Patient Stories (Page 18)

Shirley Caparn has been cancer-free since 1984. But she’s reminded of it every day, because she lost her right breast during the surgery that saved her life. So she’s become a fan of Flourish Boutique, UVA’s new boutique for cancer patients and survivors. Before Flourish opened, Caparn purchased bras for…

It’s not every day you get to meet a living legend. On the eve of November, National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, that’s what I got to do — talk to one of the very, very few people alive who has survived pancreatic cancer. She also happens to be Debbie Ryan,…

Leah Yetzer, 30, was 37 weeks pregnant with twin boys in 2009 when doctors discovered she’d developed HELLP syndrome, a rare but serious condition that occurs during pregnancy or just after delivery. HELLP reduces red blood cells and increases liver enzymes. Leah was airlifted to UVA, where she had a…

Sione Wade’s battle with stage I breast cancer was almost eight years ago and relatively brief. A last-minute appointment enabled her to get a lumpectomy the same week she was diagnosed. She’s been cancer-free ever since. [caption id="attachment_2158" align="alignright" width="300"] Sione Wade[/caption] But Wade’s never forgotten the phone call from…

[caption id="attachment_1467" align="alignright" width="300"] Luke and Mary Roberts[/caption] Everywhere Luke Roberts goes, his parents must worry about peanuts. If 7-year-old Luke eats peanuts, he could vomit, break out into hives or even stop breathing. Avoiding them isn’t as simple as passing up on Snickers bars. Many processed foods contain trace…

Sidestepping a Third Open-Heart Surgery “For the most part, I live the life of an average 24-year-old graduate student,” says Brandon Conroy. But like others born with congenital heart defects, he’s also in the hospital a lot. He has been through two open-heart surgeries: The first at age 5 to…

[caption id="attachment_868" align="alignright" width="199"] Gamma Knife surgery treated Kay Brockwell's brain tumor.[/caption] When Kay Brockwell of Altavista, Va., received the diagnoses of brain cancer last summer, her body had already been through the mill – twice. In 2006, she was operated on for ovarian and colon cancers, followed by weeks…

A teenage girl squeals in delight as she gazes down at Abbey, a red and white Pembroke Welsh corgi. With her mother’s help, the girl gives the eager and thankful dog some treats. The girl is Gracie, a 14-year-old pediatric patient at UVA’s Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center. Gracie watches as…