Team Riga

Team Riga Fighting lung cancer one day at a time Matt was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in February of 2016 as a 34 year old non-smoker.

Matt is a rock star of a fighter and will not stop! If you have lungs, you can get lung cancer. 1 in 15 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetimes. More people die of this disease each year over colon, breast and prostate cancer combined, yet it is seriously underfunded because of the stigma. Thankfully there are so many breakthroughs and so much hope on the horizon, but these

ideas need to be funded! Because there is no cure, Matt’s life is depending on lung cancer research and the positive support of those around him. We created this page to raise awareness and to share Matt's story. We are so grateful for the support we have around us and are so proud to be lung cancer advocates to help find a cure to this disease! https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/matthewriga

Happy birthday Matt Riga! 🥳
10/28/2020

Happy birthday Matt Riga! 🥳

10/28/2020

Spending your birthday in the ICU is no fun at all, but this was the BEST surprise that made Matt Riga’s day!!!! Thank you everyone for making his birthday so special!!!! 💙💙💙💙💙

Matt Riga Update:Matt made an amazing recovery and made it back home out of the hospital Oct. 12th. He was so incredibly...
10/26/2020

Matt Riga Update:

Matt made an amazing recovery and made it back home out of the hospital Oct. 12th. He was so incredibly happy to be home and did 2 rounds of chemo. Unfortunately as of Sunday morning he is back in the ICU having difficulty breathing again. Doctors are unsure if it’s pneumonitis again or cancer progression causing the difficulty breathing. He is receiving same treatments as before. He is such a warrior I’m in complete AWE of his BRAVERY I’m so proud of how strong he is!! Please say a prayer for him that he will recover quickly again and be home very soon!!! These Covid hospital rules make it hard not having kids here but I know he will power through and see them soon!! Thank you for all of the continued prayers we are so lucky to have so many people surrounding us with love 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻 💙💙💙💙💙

10/11/2020

Matt Riga update:

First of all I want to say thank everyone for all of the love, prayers, support, calls, messages, videos, meals etc. this entire week 😭 We truly couldn’t survive times like these without the incredible support system we have!

Matt has made a lot of progress since Monday 🙏🏻 His doctors thinks his difficulty breathing was caused by pneumonitis (from drug), cancer progression, or most likely a combo of both. The antibiotics and steroids have been working wonders. As of yesterday he was moved off of the high flow oxygen onto a regular nasal cannula which was a BIG step and he’s doing great. They are also in the process of moving him off the ICU floor today onto the progressive floor. This would be a step down from the ICU, which is also great news! He misses our kids (who can’t visit 😢), friends, and family and is just desperate to get home ASAP. We are praying it’s not too much longer.

Matt Riga was one of the very few ICU patients that the staff has ever seen take phone calls all week with his laptop out attempting to work. Which goes to show how tough he really is 💪🏻 We’ve been so grateful to have such great nurses and health heroes taking care of him all week. It’s heartbreaking to hear the stories that they have gone through this year and it really makes you so grateful for all of them. I think every single nurse got a laugh out of Matt’s sense of humor and jokes so really it has been mutually beneficial 😊

Thank you again for the love and continued prayers!! Fingers crossed he will be home soon 🤞🏻

08/08/2020

Update: Matt had a lung biopsy Thursday in order to start the clinical trial at Mass General. As a result of the biopsy he has a small pneumothorax (collapsed lung) so we unfortunately couldn’t fly out to CA yesterday 😢 Praying it heals itself soon so he can fly 🙏🏻 His doctors are now more concerned about getting him out to Boston to start the trial.

Matt update: We recently found out the chemo Matt has been doing hasn’t been as successful as they wanted it to be. For ...
08/04/2020

Matt update: We recently found out the chemo Matt has been doing hasn’t been as successful as they wanted it to be. For the past two weeks we’ve gotten a few different opinions from ALK specialists on what to do next. Thankfully some clinical trials are now open so that is the route Matt is going. Mass General is being flexible and letting him do most of the pre-trial scans and tests here in Michigan 🙏🏻

Today Matt will start with a brain MRI and then some more poking and scanning followed by a lung biopsy. I’m so proud of him for being so brave and starting the day with a smile on his face! With all of the uncertainties ahead with school and medical decisions we decided to stick with our plans to go to Laguna Beach at the end of the week to visit Grandma Gail. Life is short and way too precious to give up some time as a family on the beach ☀️🏄‍♂️🏖

Right when we get back we will go to Boston to start the trial 🤞🏻 We are so grateful for Matt’s amazing medical team and are praying this trial will be successful! Thank you everyone for the continued prayers love you all ❤️

Dropping Daddy off for 3rd round of chemo this morning 💪🏻💙 Nobody is allowed inside still because of stupid COVID 😢 We l...
06/24/2020

Dropping Daddy off for 3rd round of chemo this morning 💪🏻💙 Nobody is allowed inside still because of stupid COVID 😢 We love you Matt Riga!!!

Breathe Deep Michigan LUNGevity Foundation 💙💙💙💙
05/30/2020

Breathe Deep Michigan LUNGevity Foundation 💙💙💙💙

Breathe Deep Michigan looks a little different this year but Team Riga is still so grateful for all of your support!!!! ...
05/30/2020

Breathe Deep Michigan looks a little different this year but Team Riga is still so grateful for all of your support!!!! LUNGevity Foundation
Matt Riga 💙💙💙💙

Team Riga is so sad we can't get together this year for Breathe Deep Michigan...an event that is so near and dear to our...
05/29/2020

Team Riga is so sad we can't get together this year for Breathe Deep Michigan...an event that is so near and dear to our hearts! But lung cancer does not stop for a pandemic and there is still a huge need for lung cancer research, which is why we are participating for the FIFTH year in a row.

Please join us tomorrow morning (May 30th) for Breathe Deep TOGETHER. Our virtual Walk/Run aims to bring the Breathe Deep community together for a morning of celebration, hope, and remembrance for all those affected by lung cancer. Be sure to ask your friends, family, and colleagues - from across the country - to join us free for our virtual event on Facebook LIVE.

10:00 am EDT: Program begins with inspiring speakers, awards, a yoga warmup, and more!
10:40 am EDT: Virtual Walk begins

https://lungevity.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.team&teamID=9032

Round 2 of chemo complete for Matt Riga! He’s already making sure he can still swing the golf club! 🏌🏻‍♂️⛳️Praying side ...
05/27/2020

Round 2 of chemo complete for Matt Riga! He’s already making sure he can still swing the golf club! 🏌🏻‍♂️⛳️

Praying side effects aren’t as bad this time around! Thank you everyone for the continued prayers! 💙

Address

3601 W 13 Mile Rd
Royal Oak, MI
48073

Telephone

248-925-2588

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