What we're working for is to make all cancer experiences as positive as mine was. You can help by attending our 19th annual PMC Chamber Music Concert:

PMC Concert 2024

I can say that I've had a very intimate view of both the successes and failures of the current state of cancer treatment. In 1997 I went to the doctor because of a swollen lymph node above my collar bone. He said it was nothing to worry about but that maybe I should have a chest x-ray just to be sure I didn't have a lung infection. I could go home as soon as the nurse was sure the film had come out and he'd call me with the result. I waited and waited for her to be sure about the film and was eventually told that the doctor could actually see me right away, even though it was after 5 on a Friday. See that? That's your heart. See that? I have no idea what that is but it's not supposed to be there...

To make a long story short, I spent the weekend thinking that I was in big trouble. After I-don't-want-to-say-how-many years of grad school I knew that large unexplained masses in one's chest tend to involve the C-word. By the end of the next week I was very relieved to know that I had Hodgkin's Lymphoma, one of the first cancers to be successfully treated with chemotherapy. After 6 months of chemo and a month of radiation I was cancer free and haven't looked back since...more than 6000 miles on the bike last year.

Throughout my treatment I was continually overwhelmed by the kindness of everyone around me. I was amazed by the courage of the cancer fighters who I met: The chemo nurses, the oncologists, and most especially the other patients with less treatable cancers.

Sadly, I've also been close to way too many examples of cancers for which the cure rate is low and the outcome was bad: 1) My sister's boyfriend died of lung cancer in 2003. 2) My mother-in-law died of pancreatic cancer in 1996. 3) My graduate thesis advisor died of glioblastoma in 1999. I'll say it again: What we're working for is to make all cancer experiences as positive as mine was.