Roxanne’s Life as a Single Parent with Stage 3 EGFR+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Roxanne was a special needs teacher and an active mother who loved the outdoors when a routine check for an ovarian cyst led to an incidental finding on her lung. Initially, her doctor suggested the spot was scar tissue, but later, a biopsy and surgery revealed stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). She later learned she had an EGFR mutation, making it possible for her to be on targeted therapy.
Interviewed by: Ali Wolf
Edited by: Katrina Villareal
Roxanne navigated a lobectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy largely on her own due to COVID pandemic hospital restrictions. As a single mother, the physical toll of treatment was compounded by the weight of parenting and financial stress. Roxanne has the same EGFR mutation as her grandmother, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in her early 80s.
Today, Roxanne is still on targeted therapy. She is looking to connect with other single parents navigating shared invisible struggles. By sharing her stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer experience, she hopes to empower others to seek support and to advocate for community-based resources that allow parents to focus on healing without the constant fear of financial or emotional isolation.
Watch Roxanne’s video or read the edited transcript of her interview to find out more about her experience:
- The power of incidental findings: Roxanne’s cancer was caught by accident during a scan for a different issue, highlighting the importance of following up on any unusual imaging results.
- The reality of single parenting with cancer: Managing treatment side effects while raising a child requires a unique support system that often doesn’t exist in traditional clinical settings.
- The importance of biomarkers: Understanding an EGFR mutation can change a treatment plan from traditional chemotherapy to targeted therapy pills, offering a different path for long-term management.
- Advocating for clarity: Patients should feel empowered to ask for clear definitions of their staging and treatment side effects rather than relying solely on their own research.
- Universal truth: Strength is not the absence of fear or stress, but the ability to keep showing up for those we love, even when our own bodies are under repair.
- Name: Roxanne C.
- Age at Diagnosis:
- 43
- Diagnosis:
- Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
- Staging:
- Stage 3
- Mutation:
- EGFR
- Symptoms:
- None; incidental finding
- Treatments:
- Surgery: lobectomy
- Chemotherapy: cisplatin
- Radiation therapy
- Targeted therapy: tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)
Thank you to AbbVie for their support of our independent patient education program. The Patient Story retains full editorial control over all content.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length. This is not medical advice. Please consult with your healthcare provider to make informed treatment decisions.
The views and opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect those of The Patient Story.
- Cancer diagnosis and stage
- Who I am beyond cancer
- Why I loved teaching special needs children
- The unexpected discovery of a lung mass
- My grandmother’s late lung cancer diagnosis
- My grandmother’s mutation and difficult treatment choices
- Delaying follow-up after the first CT scan
- Second CT scan and emergency referral to an oncologist
- First oncologist visit and biopsy decision
- Hearing the diagnosis alone as a single mom
- Shock, lack of information, and being the only parent
- Lobectomy during the pandemic and going through surgery alone
- Postoperative complications and sudden restaging to stage 3
- Chemotherapy, radiation, and finding out about my biomarker
- Learning about biomarkers while being overwhelmed by lung cancer treatment
- Only hearing “stage 3 cancer” amid the information overload
- Researching targeted therapy side effects on my own
- The double-edged sword of targeted therapy and finding support online
- How I learned what EGFR meant
- Not feeling heard and worrying about my children’s risk
- Daily life being on targeted therapy as a single mom
- The emotional and financial toll of cancer as a single parent
- Support programs for my child and the need for support for parents
- My message to other single parents facing cancer
- Stress, healing, and my desire to help other single parents
- Finding strength and purpose through cancer
I didn’t have any warning signs.
Roxanne C., Stage 3 EGFR+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient
Cancer diagnosis and stage
I’m Roxanne and I have stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Who I am beyond cancer
I’m a mother, and I’m also into camping, being outside, and being active with my children. I was a special needs teacher before I got diagnosed, and you have to be pretty active to be in that field. That’s who Roxanne is; I’m a person, a mother, a teacher, and I love to be outdoors. Oh, and I love antiques; I’m an antique collector.
