From Patient to Caregiver: A Couple’s Cancer Journey

A routine mammogram in 2012 saved Dena Malmos’ life, even though at the time she almost didn’t go. Without insurance,she considered skipping the screening,until an old high school friend who had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer urged her to get screened.

“I’d been checked before, and there wasn’t really any cancer in my family that I knew of at the time, so I didn’t think I had anything to worry about,” Dena said. “But my friend insisted that we all get mammograms and even joked that we couldn’t come to our high school reunion unless we did. so,I pulled from my fun money and went.”

That mammogram revealed a cancerous tumor.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” said Dena, who was 48 at the time. “I kept thinking, ‘They must have the wrong data, a smudge on the camera.’ I couldn’t believe it was happening.”

She quickly started treatment, which included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, followed by seven years of endocrine therapy.

Moving from patient to caregiver

In 2021, nearly a decade after her initial diagnosis, Dena, a professional video editor, found herself in a very different role. She was now accompanying her husband, Richard, to his oncology appointments at UCLA Health Cancer Care in Pasadena with oncologist Dorcas Chi, MD, after he was diagnosed with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.

After smoking for 45 years, he had finally quit and was feeling better than ever. Due to his smoking history, however, his doctor urged him to get screened for lung cancer, which is performed with a low-dose CT scan. After a bit of nudging, Richard went for a screening, which revealed a small tumor in his right lung.

“My mother, aunt and cousin died from lung cancer so as soon as I found out I had it too, I thought, ‘oh Lord, this is going to take me,'” Richard said.

Richard underwent surgery with thoracic surgeon Jay Lee,MD,the surgical director of the UCLA Thoracic Oncology Program and investigator at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center,who performed minimally invasive surgery to remove the tumor.

Just a week later, Richard was back to work doing voiceovers for commercials.

An unexpected diagnosis and the start of a new clinical trial

At this time, Dena and Richard thought they were putting cancer behind them. But just a few months later,Dena began experiencing persistent back pain,the kind that lingered no matter how much she stretched or rested.