How a – Lee Rhodes was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer after a rushed MRI visit in the early 1990s—then built Glassybaby into a business that now supports cancer patients through ongoing donations, with three adult children helping run the company.
On a Friday afternoon, Lee Rhodes walked into an MRI with all three of her kids in tow, thinking her body was just cramping after nursing. The technician told her she’d be inside the machine for 70 minutes.
Then the woman brought her out after only three.
Rhodes remembers seeing tears streaming down the technician’s face. “There must be a bigger emergency than me,” she thought—until she learned she was the emergency. A large tumor was found in her right lung.
By Monday, she had surgery to remove part of her lung.
What followed was a six-year battle with stage 4 lung cancer that Rhodes describes in the plain language of schedules. treatments. and exhaustion: chemo. radiation. and lots of experimental treatments. She says the regimen eventually worked. “I’m one of the lucky ones: I’ve been cancer-free since 2001.”.
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