Your Stories: Conquering Cancer

When given a 50-50 chance of surviving blood cancer as a teen in the 1970s, Sophia believed she was going to survive. And Sophia was right. Fast forward to an eerie dream that nudges the then-30 something mom to seek a second opinion after a doctor dismisses her worries when she finds a lump in her breast. She was right again. Sophia candidly shares her experiences with her daughter, Kalli, who li...

"Just let me die." That's what Linda said after receiving her leukemia diagnosis. Not all patients believe they can conquer cancer.  Linda and her daughter, Marisa, relive the first day in the hospital and the year of medical house arrest that was part of Linda's life-saving treatment.

On a Saturday morning, a wife wakes to telling signs that her husband is not well. Before Sunday comes, a devastating diagnosis:  A young father has a one percent chance of surviving. On a Saturday morning, a wife wakes to telling signs that her husband is not well. Before Sunday comes, a devastating diagnosis-- a young father has a 1% chance of surviving. The search is on for a life-extending tre...

Dr. Arti Hurria, ASCO board member, talks to her patient and friend, Margaret Sedenquist, about her career and what inspired her along the way.   Arti Hurria passed away in 2018.

Decades ago, when Deb Mayer began her career as an oncology nurse, a cancer diagnosis was discussed in a whisper. Few treatments existed to extend a patient's life, and survivors were not a patient population the oncology community considered. Fast forward 40 years. The hard conversations about life and death no longer elude us. Mayer learned first-hand what it feels like for a patient with cancer...

Matt and Dave Wiemer are identical twins, but the shared experience in losing their beloved father to brain cancer is starkly different. One brother became a caretaker. Miles away and unable to help, the other struggled with guilt. Five years after their father's death, the brothers discuss the impact it had on their relationship. With humor and candor, they detail the resentment and frustration t...

When grief is an occupational hazard, it's hard not to bring work home. Lidia Schapira teaches doctors how to help patients approach the end of their lives. What kind of lessons did her children learn from a parent who regularly cares for and loses seriously ill patients? Lauren Goldstein talks to Dr. Schapira, her mother, the current Editor in Chief of Cancer. Net, and a Conquer Cancer donor abou...

As a girl, Priscilla Brastianos's mother told her stories of the grandmother she never knew: a medical student who diagnosed her own fatal breast cancer. The legend of her grandmother, who practiced medicine even in her final days, inspired Brastianos to become an oncologist and physician scientist. The death of Brastianos's mother from the same disease – and the promise the young doctor made to h...