Every year, thousands of Dana-Farber patients pass through the Institute's doors with inspiring stories of struggle, strength, hope, and perseverance. Here are just a few of those stories.
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Kevin Blake — Dana-Farber employee marks 250th platelet donation
After 250 donations, Blake is now challenging his colleagues to give platelet donation a try. "If everyone would just do it once then we'd have what we need to help patients," he says. read more
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Margie Needelman — For transplant recipient, 20-year visit takes the cake
Margie Needelman, one of Dana-Farber's early autologous bone marrow transplant patients, was back at the Institute to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her transplant. read more
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Matt Shea — College student/cancer patient inhabits two worlds
As a sarcoma patient, Matt Shea found the Jimmy Fund Clinic to be a warm, welcoming place, which is one of the reasons why the college senior spent his Fridays there as a volunteer. read more
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Scott Miller — National Guard soldier promoted while in treatment for cancer
In January, Army Specialist Scott Miller was on patrol in Baghdad. In March, while undergoing treatment for neuroendocrine cancer, he was promoted to sergeant in a ceremony at Dana-Farber. read more
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Robert and Erica Mayer — For these oncologists, work feels like home
As a child, Erica Mayer, MD, MPH, developed a passion for medicine watching her father, Robert Mayer, MD, interact with patients. Today, the Drs. Mayer share a close relationship as colleagues at Dana-Farber.
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The Phams — Family, humor sustain brain tumor survivor
Mai Pham offers support and humor to her daughter Margaret, 26, a brain tumor survivor and comedienne. Fellow survivor and friend Maureen Costello tells their story. read more
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Paul Keane — Clinical trials offer hope for the future
While Paul Keane hopes that participating in clinical trials will lead to a cure for his multiple myeloma, he takes some comfort in knowing his efforts will help others no matter the outcome. read more
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Molly and Russ O'Neill — One family, two heroes
As she goes through treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia, this 11-year-old Jimmy Fund Clinic patient draws strength from her beloved big brother, an Army National Guard member stationed in Iraq. read more
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Judie Ham — 'Never say never'
Energetic and full of humor, Judie Ham gets the most out of every day. For this five-time cancer survivor, that includes sharing her story with Dana-Farber patients and their families. read more
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Nicholas Frith — Young athlete strikes out cancer
Now in remission, brain tumor survivor Nick Frith aims to spend more time at Fenway Park and less time at the hospital when in Boston. read more
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Donald Lonsway — Driven by a mission to heal
Donald Lonsway has endured a tour in Vietnam, 34 years of undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and a recent prostate cancer diagnosis and is now just looking forward to moving on with his life. read more
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Charlotte O'Shea — Family prevails in face of young child's brain tumor
Jim and Janet O'Shea have always been careful to devote equal attention to each of their four young children, but that balance was tipped when their daughter Charlotte was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive brain tumor. read more
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James Lansing — Accepting a difficult situation
James Lansing claims that having cancer doesn't make much of a difference in his life. "I still do the same things, only I have a little less energy," the fifth-grader says. "And, my friends are cool with it." read more
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Karen Webster — Cancer tests your mettle, management consultant discovers
After receiving her diagnosis and undergoing a lumpectomy near her home in Maryland, breast cancer survivor and management consultant Karen Webster searched the Internet to find the right cancer center and oncologist for her follow-up care. read more
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Tom Sellers — Disease hits home for cancer executive
Tom Sellers, a senior executive for the American Cancer Society, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1998. He was already well acquainted with the cancer world through his work and the loss of his mother to the disease. That didn't stop him, however, from further analysis. read more
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Maryann MacIntyre — Crossing off cancer
Maryann MacIntyre, a busy banking executive and stomach cancer survivor, has returned to Dana-Farber as a volunteer. "I found so much competence and compassion here," she said. "I wanted to give back." read more
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Amy Woodbury — A wonderful life
Amy Woodbury, a three-time cancer survivor at just 29, took steps during chemotherapy to preserve her fertility, and is now living a life she always wanted. read more
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Jim Lanagan — Patient brings resolve to cancer, other challenges
Jim Lanagan is a man who's faced more than one life-or-death battle in his time, but his will to fight, persistence and positive approach have pulled him through.
read more
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Tom Farrington — Battling the killer within
Tom Farrington, a Dana-Farber trustee who is also founder and president of Boston's Prostate Health Education Network (PHEN), is determined to help prevent prostate cancer, or make sure it is found early, through his writing, speeches and other outreach efforts.
