Dave MacKenzie and his daughter Maggie Mead know the cost of cancer after losing their wife and mother, Paula, at the age of 62 in 2025.
Paula was diagnosed at age 58 with Stage IV Atypical Metastatic Carcinoid Neuroendocrine/ALK Positive (a genetic defect) lung cancer—an extremely rare form of cancer.
This kind of lung cancer can strike indiscriminately at any age with no known cause, Dave said, adding that Paula had never been a smoker.
After her diagnosis, Paula received treatment from the Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit, the University of Michigan Lung Cancer Clinic, and Corewell Health of West Michigan, where she was also employed.
“Paula was loved by so many people,” Dave said. “She had a highly successful career and was so well respected by her peers.”
Paula and Dave were married for nearly 40 years and have a son Ian in addition to their daughter Maggie.
“She was such an incredible mom and wife,” Dave added.
While Dave was Paula’s primary caregiver, Maggie said she helped as much as she could after moving back to Grand Rapids from Chicago last year.
“Obviously, this diagnosis was devastating. Especially knowing that her time was limited,” Dave said. “But this didn’t stop us from fighting and trying to make the best of the time we had left. When she was well enough, we took the family to Italy to celebrate Paula’s Italian heritage.”
Dave described Paula’s four years of treatment as a roller coaster, with Paula participating in multiple FDA-approved cancer treatments and five clinical drug trials.
“The initial shock, then treatment plans, to hopeful test results, to learning the disease had progressed, then onto the next treatment plan.” he said. “She was so brave.”
Because of the treatments her mother went through, Maggie said she feels the research supported by the American Cancer Society and other cancer research groups is so critical to finding new treatments.
“ALK-positive lung cancer is a rare type of cancer, most common in non-smokers,” she said. “There continues to be a lot of research around genetic mutations, like ALK-positive specifically, which is so important. And hopefully increase life expectancy.”
Maggie works in PR and enjoys spending time with her husband Cohen and her yellow lab Winnie. Dave enjoys mountain biking, fishing, photography, and spending time with loved ones at their cottage in Northern Michigan.