Why I loved teaching special needs children
You need to have a lot of patience for it and a lot of understanding, and I love it. I love being in that career. It’s very fulfilling to make a difference in someone’s life who needs it.
The unexpected discovery of a lung mass
I didn’t have any warning signs. I started to have some pain in my abdomen, which felt similar to an ovarian cyst that I had had before. I went to my gynecologist and said, “I’m having pain here. Can we check?” She did a CT scan on the left side of my ovary. After, she called me back and said, “You need to come in. We found the cyst, but we also caught the bottom corner of your right lung. We see something there and we’d like you to come in.”
When I found out, I was sitting with my seven-year-old. She was telling me and I didn’t even have a clue because I didn’t feel bad; I just had pain in my ovary. When she told me they found something and that it could be scar tissue or something like a collapsed lung, I said okay. I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t feel pain, so I didn’t take care of it right away.
The pain didn’t have anything to do with lung cancer. It was on the opposite side. I wasn’t sick.
Three years prior, my grandmother got diagnosed with lung cancer… she was stage 4.
Roxanne C., Stage 3 EGFR+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient
My grandmother’s late lung cancer diagnosis
At that time, I was 43 years old. I didn’t smoke. There was nothing that would make me think what it could be. But three years prior, my grandmother got diagnosed with lung cancer. She never smoked in her life. She found out when she was 84 years old.
She didn’t even get properly diagnosed, either. They were telling her it was anxiety, so they were giving her anxiety pills. My grandma was saying that she was having difficulty breathing, but they never did scans. I don’t know if it was because of her age. She would go down to clean and couldn’t breathe. That’s when we thought that something wasn’t right. We ended up taking her to the emergency room. That’s when we found out that she had it in both of her lungs and, by then, she was stage 4.
My grandmother’s mutation and difficult treatment choices
We found out that Grandma had non-small cell lung cancer with a mutation. She was offered a pill. When she was told the side effects of the pill, she didn’t want to take it. After three months, she decided not to take anything. She lasted about a year. Grandma was 85.
Other than that, there’s no history of cancer in our family until I got my diagnosis. I’m the first grandchild of seven children to get the same cancer that my grandma got with the same mutation.
Delaying follow-up after the first CT scan
I did not take immediate action. I think it took me about a year. I didn’t have any symptoms. I actually Googled scar tissue and thought, “Maybe I got sick and didn’t realize it.” I didn’t do anything and went on with my life.
I didn’t know then what an oncologist was… After I Googled it, I said, ‘Why is she having me see a cancer doctor?’
Roxanne C., Stage 3 EGFR+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient
Second CT scan and emergency referral to an oncologist
I started to feel something a year and a half after and it was my cyst again. I went back but saw a different gynecologist this time. She did a CT scan and found it again. At that appointment, she said, “You need to make an emergency appointment. We’re going to do this as an emergency for you to go to the oncologist.”
I didn’t know then what an oncologist was, so I had to Google because I didn’t know what kind of doctor that was. After I Googled it, I thought, “Why is she having me see a cancer doctor?”
First oncologist visit and biopsy decision
I still hadn’t made any connection to my grandmother’s lung cancer at all. When I went to the oncologist, the gynecologist sent all my CT scans to him, and his words to me were, “It’s so small, I don’t think that it’s cancer.” I said, “Okay, well, that’s good news. What do you think? Should we do a biopsy?” He said, “We can do a biopsy just because you’ve had it for this long.” I said, “Okay, let’s do a biopsy.”
When I went in a week later to have my biopsy done, my lung collapsed during the procedure, so I had to be there for about eight hours afterward. I was still clueless. I was thinking, “Okay, he’s saying no, so it’s probably not.”
There are so many things that you have to think about… There’s not enough information for us out there to help us acknowledge what’s happening with us.
