PatientStories

Four-Time Cancer Survivor is Five-Time Boston Marathon Runner 

by

Mary Shertenlieb wanted to toe the line at the Boston Marathon in 2025, but her body was not on board; she was in the middle of treatment for her fourth cancer diagnosis. This year, however, she ran, completing her fifth Boston and her sixth marathon overall.  “I feel so lucky that I get to do this,” says Shertenlieb, age 50, who has raised $156,000 to date for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “I feel this tremendous gratitude at the start line for the generosity and understanding … Read more

Knowledge and Patience are Power in the Centers for Early Detection and Interception 

by

When the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies’ Practice Manager Sara Menendez, LAT, ATC, learned she had Lynch syndrome at age 30, she had dozens of questions. A hereditary condition, Lynch syndrome raises a person’s risk for cancer in several organs including the colon, endometrium, ovaries, and skin. Suddenly faced with this new information, … Read more

Thirty Years After Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Still Going Strong 

by

It was a hot day on the links in New Hampshire in July 2014. Carol MacKenzie recalls that her neck was strangely sore. By the end of the round of golf, she had a fever.  Soon after, MacKenzie met with an oncologist. In 1996, she had been diagnosed with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer and successfully treated. Eighteen years later, … Read more

Still Skiing at 82 After Stem Cell Transplant 

by

Dienna Lehner grew up in a Massachusetts town with a small ski hill and a rope tow.   “It was hot dogs, tomato soup, and an outdoor fireplace,” she recalls. “And it was Nirvana.”  Later in life, she opted to spend her winters in Park City, Utah, to enjoy big mountain skiing. The conditions have been mild this year, but last year she skied all season – which … Read more

Making Breakthroughs in ALL From Youth to Adulthood  

by

When Ann Carroll was diagnosed with cancer at age 28, her dream to get married and have a baby felt out of reach. Now, seven years later and cancer-free, she is living that dream with her husband and their 7-month-old son, Teddy.   “I didn’t think I would get this far,” says Carroll, of Boston, Massachusetts. “My whole journey started when I walked into my doctor’s office because I wasn’t feeling well.”   As a graduate student in 2019 studying clinical psychology at Northwestern University, Carroll started experiencing lightheadedness and tunnel … Read more

Young Cardiac Angiosarcoma Survivor Champions Narrative Medicine  

by

Since she was a young child in a family in which Portuguese and German were often spoken, Sarah Downey, 23, has been fascinated with different languages and cultures. Now, as a recent college graduate living with a very rare cancer of the heart known as cardiac angiosarcoma, Downey is committed to helping others facing cancer, along with their providers and caregivers, … Read more

Bond with Clinical Team Helps Retiree Through MDS and Stem Cell Transplant

by

Bill Kelley’s unbreakable bond with the clinical team that guided him through myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a group of rare blood disorders impacting the bone marrow, and a stem cell transplant was never more evident than during a Sunday night in the summer of 2025.  Kelley’s sister Joan had arranged a surprise 70th birthday baseball outing for him and 30 of his friends and family members at Boston’s Fenway Park, where Kelley had grown up … Read more

Prostate Cancer Patient Finds Renewed Hope Through a Clinical Trial 

by

In the kitchen of Sabor de Minas, Caesar Sodre plates delicious Brazilian fare. For Sodre, 66, food is a love language and a way to care for his customers. For more than two decades, the bright blue Brazilian restaurant in Framingham, Massachusetts, has been a cornerstone of his community. That community — including staff and longtime customers — returned the care by … Read more

Targeted Therapy Opens Possibility for Teen with Brain Tumor  

by

Like many teenagers with cancer, Declan Cassidy, 16, has endured having his life interrupted by surgery, chemotherapy infusions, and other treatments. In his case, however, the greatest ongoing challenge goes beyond the cancer itself.  Declan is legally blind, the result of an optic pathway glioma — a slow-growing brain tumor that forms in and around the optic nerves connecting the eye to the brain. … Read more

During Red Sox Games at Fenway Park, Patients Are Safe at Home in Erica’s Suite  

by

With the Boston Red Sox having their best season in years and contending for the playoffs, crowds have been regularly filling Fenway Park to capacity this summer. For one small contingent of these baseball fans, the trips will prove especially meaningful regardless of what transpires on the field.   This rotating group, mostly young children and … Read more

Stem Cell Transplant Recipient Forms Powerful Bond with Doctor and Donor  

by

“The world needs more Dr. Soiffers – and more Nicoles.”  Such is the wisdom of Judy Mangione, 80, who credits these two individuals for the fulfilling life she is enjoying with her husband, Bob, and their combined six children and 10 grandchildren.  Robert Soiffer, MD, treated Mangione with the January 2022 stem cell transplant that … Read more

Crafting an Inspiring Survivorship From Stage IV Colorectal Cancer 

by

When Clelia Lavoie, then 49, began experiencing abdominal pain in 2019, she had a feeling it was something serious despite dismissals from her doctor. Lavoie’s intuition was right. A colonoscopy led to a diagnosis of stage IV colorectal cancer that had metastasized to her thyroid, back, and liver. She needed surgery to remove part of … Read more

Fundraiser, Marilyn Monroe Impersonator, Snow Queen: Breast Cancer Patient Does It All 

by

While planning her annual breast cancer fundraiser in Hull, Mass., Ellie Destito’s friends learned some surprising news. For the first time, their friend revealed that she was living with breast cancer herself.  “They had no idea,” recalls Destito, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2008. Through the years, she was treated with … Read more

From Staff Member to Empowered Patient: A Journey with Lynch Syndrome 

by

In March 2016, two months before joining Dana-Farber, Sara Menendez, LAT, ATC, attended LYNKED IN, an annual one-day conference hosted by Dana-Farber’s Lynch Syndrome Center. The event gave her an opportunity to meet colleagues and learn about treatment advances, screening guidelines, and prevention efforts for Lynch syndrome, an inherited and often underdiagnosed condition that increases … Read more

Grandmother Continues Life of Adventure on Endometrial Cancer Clinical Trial  

by

Roberta “Bert” Green is a woman with a full and busy life. When not driving across the country with her husband, Ralph, in their RV, she alternates between paddle boarding, walking, e-biking, and skiing with the changing seasons around her rural Vermont home. Retired after a long career as a school neuropsychologist, she also makes … Read more