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| Karen Matros, Team Karen's Wish
When I was 51 years old, my Doctor was leaving her practice, so I booked a routine physical before she left. During her exam, she found that I was bleeding internally and ordered an immediate colonoscopy and endoscopy. The colonoscopy found that I had cancer and it was slow growing; I probably had it for 5 years. I underwent colon surgery and discovered that it had spread to my lymph nodes, which made my cancer stage 3. I had to undergo 12 rounds of chemotherapy. I had my treatments in Worcester at Commonwealth Hematology and Oncology under Dr. David Shepro who is affiliated with UMass. All my scans were at UMass and continue to be now.
I am 53 now and feel great. I can tell you that I had no symptoms. If I had not gone for a colonoscopy, I might not be here. I continued to work during my treatments and was half way through when my daughter got married. Everyone needs to be strong and fight really hard. I had bad days but would not give in to this ugly disease. My mother is a breast cancer survivor and I lost my Dad in November 2005 to prostate cancer that spread into his bones.
Last year was my first time participating in the Walk to Cure Cancer and I formed team Karen’s Wish (Walking In Support of Healing). I walked in memory of my Dad and for all of us survivors. I will continue to tell my story to anyone that will listen – early detection is key so have your screenings!! My team is ready to walk again and do our part to help raise money for a cure. Way too many of us have watched a love one go through cancer and we need to find a cure. |
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I Didn't Choose Cancer, Cancer Chose Me!
Jody Benoit
Nothing ever prepares you to hear those three words: you have cancer. As a UMass Memorial Health Care Employee, I always took pride in my work providing services for patients. But when I suddenly found myself on the receiving end at age 38, I realized just how much those services really mean.
My story is like so many others. At first when I didn’t feel well, I just thought I needed to rejuvenate. As a mom with a career, I am often tired. In April, I found myself doubled over in pain when I walked in the office. After a scan, ultrasound and surgery, I got the news. I had ovarian cancer.
My first thought was that I just couldn’t believe I had cancer. My second was how would I ever tell my children and my husband. I was terrified and angry and just wondering what now, what am I
supposed to do?
My wonderful physician gave me her card and the told me to call night or day. Then she set up a roadmap for my treatment. Determined to beat this disease. I started radiation in May and finished in November just before my 39th birthday.
Despite the thinning hair, skin burns and yellowing teeth, I was cancer free! Thanks to the extraordinary caregivers here, I am so thankful to be living my life as a professional, a wife, and a mother of three.
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Don Hodes, Team Hodes
Worcester resident Don Hodes, 72, considers himself an active member of the community and a philanthropist, quietly supporting a number of local institutions. For decades he has been involved in the Hudson Hoagland Society, fascinated by the scientific work of the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research and UMass Medical School . Ten years ago, his interest in research took on a new focus, when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, and given a grim prognosis. Fortunately, his treatment at UMass Memorial Medical Center , though arduous, has worked well, and he recognized the role research has played in his care and his current good health. "There were very few treatment options then," he recalled, "but now there are many more, and others are being developed all the time because of huge advances in research."
Shortly after his diagnosis, Hodes participated in the Walk to Cure Cancer, then a new event to raise money for cancer research at the Medical School . In September 1999, the inaugural Walk began in a parking lot across the campus from the construction site that was soon to yield the Aaron Lazare Medical Research Building (LRB). Three thousand walkers strode around Lake Quinsigamond that year, and over the years of the walk, funded the fit-out of laboratory space in the gleaming new 360,000-square foot research facility, and pledged their support to the growth of the Cancer Center and the work of its researchers. The Cancer Center occupies an entire floor in the LRB and includes faculty working in the areas of cancer genetics, growth regulation of cancer cells, cancer epidemiology and
new approaches to treatment of cancer, including the use of RNAi and gene therapy.
Almost a decade later, Hodes is still walking, joined by 14,000 other walkers—including 450 teams—who gathered at the 2008 event from across the city and the state to make a stand against cancer. Each person and each team has a reason for walking: to honor a loved one lost to cancer; to support someone undergoing treatment; to celebrate a success story; to help raise awareness; to have a hand in finding a cure. Together they have raised more than $6 million to fund cancer research at UMMS and have steadfastly maintained the momentum that has fueled the Walk’s growth, ensuring that subsequent years will bring us even closer to a cure.
Looking beyond the Walk’s fund-raising successes, Hodes sees it as an important community event for the emotional impact it has on participants and especially patients. Being surrounded by 14,000 walkers, he said, "makes you realize you are not alone, you are not forgotten." Hodes’s cancer is incurable but treatable and requires close monitoring and constant vigilance, something that he has learned to take in stride. He is particularly pleased to see so many young faces at the Walk: school-aged children involved in teams, college students and young families. "When I was young, nobody talked about cancer. I think it’s important for young people to be aware of cancer. They do get involved, for themselves and their friends and family. They help support the work being done at the Medical School , for now and the future."
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Hear from our patients
We have thousands of success stories from patients who made the choice to get the best cancer care close to home. Read some of their stories here.
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