Taking Treatment & a Half Marathon, Together, One Step at A Time

The relationship between a cancer patient and their care provider is a special one.  Between radiation therapy appointments, hours of chemotherapy, and even sometimes surgery and recovery, there’s not much that can strengthen this bond, besides running a Half Marathon. But Tiffani Tyer, a Nurse Practitioner in Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC), and Dana Deighton’s journey started long before this year’s Maryland Half Marathon & 5k. About 3 years ago Dana was diagnosed with Stage IV Esophageal Cancer.  At 43-years-old with 3 young children, it was, in Dana’s words, “unfathomable.” She traveled up and down the East Coast, looking for a treatment plan that would give her the most hope. Many acted like she was naïve and unrealistic for even seeking out treatments beyond palliative chemotherapy. After much deliberation, Dana settled on a plan of 8 cycles of chemotherapy at one local hospital. During this treatment, a friend introduced Dana to Dr. Mohan Suntha, a Radiation Oncologist at UMGCCC. Within an hour of getting Dana’s information, Dr. Suntha gave her a call. While he agreed the appropriate preliminary step was chemotherapy, he did not close the door on her like many others.  Dr. Suntha and Dana continued to check in with each other throughout her chemotherapy treatments to see how things were going. In December 2013, after Dana finished chemotherapy, she learned she would not be considere...
Source: Life in a Medical Center - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Cancer Doctors Employees & Staff patient care Patient Stories Uncategorized radiation oncology Source Type: blogs