Stories of Hope: Reba Kennedy, Lung Cancer Patient

Reba Kennedy made it her mission to leave no stone unturned when it came to her cancer treatment. Now, she hopes MD Anderson's Lung Cancer Moon Shot will encourage others to follow her lead.

Doctors in Reba's hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., surgically removed lung tumors in 1997 and 1999 and a breast tumor in 2002. It wasn't until two years later, however, that Reba felt an excruciating pain worse than ever before. Her lung cancer had returned, this time stage 4, in a large mass wrapped around her ribs. Reba's doctors deemed the tumor inoperable and recommended she seek a second opinion at MD Anderson.

"I knew I needed something major. I was facing death," she recalls. "But from the time I came through the door, everybody was fighting for me. They were going to do everything possible to make me well. And I knew no matter what, I was going to the best place in the world."

Anne Tsao, M.D., associate professor of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, and David Rice, M.D., professor of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, determined that the tumor could be removed if they replaced part of Reba's rib cage with an artificial one.

"Getting this opportunity to have the surgery and fight for my life felt like the biggest present in the world," she says.

The past eight years have been eventful for Reba. Both her sons have married and had two children of their own. Reba enjoys a healthy, active lifestyle. She water skis, plays golf and tubes down snowy mountains with her grandchildren. Her most recent adventure entailed zip-lining in Costa Rica.

"I've gotten so much out of life in these past eight years. Every day is the best day ever," she says. "There's such a rich segment of my life that I wouldn't have had if I hadn't gone to MD Anderson, so I couldn't be more grateful."

Reba says the Lung Cancer Moon Shot is a wonderful blessing because it will promote new therapies, give hope and encourage patients around the world to get up and fight their diseases.

"Looking back at how sick I was and how hopeless I felt, it's as if I've been granted a whole new life, and I would love for other people to have that too," she says. "I tell people, 'Don't give up! Don't give in! You need to go to the best doctors in the world, see what they've got to say, then give it everything you've got.'"