Roxanne C., Stage 3 EGFR+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient
Hearing the diagnosis alone as a single mom
I kept waiting for the MyChart notification. I realized that it had been about a week, and there was nothing yet. Then I got a call, and they said to come in. I’m a single mom, so I went in by myself. He came in, turned around, and said to me, “It’s cancer. It’s stage 1.” And I said, “You said that you thought it wasn’t cancer.” He said, “I’m sorry; it’s stage 1, so we’re going to get you in quickly for surgery.”
I didn’t even have time to set anything; it was so quick. It was four days after he told me. I didn’t have time to think about what would happen after. What happens when you have a lobectomy? I didn’t even know what was done to you. It’s not presented in a way where you know what’s going to happen to your body after or even during. Add to that having a small child at home and you’re your only person.
Shock, lack of information, and being the only parent
There are so many things that you have to think about. “Is this going to save my life? Wait, he’s saying I’m stage 1. What even is stage 1?” There’s not enough information for us out there to help us acknowledge what’s happening with us.
When I got into the car, I had to call family, which is far from me. My mom lives in Texas. They couldn’t believe it; it was shocking.
My family couldn’t come in. I had to sit in my room alone with my thoughts, and I didn’t even know what was going on.
Roxanne C., Stage 3 EGFR+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient
Lobectomy during the pandemic and going through surgery alone
We set up the surgery, and it happened to be right after the pandemic. At that time, nobody could come in with you, so I had to say goodbye to my child in the parking lot. My lobectomy date was May 5, 2022, and I will always remember it because it was also a fiesta day.
I had to go through surgery alone because my family couldn’t come in. I had to sit in my room alone with my thoughts, and I didn’t even know what was going on. I had my lobectomy, where they removed the lower lobe of my right lung. I came out of surgery with an epidural. I didn’t even know they used epidurals until they wheeled me into the room.
Postoperative complications and sudden restaging to stage 3
My lung collapsed again, so they had to put a tube. I was so out of it, and no one could be there. It was mostly on the phone. A week later, the doctor said, “I removed some lymph nodes in your mediastinum. You had some cancer there, too, so you are now stage 3.”
Chemotherapy, radiation, and finding out about my biomarker
They threw chemotherapy and radiation at my plate, but I still didn’t know about my biomarker. I didn’t even have an idea. They didn’t tell me there’s biomarker testing. I wasn’t told much in that aspect.
I went through chemotherapy, which was very hard. I was allergic to cisplatin and one of the other drugs started to make me lose my hearing, so they had to cut it down; I didn’t have as much chemo at the end.
That’s when they told me about my biomarker. I was told, “After radiation, you’re going on this targeted immunotherapy for three years.”
When you’re going through chemotherapy and radiation, it’s so hard to think about the next step… For people who don’t have that support, it’s hard to keep track.
Roxanne C., Stage 3 EGFR+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient
Learning about biomarkers while being overwhelmed by lung cancer treatment
He let me know that they were going to look for a biomarker, but I didn’t know what that meant. He said to me that if I had a certain marker, I would be able to take a pill that would help it not to come back, and that I would be fine. I remembered my grandma having the same issue with her biomarker and taking a pill.
When you’re going through chemotherapy and radiation, it’s so hard to think about the next step. There should be a person, like an advocate, someone who will be with you along the way because you get so scrambled up. There’s so much you have to handle. A lot of people have support systems, but some don’t. For people who don’t have that support, it’s hard to keep track. “What is this? What does this mean? What’s going to happen to me?”
Only hearing “stage 3 cancer” amid the information overload
If the doctor did tell me more, I don’t remember because I was taking in so much information. All I heard was that I have stage 3 cancer.
Researching targeted therapy side effects on my own
The way I see it is that I have done all the treatment. When I was offered the targeted therapy, I wasn’t told how it was going to affect me. I had to do a lot of research because I don’t feel like they gave us enough information about something that’s going to affect us. The targeted therapy affected me a lot.
