Doctor’s compassionate care inspires family to give back

For nearly 40 years, Jeffrey Wisch, MD, dedicated his career to providing compassionate care for patients. When he retired from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2021, dozens of former patients and families came forward to express their gratitude, including the Lane Family.

Robert and Linda Lane met Wisch when he successfully treated their son, Jeffrey, for Hodgkin lymphoma at another Boston-area hospital in the early 1990s. Tragically, Jeffrey later passed away at a young age from a separate diagnosis of glioblastoma. While Jeffrey was treated by doctors at a different hospital for his second diagnosis, Wisch, who had remained close with the family, stepped in to provide indispensable end-of-life care.

Unfortunately, the Lanes’ story doesn’t end there. In 2016, Linda was diagnosed with leukemia. Wisch monitored Linda’s leukemia in its early stages and referred the Lanes to specialists at Dana-Farber when the time came for treatment. When Linda stopped responding to treatment, Wisch, who had since joined the faculty at Dana-Farber himself, once again took over her palliative care and supported the family until she died in 2019.

“Dr. Wisch has more interest in the real care of his patients beyond just treatment,” says Robert. “That’s what makes him so unique.”

“Dr. Wisch has been someone who guided us in times when we didn’t have any other guidance we could trust,” adds his daughter, Rebecca.

In gratitude, the Lane Family—Robert; his daughters, Rebecca Lane Block and Kimberly Harrison; his daughter-in-law, Ann Lane; and their families—made a generous contribution to the Jeffrey Wisch, MD, Clinical Investigator Endowment, which supports clinicians in Dana-Farber’s Center for Gastrointestinal Oncology who embody Wisch’s commitment to patient-centered cancer care.

“Building connections with families like the Lanes, as opposed to just treating a patient with a disease, was very important to my practice as an oncologist,” says Wisch. “I’m humbled and grateful that their generous gift will carry forward compassionate care and clinical research for families like theirs for years to come.”

“We’re very appreciative of Dr. Wisch and this gift is a way to express that,” says Robert. “I hope others who have similar experiences at Dana-Farber will be encouraged to do the same.”

When you make a gift to Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund, you are part of The Dana-Farber Campaign, our ambitious, multi-year fundraising effort to prevent, treat, and defy cancer. The Dana-Farber Campaign will accelerate the Institute’s strategic priorities by supporting revolutionary science, extraordinary care, and exceptional expertise. As a community, we have the power to create a more hopeful, cancer-free future—in Boston and around the world. Together, we can defy cancer at every turn. Learn more about The Dana-Farber Campaign at DefyCancer.org.