As a multi-sport athlete growing up, Allison Rebello loved being part of a team. Today, living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), she credits three teams for helping her stay active and optimistic in the face of an incurable but treatable disease. Rebello’s care team at Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at Dana-Farber/Brigham and … Continued
Sitting on his living room couch one day in 2016, Scott Turley had to fight back tears as he read a book to his young children. A rare cancer diagnosis that led to a 16 hour surgery to remove a tumor in his trachea had resulted in the loss of his larynx and vocal cords the … Continued
It’s impossible for Jenn Thompson to forget the low moments of her experience with cancer — her diagnosis, her hair falling out, and the sense that she lost a piece of herself. But now, more than five years after completing treatment, Thompson can say that these aren’t the memories that have defined her. “It wasn’t … Continued
Two things most surprised Jackie Page about her stage III ovarian cancer diagnosis in early 2019. She had no family history of the disease, and she had just turned 52 — a younger age than many women who learn they have it. What most worried her was whether she would have good options for treatment: … Continued
OK Eason doesn’t mind jokes about his unique first name, especially lately. Healthy and thriving more than 30 months after a massive tumor was found in his brain, Eason takes pleasure in telling people that he is more than just “O.K.” Eason, 69, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma in February 2018. He had surgery immediately, … Continued
Excited to be the first patient in a novel clinical trial, Jon Woods is hoping that an infusion of immune natural killer cells donated by his son will beat back the metastatic cancer he has battled for four years. “I’m upbeat [and] I’m happy to be a pioneer,” says Woods, 65, a retired postal worker … Continued
Carol Brown, 80, has been through quite a turbulent 2020. Her much-beloved pastimes, including playing violin in a senior orchestra, book groups, and weekly church services, are now virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Boston-area resident had to cancel a March trip to visit family out west, and she spent the summer packing up … Continued
Tim O’Neill likes to keep moving — whether on his boat, his motorcycle, in his running shoes, or while steering an RV across 47 states. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has failed to stop him from these pursuits, and he’s determined not to let a pandemic do so either. “I’m more careful these days because of … Continued
Scott Sterling spent his entire military career pushing both his mind and body to the limit. A member of the 75th Ranger Regiment, the U.S. Army’s premier large-scale special operations force and a special mission unit within the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Sterling was trained to endure and overcome any challenge placed in front … Continued
In 2018, Suzy Pope was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer known as glioblastoma. Typically forming in the brain or spinal cord, glioblastomas tend to have a fairly grim prognosis. But two and a half years after her diagnosis, Pope continues to thrive and make the most of every day. Her exceptional response to … Continued
As a nurse, Nadege Vilnaigre has devoted her professional life to helping those facing serious medical challenges. Her determination to stay on the job hasn’t waned — even in the face of her own experience with cancer. Vilnaigre is being treated at Dana-Farber for inflammatory breast cancer, which she was diagnosed with in September 2019. … Continued
Two years ago, with a new wife and large extended family on his mind, Jose Dos Anjos told caregivers he would do anything to help himself and others facing the aggressive, life-threatening blood cancer known as mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Now, thanks in part to this willingness, he and fellow MCL patients have renewed hope … Continued
One bout of cancer is enough to contend with, but since 2014 Mary Johnson has had to cope with four different cancers and related conditions. Despite these tests of her physical and emotional strength, Johnson is doing well today after treatment at Dana-Farber. “Coming to Dana-Farber gave me confidence because they supported me, and I … Continued
On the morning of Sept. 12, 2019, Alexa Morell watched her son, Maddox, walk for the first time. Later that day, she learned she had colon cancer. The second milestone confounded Morell as much as the first delighted her. She was just 29 years old, with a clean bill of health from her annual physical … Continued
As a designer of fantasy-style board games, Kate Beckett knows that timing and chance can play important roles in a player’s survival. Living with metastatic endometrial cancer, she has proof both can also be helpful in the real world. Beckett had already endured a hysterectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, and a serious kidney infection during six years … Continued
Pam Dobay is a warrior. In the last three years, the 67-year-old has dealt with a cancer diagnosis and stem cell transplant before recently contracting the coronavirus. None of it was easy, but today, Dobay is recovering at home. She says she cannot begin to express the gratitude she feels towards everyone who has cared … Continued
Gina Solomon was in her office on March 10, worrying about the growing coronavirus pandemic, when the phone rang with news that quickly and dramatically shifted her concerns. Solomon, 55, learned she had HER2-positive breast cancer, a subtype of the disease that was as unfamiliar to her as COVID-19. In that instant, she went from … Continued
When Yvonne Frazier was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2019, she had three school-age children, a 2-year-old toddler, and a full-time job. She also had options. Lawrence General Hospital, where Frazier works, is 30 miles and an hour in traffic from the major cancer centers of Boston. It was next door, however, to a … Continued
Five years into his treatment for multiple myeloma, Mark Young was attending a Dana-Farber conference to learn about the latest research in the disease when his oncologist — Paul Richardson, MD, clinical program leader and director of clinical research at the Institute’s Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center — came running up with some timely news. … Continued
