Patient Stories

Once you have been handed a cancer diagnosis, everything else in­evitably changes. In a very real sense, your entire life gets a complete overhaul, whether you want it or not. Some changes are for the better, others are less favorable, but life simply won’t be the same again.

Sheree Williams, PhD, is a health scientist with the CDC, but her background in public health did not prepare her for the unique challenges she faced as a black woman diagnosed with breast cancer, highlighting the social determinants of health.

For Charlie Rogers, cancer turned out to be a gift of sorts. In addition to forcing him to slow down, it also changed his perspective on life, encouraging him to cherish small victories.

Stacey Roselle looked for the “silver linings” when a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma brought her face-to-face with unexpected reactions to her illness.

Ronda M. Walker struggled to maintain a sense of normalcy as she fought breast cancer. This experience taught her to live in the moment and reminded her that life is short, and tomorrow is not promised.

Alyssa Dickey searched for 2 years for the source of her recurrent illnesses before she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Now, she tries to find balance in her life and live in the present, knowing that the cancer will likely return.

Cancer survivor Tricia Tennesen recounts her spirit-lifting experience with a group of survivors on a nature retreat that involved fly-fishing, which offered her a “path to spirituality without doctrine or dogma.”