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Dianna Marcellus — Young survivor puts the polish on an invention
Cancer and its treatment pose many obstacles in a young person's life. Yet, the
power of imagination and intelligence can help to overcome such challenges. For
one young survivor, technology presented such an opportunity. read more
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Jenny — A young survivor fulfills big dreams
To see 11-year-old Jenny skate it's hard to imagine her parents were once told
she might never walk normally again after she was diagnosed with Ewing's
sarcoma when she was 3. read more
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The Haynes Family — Receiving guidance from pediatric resource specialists through hard times
Eileen Haynes, a security screener at Manchester Airport in New Hampshire, has
kept travelers safe for 13 years, the same way she carefully watched over her
five children as a single mom. But no amount of vigilance could protect her
youngest child, Michael, from the abnormal white blood cells that signal acute
myelogeneous leukemia. read more
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Dorothy Siegal — Spreading hope to patients, staff for 18 years
Like many organizations, Dana-Farber has had its share of milestones. Over the
18 years that Dorothy Siegal has spent as a patient here – a milestone in
itself – she has witnessed several of them. read more
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Andrew and Cyndi MacKinlay — Young cancer survivor and mom offer heart and hope
Andrew MacKinlay, a young leukemia survivor, and his mother, Cyndi, have both
become passionate advocates at Dana-Farber by sharing their stories of struggle
and survival with other kids – and adults – who are battling all types of
cancer. read more
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Maxine Kates and Robin Walden — Cells and kindness multiplied
Moved by the selfless act of a stranger who saved the life of her mother,
Maxine Kates, Robin Walden is preparing to donate her own stem cells to help a
62-year-old man she has never met. read more
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Sandy Aiello — For late patient's mother, hospice role is chance to serve, thank
Each time Sandy Aiello looks at the ceramic handprint made by her daughter
Kayla in the last weeks of her life, she smiles. In the midst of the worst
experience a parent can imagine, Aiello and her husband, Chuck, were comforted
by the fact their 5-year-old spent her final days playing with cousins, going
out for ice cream, and sleeping in her own bed. read more
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Lindsay Roache — Young cancer survivor chooses oncology nursing
When nursing student Lindsay Roache cares for teenagers with cancer
at Children's Hospital Boston, she knows exactly how they
feel. She's been there. "I came back to face the past,"
says the 22-year-old, who is going full circle from patient to
caregiver. read more
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Bone marrow donor and recipient meet one year after life-saving
transplant
Cancer survivor Bill Hallahan knew almost nothing about the person
who had saved his life. He hadn't even learned his bone marrow
donor's name until one year after the transplant. But when he
entered a Boston-area hotel last month for a celebration of marrow and
stem cell donors, he spotted a 30-something man waiting in the lobby
with his wife, and immediately sensed this was him. read more
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Chaewon Kim — Breast cancer survivor's radical
renovation is talk of the neighborhood
For Chaewon Kim, a breast cancer survivor who receives care at
Dana-Farber, her controversial house renovation in North Cambridge has
become a hard-earned calling card for her architectural ambitions and
a symbol of her determination to take charge of her life. read more
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Jordan Leandre — Bringing hope (and luck) to Fenway
faithful, Red Sox
Boston Red Sox fans witnessed the power of perseverance and hope at
Fenway Park on Monday night, even before their baseball team rallied
for yet another unpredictable playoff victory. read more
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Michael Violandi — Keeping vigilant
Although Michael Violandi's cancer went into remission last
fall, he faithfully showed up at Dana-Farber and Brigham and
Women's Hospital all winter long for a course of aggressive
treatment. A police officer on leave, Violandi was on duty in a new
way: to chase his cancer away and make sure it didn't come back. read more
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The Hammocks — Guiding one family's final chapter
As Tina Hammock's glioblastoma prognosis worsened, the Hammock
family turned to HealthCare Dimensions Hospice as an extension of the
care she was receiving at Dana-Farber. The hospice played an important
role in helping them say good-bye. read more
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Uri Berenguer-Ramos — From the Institute to the airwaves
When Uri Berenguer-Ramos first came to Dana-Farber in November 1985
from his native Panama, neither he nor his mother, Daisy, could speak
English. Three-year-old Uri was suffering from a tumor in his right
leg, and doctors back home had told the family it would need to be
amputated. Daisy Berenguer-Ramos insisted on a second opinion, so she
and her son headed alone to America. Seventeen years later, the
college sophomore is attending Northeastern University on a full
scholarship, living his dream as a broadcaster for the Boston Red Sox,
and enjoying his first full year free of cancer. read more
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Edward Kennedy Jr. — A conversation with Ted Kennedy Jr.
