THE INVISIBLE KILLER
Great Falls Tribune Amanda Garrett Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK – OHIO AKRON, OH – 21 Dec 2025
Lung cancer?“ But I never smoked,” Melissa Derrig said after doctors finally figured out what was causing her headaches, vertigo and the strange noise she heard deep inside her throat last year. Melissa, a retired small‐business owner, had always been so careful with her health. She’ s tracked everything she ate and drank since she was diagnosed with diabetes at age 10. After she turned 50, she never missed annual mammograms, skin cancer screenings or colonoscopies. Yet lung cancer was growing inside her chest and it had already spread to her brain, where tests revealed dozens of tiny tumors. The cancer diagnosis was, in a way, a relief because after four months of doctor visits, she finally knew what was causing her symptoms and could move forward, she said.
“ But what caused it?” she wondered.“ Did I drink out of plastic water bottles too much?... Was it because I rode in a car with my grandma while she smoked?”