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Cancer Survivors Search for Quality in Their Lives
Your credentials are defined a little differently at this conference.
After you say your name, you will probably want to add what kind of
cancer(s) you had, what stage it was, and how long you have
survived it.
Welcome to the 17th annual Living Fully With Cancer conference, sponsored by the Anderson Network at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. You will meet a wonderful, vibrant group of people here who can tell you stories that are alternately harrowing, inspiring, funny – or all three. It's a great group, but the rigors of membership are steep.
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UT M.D. Anderson Networker Kelly Jo Myers-Madoian applauds opening keynote speaker Jack Canfield, co-author of the best-selling "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series |
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Take John E. McKemie. He's an active volunteer for M.D. Anderson's Network, which directs a variety of programs like patient and caregiver support lines and community outreach.
In 1988, Mr. McKemie decided against total-body radiation to treat his newly diagnosed leukemia. Instead, he traveled to the renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle for a bone-marrow transplant, a treatment so new it was considered experimental.
Thirty other leukemia patients temporarily moved to Seattle to enter treatment when Mr. McKemie did. Most of them came with their families, who rented apartments. Hospitalized for more than a month, the patients endured grueling rounds of chemotherapy far stronger than normal dosages.
A hundred days later, only six of the 31 patients survived. A year later, only John McKemie was still alive.
After an experience like that, is he still the same person he once was? Mr. McKemie shakes his head. Of course he isn't.
“Cancer transforms you,” he says. “You'll never be the same again.”
This is, essentially, one of the reasons for the Living Fully With Cancer conference. More than 9 million Americans are now cancer survivors. Because of their experiences with illness and treatments, they have different medical, emotional and financial needs. They come to the conference to hear about the latest medical advances, to meet other survivors, to learn – from sessions as diverse as yoga, journaling, and the effects of cancer on survivors' sex lives – how to live as well and meaningfully as they can.
“I always learn something new here,” says Florence Berger, a five-year breast cancer survivor who's attending her fourth conference. “I meet other people, I network, and I learn.”
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