By Tara Baysol My first truly extensive exposure to the health care system as a patient began in 2013 with my brain cancer diagnosis. It was, and continues to be, an eye-opening experience. One big challenge that presented itself early on in my cancer journey was learning how to navigate the system and advocate for … Read more
As told to Sue Morris, PsyD As director of Dana-Farber’s Bereavement Program, I regularly sit with bereaved individuals, listen to their stories, and help them navigate their lives after they have been completely turned upside down. I recently spoke with three bereaved parents who are members of Dana-Farber’s Pediatric Patient and Family Advisory Committee (PFAC), … Read more
At first glance, it looks like a typical holiday get-together – an annual gathering of friends admiring the decorations on one of their homes. What makes the situation unusual is not what the group is doing, but where they were a few hours earlier: the Weymouth, Massachusetts, physician practice of Dana-Farber Community Cancer Care (DFCCC). … Read more
Treatment ends. And you’re home free. That’s what many friends and family think. But cancer patients know that the time after your treatment ends can be unsettling. While the physical and logistical challenges of managing chemotherapy, radiation or surgery may be behind you, the prospect of dealing with cancer without the safety net of weekly, … Read more
By Samantha Lozier I never truly realized how complicated cancer could be until I had to face it head on. Part of what makes it so complex, I’ve found, is that illness or not, we still have that inner “gremlin” inside all of us that tells us to care what others think and behave as … Read more
By Rich Rothman I was rolling along in the summer of 2012. Having turned 60, I was working more than 50 hours a week as a litigation partner of a global law firm, playing tennis, fishing (not necessarily catching) on the rare occasions I could get away, and purporting to work out almost daily. After … Read more
By Joann Totten As a non-smoker, I never imagined I would be diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer, let alone at age 50. But that’s what happened on Aug. 5, 2015, just six weeks after I started experiencing a non-productive cough. The doctors felt certain it was bronchitis, but as a radiation therapist for more … Read more
By Rosemary Maconchie When my husband Jim died from stage IV pancreatic cancer in April 2015, I was suddenly without my lifelong partner. We were together since high school; and when he died at age 69 I was suddenly alone for the first time in my life. The experience of grief is different for everyone, … Read more
When Trish Vickery learned in 2013 that she had inflammatory breast cancer, she knew all too well the gravity of her diagnosis. Her mother had died from the disease. Yet Vickery is living a full and energetic life — working, traveling, exercising, rowing on the Charles River in Boston, and spending time with her husband … Read more
by John O’Hara One day, I was sitting in a Dana-Farber waiting room, and I looked around at all of the people waiting with me. They were someone’s mother, father, sister, brother, child, neighbor, or friend — people just like me. And they were all facing what I was facing, the helplessness of a cancer … Read more
By Kara Robbins Stoughton My life with cancer began when I was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in August 2014. I’ve since had 24 chemotherapy treatments, six surgeries, 50 gained pounds, seemingly endless conversations about my bowels, and a recurrence that was diagnosed in January 2016. At my initial diagnosis, I was 32 years … Read more
By Theresa Sullivan Barger After triathlete Betsy Feldmann felt pressure in her abdomen while running, which seemed “as if her insides were slipping,” she saw four doctors before being diagnosed with stage II-C ovarian cancer. Feldmann chose an aggressive approach recommended by Ursula Matulonis, MD, medical director of Gynecologic Oncology at the Susan F. Smith … Read more
When Lori Kauzlarich discovered that she had a precursor blood condition in August 2013, she sprang into action. “I was stunned,” she says. “But I decided to advocate for myself.” Precursor conditions are blood disorders that may evolve into cancers such as leukemia, Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, and multiple myeloma. They are often asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally … Read more
For Anna Heard, the fall of 2002 was a season of change. Set to move to Boston in September to begin a master’s program at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Heard, then 29, had a routine physical in Washington, D.C., before starting the academic year. Although her bloodwork looked “a bit funny,” … Read more
When Cathy McCue, 44, tried to find words to tell her 8-year-old twin boys about her cancer, she turned to books like “Mom Has Cancer” and “Nowhere Hair.” Her own story began in June 2015, when she felt a pain in her right breast while at the gym. After finding a lump later that night, … Read more
Lauren Marsden joined DKMS/Delete Blood Cancer Registry during freshman orientation at St. Anselm’s College for the same reason she majored in nursing: She wanted to help others. What she couldn’t foresee then was how this decision would intersect with her own family’s experience. Two months after Lauren’s graduation in May 2014, her father was diagnosed … Read more
https://agingwithdignity.org/docs/default-source/Samples/vmc-sample.pdf?sfvrsn=4 By Tara Baysol I was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2013 at the age of 27. Just prior to my diagnosis, I had started a new, exciting chapter as a Yale graduate student. My self-confidence was at an all-time high as I had survived my chaotic early 20s and was beginning to really figure … Read more
By Jen Cunningham Butler I began riding the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) in 1996 in honor of my mother, Sheila Driscoll Cunningham. Twenty years prior, in 1976, Mom became Founding President of The Friends of Sidney Farber Cancer Institute (now Dana-Farber), raising funds for cancer research and patient care. Mom was a gift shop volunteer with … Read more
By Kathleen Barton When you get diagnosed with cancer, it kicks your butt – both the physical aspects of chemo and the general inertia that comes with this new thing you’re living with. Before my diagnosis, I was active – working, volunteering, exercising, and spending time with friends. Then some bruising and fatigue led me … Read more
It was a warm day in November 2013 when Gabby Spear found out she had breast cancer. But even in the midst of the difficult news, her responsibilities as a mom, wife, professional, and community member remained; she knew she still had to pick up her two daughters and make it to temple service later … Read more