Just over a year after giving birth to her son, Emmett, Abigail Myers faced a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer in March 2014. It started when Myers woke up one morning feeling sore. When she found a lump, she rushed to her doctor, all the while in disbelief that she might have cancer. A resident … Read more
When the time came for Jeffrey Ferreira to undergo a stem cell transplant for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), his Dana-Farber hematologist, Corey Cutler, MD, MPH, had some intriguing news: he was eligible for a clinical trial of a new approach to lowering the risk of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a common and sometimes severe aftereffect … Read more
For close to a year, Melanie Spears had been experiencing abdominal pain and constipation. As an Army veteran who had served in Afghanistan, she was used to pushing through adversity — so she tweaked her diet and dealt with what doctors diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome. Only after microscopic blood samples in her stool led … Read more
When Chuck Stravin was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma in 2015, one of his biggest fears was not living long enough to see his four young daughters get married. The disease later metastasized to his lungs as stage IV cancer, but thanks to groundbreaking clinical trials and a care team he considers family, Stravin is … Read more
Alanna Devlin Ball spent 12 years in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander and serving with the elite SEAL Team TWO special operations unit. She was trained to always be ready for action, and worked to do so even when facing a daunting off-the-job challenge: brain cancer. In between radiation sessions … Read more
At first, Joy Mills and Arthur “Buck” Benedict look like any other happy, older couple traveling by ferry from their home on Peaks Island, Maine, to Portland. Admiring the beautiful views, they sit outside when weather permits. They laugh, chat with friends, and occasionally needle each other during the 18-minute trip. Once a month, the … Read more
After losing her first husband of 30 years to cancer, Candace “Candy” Langford felt blessed to find love again. And when she learned six weeks after her June 2018 wedding that she had locally advanced pancreatic cancer, shock blended with sorrow — because she knew her new life partner had also been down that road … Read more
Doug Kroc taught social studies for 40 years, but these days the retiree is more interested in making history than teaching it. Not the kind of events found in textbooks, but simple moments spent swimming and kayaking with his family or riding his bike along the backroads of Vermont. So when Kroc, 70, developed a … Read more
In March 2020, Isa Infante, PhD, JD, who was 78 at the time, began to itch all over her body. It was a bizarre symptom for Infante, who had always been very active and adhered to a strict macrobiotic diet. “Every inch of my body itched,” Infante remembers. “From the top of my head to … Read more
Langley Perer thought her breast cancer was in the rearview mirror. In 2017, she had received a shocking diagnosis at age 35 of ductal in situ carcinoma (DCIS), the earliest form of breast cancer. “As far as I knew, I had no family history of breast cancer,” she says. DCIS is sometimes referred to as … Read more
Cari Carpenter is a pioneer. Coming of age athletically in the 1970s, when competitive sports were just opening up for young women, she paved the way for the next generation — including a daughter who played and now coaches college field hockey. It’s the same in her professional life, where Carpenter runs an innovative program … Read more
When Jennifer Fullerton was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29, her mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario. “I thought I was going to die. That first day all I could think was ‘why me,’” Fullerton says. “My mom very poignantly told me, ‘Today you can say ‘why me,’ but tomorrow, ‘why not me’. And you … Read more
At 25, Fredrick Knight was unsure what to do when he felt an intense pain in his right testicle. He visited the local emergency room where he lived in Western Massachusetts and was told that the answer might be testicular torsion, a condition that occurs when a testicle rotates, reducing blood flow and causing pain. … Read more
Brian Humberd firmly believes in an attitude of gratitude. The biotech recruiter from Melrose, Massachusetts remains eternally grateful to Dana-Farber medical oncologist David Fisher, MD, who not only recommended a life-saving stem cell transplant to treat his central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma, but whose advice enabled Humberd to become a father after his cancer treatments. … Read more
Nancy Arsenault was taking a lunch break from driving her elementary school bus route in her hometown of Stow, Massachusetts, when she began to experience double vision. She had been first diagnosed with pre-invasive breast cancer in 2006, which recurred in 2011. In 2019, she developed an invasive breast cancer in her chest wall and … Read more
By Howard Brown As the Adult Stem Cell Transplant Program at Dana-Farber celebrates its 50th anniversary, one cancer survivor whose 1990 transplant came when the procedure was far more arduous — and far less successful — reflects on his experience. I have a four-by-three-inch plastic bag that I’ve saved for more than 32 years. It’s … Read more
When Mary Richichi flew from Boston to Utah this summer to attend her grandson’s wedding, she made sure to pack her dancing shoes. The 79-year-old was celebrating not only the happy couple’s big day, but the fact she was there to witness it, thanks to the Dana-Farber specialists who treated her breast cancer and are … Read more
When Bekah Cunningham completed the final mile of the Appalachian Trail in November 2019, it was the culmination of an incredible journey of far more than the nearly 2,200 miles she’d covered over seven months. It was even more incredible considering that three years earlier, the then-29-year-old was told she had lung cancer and only … Read more
As a pediatric pharmacist located in Dana-Farber’s Jimmy Fund Clinic, Patrick never tires of seeing smiling, young cancer patients enjoying the clinic’s playroom. The resilience they display throughout infusions, blood draws, and other procedures not only inspires him, but it also serves as a source of resolve he carries into his ongoing cancer care. Patrick, … Read more
Championship rower Dan Lynch is used to fighting against the current. Most people start the sport in their teens or twenties. Lynch dropped oars at 53 on a whim. Today, it isn’t a mere hobby. He’s now pursuing the longest-known streak of consecutive days on an indoor rowing machine. Not even mantle cell lymphoma, a … Read more