Aitana Paya Perez

Aitana Paya Perez

Aitana Paya Perez, 27, likes to talk, laugh, play volleyball, run, climb mountains, travel and be with friends. What she doesn't like is to sit still.

Fate forced her to slow her pace, however, after doctors in Barcelona, Spain, discovered a tumor in her jaw in 1999. Although initial surgery showed no malignancy, six months later the tumor became more aggressive and Aitana went back to the operating room.

This time, doctors sent their biopsy results to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

The spirited survivor doesn't lack for humor: "The first time I heard about Mayo was through the Simpsons, as they have their checkups there," she says, laughing.

"No, it's not like that. The doctor who operated on me used to go to Rochester on vacation and knew the pathologists at Mayo Clinic. Therefore, he decided to send the biopsy there. I was told here [in Spain] that the images didn't look good, and, unfortunately, they were right."

The diagnosis was an osteosarcoma, bone cancer.

The family rallies

Aitana's parents, who live in Alicante, in southern Spain, immediately headed for Barcelona, where their daughter was studying architecture. The next day, all three got on a plane for Rochester.

Mayo Clinic Drs. Eugene Keller and Scott Strome performed a 12-hour surgery to take 10 cm (4 inches) from Aitana's fibula to reconstruct her jaw. Aitana (whose mouth was wired shut until she healed) remembers only good things about the long hospitalization and six weeks' recovery in Rochester. "It's incredible!" she says. "Everything is well organized, everybody is very nice and caring, the nurses are very good, and I didn't feel as if I were in the hospital."

Aitana earned a nickname while at Mayo Clinic: "The Inquisitive One." But doctors entertained any question she had: "They explained everything to me, even the risks," she says. "And that gave me confidence."

Aitana returned to Barcelona and began a happy chapter of her life: She socialized, started to work, cautiously resumed some physical activities and excelled in school. "After having been so sick, I wanted to do well and enjoy life," she says.

A vigilant team

But three years later, a nodule in her left lung put everyone on alert: The cancer cells in her jaw had migrated. In November 2003, Dr. Stephen Cassivi removed the nodule at Mayo Clinic. Under Mayo's protocol, Aitana returned to Spain for chemotherapy, which was completed in April 2004.

Life continued apace: Aitana went to Denmark as an exchange student, fell in love and prepared her thesis.

But once again, she had to face down her disease. In February 2005, another follow-up showed a nodule in her right lung. Dr. Cassivi allowed Aitana a few months' reprieve so she could graduate as an architect, then operated in April 2005.

"He is always looking after me," Aitana says of Dr. Cassivi. "He is very sweet and takes care of me. If there is a problem, he calls me right away."

Dr. Cassivi praises the teamwork: "We have a tremendous amount of experience with caring for patients from overseas; the teamwork that is a hallmark of the Mayo Clinic model is essential in these cases, as it allows for thorough yet expedited multidisciplinary specialty care."

Aitana is back in Denmark, working, thriving and in love. It seems she and the Danish summer have much in common: In Aitana's life, the sun shines for many hours.