Few events in the Kennedy family go unnoticed, so when Edward
Kennedy Jr. was diagnosed with a malignant bone tumor in his leg in
the early 1970s, Americans crossed their collective fingers that
12-year-old "Teddy" would be okay. read more
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Catherine Lyons — A beacon of light to mark five healthy
years
Festive lights atop Angel Island in San Francisco Bay are usually
only seen during the year-end holiday season. But this past summer,
for 15 magical minutes, a bright beacon lighting the sky delighted
9-year-old Catherine Lyons. She watched from a sailboat in the harbor
with friends and family, including her mother, Mary Russell, father
Dan Lyons, and 6-year-old brother, Will. The night represented a
milestone for the Brookline, Mass., family, marking the fifth
anniversary of the end of Catherine's treatment for neuroblastoma,
an aggressive cancer that begins with a solid tumor in nerve tissue,
then spreads throughout the body. read more
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Lisa Galati Black — Cancer survivor celebrates miracle of
life
Diagnosed with cancer at age 16, Lisa Galati Black suddenly had a
lot more on her mind than homework and school dances. But one thing
she didn't give much thought to during her 18 months of treatment
for rhabdomyosarcoma (a malignant soft-tissue tumor often found in the
extremities) was that the chemotherapy that destroyed her cancer might
also affect her ability to have a child. read more
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Liz Gruber and Rus Lodi — Couples coping with cancer
It is early on a Tuesday morning at the Newton home of Liz Gruber and
Rus Lodi, and the scene is one of frenetic activity. read more
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Diane Cotting — Diane Cotting survives rough waters to row again
Diane Cotting believes two things saved her life after she was
diagnosed with breast cancer: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the
sport of rowing. read more
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Katie Goldberger — Event celebrates gift of bone marrow donations
"When they told me that I could write to you, I knew
immediately that I would. But I did not know what I'd say. It
feels very weird to have this connection and yet to not know who each
other is. I cannot imagine being in the situation that you are in
now. You obviously have a great deal of courage to be where you
are." So begins a letter from "Wendy Bird" to
"Hope," written five years ago as Hope was about to undergo
a bone marrow transplant at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Writer
and recipient had never met — as the letter hints, didn't
even know each other's real name — but their bond was as
real as life. read more
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Kathy Delaney-Smith — Harvard basketball coach Kathy
Delaney-Smith rebounds after a memorable season with cancer
Almost a year after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Kathy
Delaney-Smith's hair is growing back. It's short and curly
where it used to be long and straight. But that's okay, the
Harvard College women's basketball coach will tell you, just as
long as she doesn't have to wear a wig. read more
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Sharon Williams — Study participant shares two tales of
survival
Sharon Williams was 15 years old when she was diagnosed in 1981
with Hodgkin's lymphoma. A course of radiation therapy and removal
of her spleen cured her of the disease, but she was told she would be
at increased risk for breast cancer at an early age. read more
