Debi Weiss went to the doctor's office with what she thought were worsening flu symptoms, but got a very different diagnosis
Credit: Atlantic Health
NEED TO KNOW
- A woman was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after initially thinking she had the flu
- After chemotherapy, Debi Weiss’ cancer returned, so she underwent CAR-T immunotherapy and is now in complete remission
- Weiss, 72, said her cancer journey encouraged her to focus more on family over work
A pilates instructor thought she had a standard case of the flu, but it turned out to be much more serious.
Debi Weiss couldn't breathe or walk her dog, and the condition just seemed to be getting worse. She went to her doctor, where blood tests and a biopsy revealed that she had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The Mayo Clinic describes it as a "fast-growing cancer" of the lymphatic system.
"It was a bit of a shock," Weiss, 72, told CBS News of receiving the diagnosis. "It was very much an out-of-body experience."
Credit: Atlantic Health
Wiss started chemotherapy soon after. A month after she finished the treatment, doctors found the lymphoma had "recurred" and was in her brain this time. Dr. Charles Farber, a hematologist-oncologist at Atlantic Health Morristown Medical Center, told the outlet her prognosis looked "dismal."
"I'm a bit naive," Weiss added. "When I'm told something's going to work, I believe it."
In January 2025, Weiss underwent CAR-T, a form of immunotherapy where the patient's T-cells are removed, "genetically engineered to recognize and attack certain cancer cells," and then put back in the body "like a blood transfusion," Dr. Mohamad Cherry, the medical director of hematology at Atlantic Health, explained.
"One of the nurses on the floor drew pictures of Pac-Man on the white board across from my bed, because that's what I felt like my cells were going to do," Weiss said of her experience during the procedure.
"They were going to come into my body and Pac-Man themselves all the way around, and eat up all my cancer cells, and I'd be fine," she added.
Weiss had no side effects after the CAR-T and was eventually able to return to her day-to-day life, including being able to walk her dog again. "I was very lucky, in a lot of ways," she told CBS News.
The pilates instructor is now in "complete remission," but will still undergo scans every four to six months to make sure the cancer does not return, Farber said.
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Credit: Atlantic Health
"Life is better than it was before in a lot of ways," Weiss said. "Your priorities change. Before, I would work and I would not do things because I needed to work, I was scheduled, I needed to do [something else]."
"Now, if my family needs me, I don't work," she continued. "I will be where my family is at any given moment. I don't have time to spend with people that I really don't want to spend time with. I'm honest enough with myself to say 'no.' It's been good. It's been a great year."
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