Remembering Rebecca’s 23-Year Cancer Experience

Jay Hinman shares his late wife’s cancer journey.

I lost my wife Rebecca to cancer this year, in April 2025. She had lung cancer brought on by a thymoma. Thanks to excellent care and the advances in cancer science and medicine, Rebecca lived 23 years after her diagnosis.

However, her cancer was something of a mystery—rather than spread all over her lungs and body, it grew extremely slowly. It triggered all sorts of autoimmune problems and bronchiectasis, which is what ultimately killed her.

It is very important to me that these types of rare cancers continue to be researched and tackled by the smartest individuals around the world.

Cancer is a highly complex disease, and while I was fortunate to have Rebecca until her late 50s, I wanted to grow into our 90s together. We will not have that chance.

Whether you are a patient, survivor, caregiver, or loved one touched by cancer, your story can have an enormous impact. You can provide hope and inspiration to someone recently diagnosed with cancer or a patient undergoing therapy.