Everything has taken a toll on my body. I’m a single mother and I don’t have a lot of support, which has been a big issue.
Roxanne C., Stage 3 EGFR+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient
The double-edged sword of targeted therapy and finding support online
I feel like there should be more information. We’re sick, so we shouldn’t have to be searching. Some of us have support groups and some don’t. I found a lot of comfort in some Facebook groups, which made a world of difference, and a lot of them are on the same targeted therapy as me.
How I learned what EGFR meant
Other patients gave me more information than my own doctor. My oncologist said, “Your biomarker came back as EGFR, which means you get to use a targeted therapy pill,” and that was it. When you have these choices to keep you alive without any information, you do what you have to do.
Not feeling heard and worrying about my children’s risk
I felt that I had no voice. I wasn’t heard. If I asked questions, I wasn’t getting full answers. I even asked how it could be connected to my grandmother, because my grandmother had one of the doctors in the same office. I thought, “Could we see how my grandma’s lung cancer is related to mine? We’re in the same bloodline with the same cancer and the same mutation. How is that connected?” It didn’t get talked about and was brushed off. I have children, so I want to know how far this goes down, if it does. If it is a mutation, how do we find this out for my children to know what’s going on in their bodies?
Daily life being on targeted therapy as a single mom
It has been a struggle since the surgery. Everything has taken a toll on my body. I’m a single mother and I don’t have a lot of support, which has been a big issue. I feel that I’m not the only parent out there with children who need some kind of buddy system when you’re going through cancer. It could be any cancer, but it makes it a lot harder because you’re trying to live your life and raise a child at the same time.
If there were support for us single parents, it would be a lot easier to go through it, and the kids who are affected would have a better outcome.
Roxanne C., Stage 3 EGFR+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient
The emotional and financial toll of cancer as a single parent
If a child has a sick parent, it’s hard for the child and the parent. Financially, I can’t work because I get sick so often. I try to be the best I can for my child. When I’m better, we go camping and go out for walks to get some normalcy back. But it’s still there. It’s an everyday process.
Once you’re told you have a stage of lung cancer, it doesn’t go away. It’s with you, whether you’re doing great or not. If there were support for us single parents, it would be a lot easier to go through it, and the kids who are affected would have a better outcome.
Support programs for my child and the need for support for parents
There are programs that I put my son in that have helped. They center on children with parents with cancer, which is amazing. But as parents, we need to be able to go cry somewhere. We need help to figure out how we’re going to pay rent.
My message to other single parents facing cancer
When I meet other parents who are going through what I’m going through and don’t have help, I feel how much of a struggle it is. We want the best for our kids and when we’re sick, we can’t give them our best. I want to find something or do something like that for my community. I’m not the only one going through cancer alone with their children. I feel like we need to have more support groups, even if they’re online. Maybe hold fundraisers for single parents who have a bill they need to pay and need a little help. Anything like that makes it easier to heal.
I’m not the only one going through cancer alone with their children. I feel like we need to have more support groups.
Roxanne C., Stage 3 EGFR+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient
Stress, healing, and my desire to help other single parents
We can’t heal when we’re stressed. We want to, but we can’t. Our body isn’t allowing us, but our mind wants to. Our body’s trying to repair, so the less stress it’s under, the better.
I’d like to do something for single parents who are going through cancer alone. It’s something I feel passionate about. Having this diagnosis has empowered me. I’m a very strong woman now. I’ve gone through a lot. My kids see it.
Finding strength and purpose through cancer
I want to make a difference. That’s why we’re here, right? We’re here to make a difference, but we happened to get sick along the way. We just have to make the best of it.
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Thank you to AbbVie for their support of our independent patient education program. The Patient Story retains full editorial control over all content.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length. This is not medical advice. Please consult with your healthcare provider to make informed treatment decisions.
The views and opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect those of The Patient Story.
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