Cancer
September 22, 2022
“Given a shot” to beat an aggressive cancer
Near the end of 2021, Lisa Hocking developed symptoms of head congestion, sinus pressure and headaches. After taking antibiotics for what was thought to be sinusitis didn’t ease her symptoms, she underwent a CT. The CT revealed a mass that extended from her sinuses through the base of her skull adjacent to her brain. With […]
Tags: Dr. Garret Choby, Dr. Harry Fuentes Bayne, Dr. Jamie Van Gompel, Lisa Hocking, sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma, SNUC
September 8, 2022
Surprise wedding shower 1,000 miles from home
Every day, people receive cancer care in the Albert J. and Judith A. Dunlap Cancer Center at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. While administering chemo, radiation or preparing a patient for surgery, the care team is quick to provide a listening ear, warm hugs, blankets and caring smiles for patients. In July, the care team […]
Tags: bone cancer, Dr. Scott Okuno, Osteosarcoma, Thresa Pattee
September 1, 2022
Dawn’s Journey: Overcoming a near-zero survival rate
Dawn Botsford was sitting in a chair at the hair salon in 2011 when her hairdresser commented on a spot on the top of her head. It was bug season in North Dakota, so Dawn didn’t think much of it. “When I told my hairdresser that, she said, ‘I really think you need to get […]
Tags: Dawns Botsford, Dr. Eric Moore, Dr. Robert McWilliams, Dr. Stephen Cassivi, Dr. Svetomir Markovic, Immunotherapy, melanoma, Tom Botsford
June 2, 2022
Mother, daughter share cancer journey twists, survivors’ advice
Some personality traits are inherited. A child may be introverted, agreeable or meticulous like a parent. Other traits are learned, such as mannerisms, speech patterns and resilience during adversity. Resilience and strength are traits that Rae Reekie and Amy White have in common. This mother and daughter duo also live on the same street in […]
Tags: Amy White, breast cancer, Dr. M. Kathleen Christian, Mayo Clinic Health System, Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, Rae Reekie
April 14, 2022
Georgia man with neuroendocrine cancer gains quality of life thanks to new nuclear med therapy
Editor’s note: This story is written by Robert Sobotka, 75. In 2016, he was diagnosed with a mass on pancreas and multiple tumors in his liver. Walking up a steep and long hill in the woods behind our house in Woodstock, Georgia, I notice that I’m not as short-of-breath as I used to be — […]
Tags: Dr. Jason Starr, Dr. Paz-Fumagalli, Dr. Steven Alberts, Dr. Thorvardur Halfdanarson, liver cancer, liver tumor, MayoClinicFL, Neuroendocrine tumor, pancreas cancer, pancreas tumor, PRRT
April 4, 2022
Innovative program enables patients who are obese to get kidney transplants
For many patients seeking kidney transplant, obesity is a barrier. Body mass index (BMI) is a traditional criterion for transplant, and a large portion of potential kidney transplant recipients currently have BMIs above the cutoff. Two physicians at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, are paving the way to transplant for patients with higher BMIs. Patients, […]
Tags: bariatric surgery, Dr. Aleksandra Kukla, Dr. Ty Diwan, kidney transplant, nephrology, PKD, Polycystic kidney disease, Wells Larsen
March 28, 2022
The nurse at the piano and a story of hope
There are times when the hustle and bustle in the Nathan Landow Atrium of the Gonda Building at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, comes to a standstill. An audible hush gives way to a melody of lush chords and notes wafting from the grand piano. Mayo Clinic’s own Genaida Benson, a nurse in radiology is […]
Tags: Genaida Benson, Gonda Piano, liver cancer, music is medicine, Verlyn Benson
March 21, 2022
Cancer survivor walks on the sunny side of the street
When you meet Jennie Spencer, be prepared to chat, answer questions about yourself and your family, and make a new friend. By any measure, the 66-year-old wife, mother, grandmother and leukemia survivor from Forest City, Iowa, is truly a warm and remarkable person. Having previously been diagnosed and treated for a rare genetic migraine condition […]
Tags: Cancer survivor, Jennie Spencer, Leukemia, lymphoblastic leukemia, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center
March 14, 2022
3-year-old takes on rare cancer with a little help from his friends
Proton beam therapy benefits patients with tumors located next to critical organs with potentially fewer severe side effects and complications, compared to other forms of radiation therapy. This is especially important for children with cancer ― children like 3-year-old Rhett Flaten who in May became the 5,000th patient to receive the cutting-edge treatment since the […]
Tags: Dr. Safia Ahmed, Ewing Sarcoma, Katie Flaten, Kyle Flaten, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Proton Beam Therapy, Rhett Flaten
January 23, 2022
A third chance for a young breast cancer patient
Breast cancer does not discriminate ― a truth that a young Florida woman knows three times over. While in college, Jessica Florence found a lump on her right breast. The 21-year-old initially did not believe what she found was serious until she was in pain and experiencing other symptoms. “When I think of breast cancer, […]
Tags: breast cancer, Dr. Sabrina Sahni, Jessica Florence, Mayo Clinic in Florida