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Oncology in Minnesota

Patient Stories

  • Jim and Louanne, with black walnut veneer logs cut on their farm

    Mayo's caring attitude brings hope to patient

    Jim Brooks was vacationing with his family in Spain when suddenly he couldn't speak for 10 minutes and wound up in the hospital. Jim and his wife Louanne decided together they wanted to return to their Minnesota home and Mayo ...

  • John Saviano

    John Saviano

    Radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery put Miami scuba diver back in the water.

  • Tom Sherrard

    Tom Sherrard

    Radiation therapy and surgery put a stop to aggressive anaplastic thyroid cancer.

  • Cynthia Amendt

    Cynthia Amendt

    Artist and teacher Cynthia Amendt sees her teaching — and her health — reach new levels through participation in a clinical trial.

  • John Fulton

    John Fulton

    Decades after beating bone cancer at Mayo Clinic, John Fulton returned, this time to defeat islet cell cancer. John says that, once more, Mayo helped him "beat the system."

  • Ruth Smith

    Ruth Smith

    Ruth Smith lives more than 200 miles north of Rochester, Minn., but she knew where she wanted to go when she was diagnosed with kidney cancer — Mayo Clinic.

  • Laurie Beach

    Laurie Beach

    A rare brain tumor couldn't stop Laurie Beach from enjoying the life she dreamed of.

  • Ardyth Carpenter

    My 30-Year Journey with Mayo

    My name is Ardyth Carpenter, and in 1982, I went to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, after experiencing a TIA. While there, Mayo's work up discovered a malignancy in my right breast. I had no ill effects from the "mini-stroke" ...

  • David Farrell

    David Farrell

    A tongue tumor threatened to cut short this volunteer firefighter's life, but surgery and radiation treatment at Mayo Clinic saved his life.

  • James Donnelly

    James Donnelly

    Coordinated approach to care brings results for business school professor.

  • Cindy

    To Life (again) as a Two-Time Cancer Survivor

    I'm walking a fine line between jubilation and anxiety. As a two-time ovarian cancer survivor, I'm nearing the anniversary of my recurrence. Although I feel fine, this type of cancer isn't the most accommodating. My nerves always manage to creep up ...

  • Erik V.

    Battle with Cancer: Recurrent Testicular Lymphoma

    My battle with cancer started a few years ago when I developed prostate cancer. My local doctor recommended a Radical Prostatectomy. He painstakingly spared all my nerves. I had no residual incontinence or impotence. PSA was NIL and has never ...

  • Hannah Keach

    A Scarf and a Blessing

    His Holiness the Dalai Lama recently visited Mayo Clinic and gave a special presentation on resilience through mindfulness. The below story takes place during his visit to Mayo Clinic last year... When Troy Keach, Mayo Clinic Education Administration, brought his ...

  • Joel Saunders

    Joey's Hope – Part 4 of 4

    Previously: "Joey's Hope – Part 1 of 4", "Joey's Hope – Part 2 of 4", and "Joey's Hope – Part 3 of 4" ...Because this was an exciting brand new medication the local news station interviewed Joel several times throughout ...

  • Joel, Kimberly, and their daughter

    Joey's Hope – Part 3 of 4

    Previously: "Joey's Hope – Part 1 of 4" and "Joey's Hope – Part 2 of 4" ...Within the next twelve short months Joel, Kimberly, and their daughter made FIVE additional trips to the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester. Joel had a ...

  • Joel Saunders

    Joey's Hope – Part 2 of 4

    Previously: "Joey's Hope – Part 1 of 4" ...Joel was gone to surgery and then to recovery on Friday from about 6:30 a.m. until 4 or 5 p.m. He was moved to the ninth floor of the Mary Brigh building ...

  • Joel Saunders

    Joey's Hope – Part 1 of 4

    To be told he had melanoma cancer totally shocked Joel Saunders and his family who live in Fort Wayne, Indiana. An auto technician (window installer), Joel was always extremely healthy and rarely called in sick to work. He has been ...

  • David

    My Stem Cells

    During the summer of 2011, my husband, David, underwent a series of tests which revealed extremely high levels of a certain protein in his blood.  As a result, we were referred to the Hematology Department at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, ...

