Saul Heller has been a professional singer and a cantor, a grocer, travel agent, and even an activist blogger. These days, however, the 88-year-old grandfather is especially proud of two new roles: stomach cancer survivor and Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) volunteer. Each August for 12 years – missing only the summer after his January 2014 surgery – Heller has been … Read more
Gabby Spear, a young, active mom, had never noticed a lump or pain before suddenly finding her breast cancer in November 2013, when she was 38. She was shocked. But, with two young daughters, there wasn’t much time to adjust to her new normal. In the latest episode of Voices: Then and Now, Spear recalls her … Read more
Father’s Day may be when he says it with a card, but cancer survivor Derik Lampron will feel some of his most profound love and appreciation for his dad, Don, during the Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyundai on Sept. 24. As they cover the famous 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to Copley Square, … Read more
Gaining the wisdom of another’s experience can be invaluable when facing something new – including cancer. Through the SoulMates program at Dana-Farber’s Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers, newly diagnosed breast cancer patients can be paired with trained volunteers who have already been through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or other kinds of treatment. “Our volunteers … Read more
In her research studies with young adult survivors of childhood cancers, pediatric oncologist Natasha Frederick, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, explored sexual dysfunction in survivors between the ages of 18 and 30 years old. She found that most of these young survivors reporting such problems keep their concerns from partners, loved ones, and caregivers, and … Read more
When Mike Johnston felt a lump in his chest in 2009, he assumed it was a side effect of a high blood pressure medication. But after a routine doctor’s visit, followed by a mammogram and ultrasound, Johnston’s diagnosis was confirmed: He had male breast cancer. Only 2,000 men in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast … Read more
Ben Blaisdell was a popular 16-year-old when he started experiencing uncharacteristic chills, which led to an anemia diagnosis and, soon after, the surprising news that he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The two-year treatment was tough on him and his entire family, but Blaisdell says that he wouldn’t change his cancer diagnosis even if he … Read more
When Catherine Goff was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma while attending college in the 1970s, it was the shock of a lifetime. Less surprising – but still life-changing – was her later diagnosis with breast cancer, a common secondary cancer for patients like Goff who received high doses of radiation therapy to the chest. Between these … Read more
Olivia Bowie says she’s never been one to make New Year’s resolutions. Since she couldn’t keep commitments like eating healthier or working out more, she didn’t bother making them, the college student jokes. Then, in 2015, doctors discovered she had rhabdomyosarcoma. “Being diagnosed with cancer, and going through treatment, has changed my whole outlook,” says Bowie, … Read more
By Sandy Cassanelli Finding out I had breast cancer in 2013 was very hard; learning two years later that my cancer was metastatic was even more distressing. But both times, exercise helped me face my situation. I was in the best shape of my life when I was diagnosed at age 36. I was running, … 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
Active in physical pursuits and a world traveler, Harry Beskind, MD, was surprised when he started feeling tired while on a bike ride in 2014. He had just returned home from a river trip to Portugal with his wife, and Beskind, then 82, was having trouble riding up hills on his bike. “I thought I was just … Read more
By Erin Cummings As a 44-year survivor of childhood cancer, I never would have imagined that patients could be treated in a place as warm and inviting as Dana-Farber. Each time I come for follow-up care, or as a member of the Art and Environment Committee that helps select artwork for the Institute, I think … Read more
Cancer survivorship programs and services used to be something that patients would think about as they neared the end of active treatment, but that’s changing. “More Americans are surviving cancer than ever before, and partly as a result of that, the model for survivorship care is changing,” says Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, director of Dana-Farber’s … Read more
By Chelsea Smith Don’t take life for granted. Each day you wake up is an amazing gift. Even though I’ve felt a lot of pain in my life, it’s made me stronger. I’ve always been hopeful for tomorrow, and sometimes that hope pays off. My roller coaster started when I was 15 months old and … Read more
By Lisa Diller, MD While recent research shows improvement in long-term survival rates for childhood cancer patients, challenges remain for many of the almost 400,000 survivors in the United States. Among the long-term survivors are women facing gynecological health issues from the late effects of their treatment. There are a number of health concerns women … Read more
This post originally appeared on the Jimmy Fund Blog. In preparation for his first day of kindergarten, young Michael Sweetman visited his primary care physician. What they anticipated to be a routine checkup left Michael’s parents with more questions than answers. The very next day, the Sweetman’s visited Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorder Center, … Read more
By Carl Nickerson Recently I was getting out of my car in front of a Latin restaurant when a man stopped me. I had been interviewed a few days before during the WEEI-NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon about my experience with testicular cancer, and featured in Boston’s Latino newspaper, El Mundo, about the importance of testicular … Read more
During cancer treatment, patients are often focused on just one thing: getting healthy. But for survivors, particularly of childhood cancer, it’s also important to learn about staying healthy after treatment, including prevention of new cancers that may occur later in life. We spoke with Lynda Vrooman, MD, associate medical director of the David B. Perini, … Read more
The language used to talk about cancer often focuses on battle words – those who are cured “won” or “survived,” while those who die from cancer “lost” their “fight.” But is cancer really something to be won or lost? Young adults with cancer discussed these phrases and others during the recent Young Adult Cancer Conference … Read more