Rhonda Meckstroth

Rhonda Meckstroth is a tireless advocate for lung cancer awareness and a dedicated caregiver to her husband, Jeff. Jeff, a farmer, was diagnosed with stage IV ALK-positive lung cancer during the harvest of 2015. The disease was discovered during a routine annual physical with his primary care physician after mentioning a lingering non-productive cough.

Jeff and Rhonda live in rural Ohio; Jeff is a retired assistant chief of the Piqua Fire Department in addition to being a farmer, and Rhonda is a long-time project specialist with the City of Piqua. They have no history of tobacco use and were not educated about the risk factors for lung cancer.

The failures in public health education are the leading reason why Rhonda advocates for lung cancer. She feels that information about lung cancer, including detection, biomarker testing, targeted therapies, and radiation treatments, should be common knowledge among medical professionals and easily accessible to the general public. The expectation of the patient/caregiver to have to carry the burden of appropriate care is unacceptable.

Rhonda is on the Board of Directors of The White Ribbon Project and has been the administrator of the ALK-Positive Patient Support Group since 2017. She won 2nd place in the Team Draft Lung Cancer Survivor Super Bowl Challenge 2019 and has been on Pfizer’s Patient Advisory Council since 2019.

Rhonda regularly speaks at conferences and to pharmaceutical companies and other advocacy organizations on behalf of lung cancer patients, caregivers, and the general lung cancer community.