  • Marlys Fox and her husband Vince

    Marlys Fox beats cancer death sentence...by 45 years

    By Susan Pepperdine "My doctor came in, and in his best Marcus Welby voice told me I was going to die," Marlys Fox vividly remembers. She was just 32 years old, so "I wasn't going to take that sitting down. ...

  • Mary Rohrer

    Breast Cancer? Me? My Story

    Having never been touched by any kind of cancer in any generation of my family, it came as a shock to learn of my breast cancer diagnosis confirmed at Mayo Clinic January 2012. I felt I was going through seven ...

  • Carrie Edwards

    The Discovery That Changes Everything

    I am a hard charging, creative, passionate person who listens to her "inner voice" as much as possible. Earlier this year, I was having multiple ear and throat infections which were not responsive to antibiotics.  After three rounds, my doctor ...

  • Alfred “Bart” Howe

    Three Strikes ... But Not Out

    Personal Background My name is Alfred "Bart" Howe and I am a very lucky guy. I was born 1938 in a small oilfield town in Oklahoma. Mary and I married in 1965 and have two married sons, a grandson and ...

  • Cancer Patient Experiences Football as Healing

    Below is an except from a blogpost written by Karon Hanson on the Healing As A Sacred Path blog. "[He] received more rounds of chemo earlier this Fall, and when it was found the cancer was still progressing, he enrolled ...

  • Annemieke van der Werff

    My Mayo Story

    By Annemieke van der Werff At the end of March 2010, my husband and I returned from a wonderful trip through India. During the trip I had noticed a swollen lymph node in my left armpit. At first I didn't ...

  • Steve Wiersma

    Thanks to Mayo, My Survival and Passion for Softball Will Continue

    I will never forget the afternoon of January 31, 2011, when I was at my local health provider and received the devastating news that I had stage 4 throat cancer at the base of my tongue that had spread to ...

  • Jim Zloch

    Trial Lawyer Treated for Cancer on Vocal Cords

    Jim Zloch is a trial lawyer from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. He was diagnosed in Florida for cancer on his vocal cords. He sought a second opinion and ultimately, treatment at Mayo Clinic in 2006. Jim talks about going through six ...

  • Andrew Mork

    Pilocytic Astrocytoma – Andrew Mork – Update

    This is an update to Andrew Mork's story, "It really should be called The Mayo Family", from over a year and a half ago. We have caught back up with both Andrew and his mom for an updated video interview ...

  • Mike and Deb Watters and their daughter, Corinne

    One good shot to make things right

    When Corinne was 6 years old, she was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a childhood cancer of the bone marrow. Corinne's parents, Mike and Deb Watters, learned the cancer was in her hip and leg. Treatment would include chemotherapy to shrink ...

  • Julie and Faith Glass

    Finding Answers for Faith

    California-native Faith Glass began showing signs of illness at age 2. When local doctors were unable to diagnose her, Faith's parents, Julie and Bart, turned to Mayo Clinic for answers. In this video, Julie and Faith share their experience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCfR6iDogbs ...

  • Donna Termont

    Mayo Clinic Erickson Hair and Skin Care Center – Donna Termont

    Donna Termont shares her experience at the Mayo Clinic Erickson Hair and Skin Care Center. Donna tells her story about hair loss due to the side effects of chemotherapy and how the Mayo Clinic Erickson Hair and Skin Care Center ...

  • Roger Lipelt

    When you get knocked down, you need to get back up again.

    Roger Lipelt shares his story about colon cancer and how the team work between Mayo Clinic and his local hospital has given him the opportunity to keep coaching as an accomplished Minnesota Football Association Hall of Famer. Today, he is ...

  • Andrea Miller

    Hurt and Healing

    By: Andrea Miller Birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, graduation gifts...we're set in a society that longs after gifts.  I have learned, however, that the most important gift one can receive is a clean bill of health.  I have not had the ...

  • Dennis Nigon

    Man's Throat Cancer is Gone

    When 64-year-old Dennis Nigon struggled for two weeks with a sore throat, he never imagined he would be diagnosed with cancer a few weeks later. Nigon didn't think anything serious of his sore throat. But as it continued to persist, ...

  • Humanizing the Patient Experience

    Diane recently wrote about her friend's experience at Mayo Clinic. Read a few parts of her blog post below. "My good friend recently received the call that a lot of us baby boomers are dreading. Her mother, who had been ill ...

