concerned, she headed to the emergency room, where an MRI and CT scan were performed. Doctors quickly determined the cause of her fractured vision.

“He told me, ‘You have Stage 4 lung cancer with two brain metastases,’” she says. “I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but that definitely wasn’t it. I was completely taken aback.”

Sudden Vision Problems

On that day, Rodrigues, at 64, had felt perfectly fine while driving with the windows down and music playing. However, her vision suddenly fragmented, prompting her to pull over for about ten seconds. After calling her brother, she made the decision to visit the emergency room.

“The ER doctor asked a series of questions,” she remembers. At first, “my answers didn’t seem to raise any alarms.”

Yet, when he asked if she felt any numbness, she mentioned a slight tingle along her jawline. This response appeared to worry him, leading to the scans. Rodrigues was surprised when he returned with such a definitive diagnosis.

“He said, ‘I know what’s happening with you.’ I always find it unsettling to hear that from doctors because it implies they have a firm grasp on the situation,” she notes.

She was shocked to learn of her Stage 4 lung cancer, which had spread to her brain, especially since she had shown no previous symptoms and had not smoked for years.

“Generally, I’m in great shape,” she explains. In fact, just the previous year, she’d had a lung x-ray due to a flutter in her heart, which showed nothing concerning in her lungs.

After admitting her to the hospital for further examination, the doctors discovered the cancer had spread from a lung nodule to her liver, spine, two ribs, and her brain, where she had 47 metastases.

“There was a shock involved,” she reflects. “Thanks to my meditation practice, when I heard the full diagnosis, it hit me—it was like, ‘Oh, that’s the impermanence they talk about.’”

Doctors categorized her visual issue as a seizure, though she had no other symptoms and started her on anti-seizure medication. The type of cancer was identified as EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer, more common in non-smokers.

Rodrigues qualified for a targeted therapy, taking a daily pill until it stopped being effective in December 2024.

“It worked for a time, but then it ceased,” she shares. “Still, the silver lining was that it eliminated almost every brain metastasis.”

However, another lung nodule appeared, and the metastasis in her liver returned. Her doctors suggested a new targeted therapy along with chemotherapy, administered every three weeks.

“This has been fantastic,” she states. “The second lung nodule vanished, and the primary one shrank.”

Non-Smoking Lung Cancer on the Rise

With fewer people smoking, the incidence of lung cancer caused by smoking has decreased. Yet, there’s a noticeable rise in cases of non-smoking lung cancers, primarily among young women, according to Dr. Danny Nguyen, a medical oncologist and hematologist at City of Hope in California.

The reasons behind lung cancer in non-smokers remain nebulous, and researchers continue to investigate.

“Pinpointing risk factors is quite challenging,” Nguyen explains. “Some possible contributors include radon exposure and air pollutants.”

Non-smokers with lung cancer often have a mutation in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene, which can drive cancer growth.

Several targeted therapies are effective in managing Stage 4 EGFR lung cancers. A recent clinical trial showed that combining Rybrevant and Lazcluze improved survival rates for patients with metastatic lung cancer, according to Nguyen.

“We have patients from that trial who are still alive today because of it,” he says. “Numerous other clinical trials are available for lung cancer as well.”

Having effective treatments available for those diagnosed later is crucial, as many individuals show no symptoms until the cancer has progressed. The common symptoms, such as coughing, often indicate less serious conditions, and doctors may suspect those first.

“I’ve observed many patients presenting with a cough that lingers,” he notes. “They might try antibiotics, inhalers, and steroids, and it may improve briefly, only to return.”

Currently, lung cancer screening recommendations focus mainly on smokers.

“These patients often don’t appear to have lung cancer,” Nguyen points out.

Many, like Rodrigues, discover their cancer when imaging for other concerns reveals a lung mass. Doctors should be vigilant about lung cancer when patients exhibit symptoms like coughing up blood or chronic cough, as it can affect anyone.

“If you have lungs, you can get lung cancer,” Nguyen emphasizes.

‘My Life is Full’

Thanks to her meditation practice, Rodrigues swiftly came to terms with the reality that cancer treatments will be part of her future. Since starting her new therapy, she has felt better and resumed her favorite activities.

“I trained in martial arts for nearly 20 years,” she shares. “I took a break for a while, but I’ve started training again.”

Cancer has shifted her view on life; she finds herself appreciating the beauty of nature more, noticing that the “greens are more vibrant” and that people are “far more interesting.”

“My life is full,” she expresses. “I’m genuinely thankful to have this opportunity to experience life.”

Rodrigues also feels fortunate that recent research has led to numerous advancements in cancer treatment.

“If someone had received this news a decade ago, it would have been an entirely different scenario,” she reflects. “Today, there’s a lot of hope.”