Survivor Strong: Celebrate Cancer Survivor’s Day With These Inspirational Stories

Cancer Survivor’s Day was this month - a day to celebrate life with and after cancer. Every person diagnosed with cancer is considered a survivor, and we thought it would be inspirational to share some stories of Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center survivors.

“Thank you for saving my life.”

Susan Bolinger of Elverson, PA, had a nagging sore throat that wouldn’t go away. After a tonsillectomy revealed she had tonsil cancer, she had a tonsil dissection, and Trans-Oral Robotic Surgery (TORS), a revolutionary surgery for the head and neck developed by Drs. Bert O’Malley and Gregory Weinstein at Penn Medicine.

Susan writes,” Today, I am cancer-free. Things are going well, and I feel better and stronger every day.”

Read more about Susan’s story here.

“Being diagnosed with stage IV cancer was not what I was expecting at the age of 30.”

From L-R: Lori Cuffari, Dr. Marcia Brose,Michelle LeBeau,

At 30, Michelle LeBeau was diagnosed with advanced stage medullary thyroid carcinoma. Michelle sought treatment under the care of Marcia Brose, MD, at the Abramson Cancer Center. There is no known cure for medullary thyroid cancer and it is not responsive to traditional chemotherapy, but rather than sit back and do nothing, Michelle started the REACT Thyroid Foundation in 2011.

Michelle says: “I was very determined to not let cancer define who I am but rather let it be one more interesting part of me. I have been very successful at doing that and have become so much more of a well rounded person because of it. My diagnosis helped me to realize how important it was to have a work/life balance, not sweat the small stuff and to live life to the fullest.”

Read more about Michelle here.

“It was the coming together of many professionals and friends that made it a comfortable, very easy experience for me.”

Bill Barbour of New York, is an avid cyclist who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May, 2011. Always active, he wasn’t ready to let treatment for prostate cancer slow down his life, or his participation in his favorite activity, cycling. Bill chose to have proton therapy for prostate cancer at Penn’s Roberts Proton Therapy Center in February, 2012, and today he is cancer-free.

Bill remembers, "Proton treatment at the Roberts Proton Therapy Center within the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine in Philadelphia could not have worked out any better for me.”

Read more about Bill’s story here.