  • Mayo Clinic corporate dragon boat team Synchronicity

    Mayo Clinic breast cancer survivors/employees take to the water to spread breast cancer awareness

    Toni Kay Mangskau makes a living helping patients from around the world learn about the latest cancer research.                                                   Mangskau, 45, a clinical trials referral coordinator at Mayo Clinic's Cancer Education Center in Rochester, Minn., never imagined she would one day ...

  • Scott Hennen

    Scott Hennen on Ulcerative Colitis and Mayo Clinic

    Scott Hennen, a radio talk show host from Fargo, ND, had surgery at Mayo Clinic yesterday to remove his colon, which had developed several sites with precancerous cells related to his ulcerative colitis, which was first diagnosed in 1997. Scott ...

  • Scott Hennen

    Sharing with His Radio Family

    Scott Hennen is on the air three hours every weekday on his syndicated radio program based in Fargo, North Dakota. He has had ulcerative colitis since 1997, and on Monday morning is scheduled to have his colon removed at Mayo ...

  • Janis Ollson and her family

    A first of its kind surgery

    Three years ago, when Janis Ollson, now 32, was pregnant with her second child, she experienced agonizing back pain. But, unlike the back pain she had during her first pregnancy with daughter Braxtyn, this time the pain would not subside. ...

  • Patient sharing her experience with robotic head and neck surgery

    Robotic Head and Neck Surgery

    Surgeons at Mayo Clinic have developed a new robotic procedure performed through the mouth (transorally) to treat cancers of the tongue base and tonsils. Mayo Clinic is one of the few medical centers in the United States offering this surgery, ...

  • Dianne Rhein

    Mayo: My Best Hope for Treating My Rare Cancer

    Mayo Clinic had already been a source of invaluable consultations for my long-time autoimmune Sjogren's Syndrome and for genetic counseling to ascertain potential genetic predisposition for the autoimmune conditions, cardiomyopathy and cancer that populated my family tree. But late in ...

  • Jacob Harpel and his mother.

    Jacob Harpel's Thanksgiving Story

    Eight-year-old Jacob Harpel from Glencoe, Minn., was diagnosed with a plum-sized brain tumor the day before Thanksgiving last year. He had aggressive brain surgery at Mayo Clinic in August to remove the tumor; with the surgery he had a 50% ...

  • Emma and Dr. Svetomir Markovic

    Emma's gift

    When offered a choice between a trip to the doctor or a shopping day at the American Girl Store, eight-year-old Emma chose the doctor — hands down. An extraordinary choice, but then, Emma is an extraordinary girl. This wasn't to ...

  • Andrew Mork

    "It really should be called The Mayo Family"

    Andrew Mork is being treated at Mayo Clinic for juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma, a rare cancer of the brain and spinal cord. Andrew's mother, Corrie, shared their Mayo Clinic last summer via e-mail, and they also decided to tell about their experience ...

  • Hannah Kelly

    Four Words

    This story was submitted by David Kelly from Saint Joseph, Mich. We've been a part of the Mayo Experience since 1998. Originally we began our treatment in a Chicago hospital. It was there that our two-year-old daughter, Hannah, had her ...

  • Madeline Stockbridge: My Mayo Clinic Story

    Editor's Note: Madeline Stockbridge submitted this story by email after receiving the print edition of the Sharing Mayo Clinic newsletter. She wrote "After reading the latest issue of Sharing Mayo Clinic, I had to submit my story. Ning Chieng's words ...

  • Sheila Robb

    "Mayo is where I go to get well"

    Editor's note: This story was submitted by Sheila Robb, a Mayo Clinic patient from Minneapolis. I was at Mayo a couple of months ago to start planning for a new treatment. The breast cancer that had metastasized 2 ½ years ...

  • Anne and Tony de Bari

    Anne de Bari

    December 7, 1941 was labeled by Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a "Day of Infamy" after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  For my wife, Anne, and me the date was April 13, 2009 when we heard from our family doctor that ...

  • Helen Buescher

    Of Feathers and "Angels"

    Helen Buescher was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006. Since then, she has traveled several times from her home in northern Minnesota to Mayo Clinic in Rochester for tests, appointments and chemotherapy infusions. Between her Mayo Clinic appointments, Helen receives treatment ...

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