Category Cancer Patient Stories

Grateful patient hosts Jimmy FundRaiser to celebrate 20 years of survivorship

January 20, 2023

Andrea McGrath moved to Boston after completing graduate school in the late 1990s, unaware at the time of how important it would be to be in the Longwood area, close to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Unlike many other patients who would…

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Retiree’s big heart helps charities win even when you lose

January 11, 2023

Mike Rothman is a 76-year-old former Harvard Medical School Instructor in Psychiatry, serial entrepreneur and member of the Jimmy FundRaiser community. He has used his time in retirement to spearhead Big-Hearted Battles, a movement inviting people of all ages to…

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Navigating a lung cancer diagnosis—with a little help from friends

November 21, 2022

Navigating the American health care system can be daunting for anyone, especially when facing a cancer diagnosis. For some Bostonians in medically underserved or historically marginalized communities, the task feels even more challenging, as centers like Dana-Farber Cancer Institute may…

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Finding connections among those affected by rare NET cancers

November 10, 2022

This guest post was written by Christine Little, Co-Captain of the Zebra Divas team in the Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyundai. Christine shares the story of her sister, Liz Acaba, who was treated for a neuroendocrine tumor…

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Grateful for advances in treatment, pancreatic cancer patient finds joy every day

November 2, 2022

When Candace Langford married her second husband, Larry, eight years after losing her first husband to cancer, she was looking forward to once again living life to the fullest. However, just six weeks later, they received some devastating news: Candace…

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A Jimmy Fund Clinic Patient rides the carousel with her face painted to look like a butterfly.

Jimmy Fund Clinic family festival is a day of hope

October 20, 2022

For Leona O’Neill, 2, an encounter with gorillas—rather than an infusion chair—was the perfect way to spend a recent Sunday. Leona, who was diagnosed at eight months with a brain tumor, was one of more than 600 current and past…

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Daughter honors mother’s spirit with planned gift to support cancer research

October 17, 2022

In 1995, Melissa Fajardo’s mother, Victoria, was diagnosed with cancer in one breast at just 30 years old. After receiving successful treatment, which resulted in remission, she was again diagnosed with breast cancer only five years later—this time in the…

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