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Victors Stories: Patient Stories

Toni

Toni was 18 and had recently graduated from high school when she found a lump in her neck that wasn't there the day before.

Her family doctor suspected mono, but when blood tests came back negative he referred her for a biopsy at U-M Health System, where she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease.

When she was diagnosed sixteen years ago, it was standard to have surgery to biopsy all major organs and occasionally remove the spleen. This is how doctors determined her cancer to be in stage 3B - meaning the cancer had spread everywhere but to her bone marrow.

Toni went through eight months of chemo. The side effects really hit her hard both physically and emotionally. "I was treated in the late 80s when 'big hair' was in, before cancer patients walked around bald or wore fun hats," explained Toni. "I was embarrassed to have gained a lot of weight as a result of high dose prednisone steroid therapy. Recognizing the shame I experienced regarding my physical appearance during treatment, a family friend was kind enough to spend over one thousand dollars on a wig to look like my own hair."

Toni was so self-conscious about her looks, she only allowed one photograph to be taken without her wig -- and that was only after her grandmother convinced her that she might want to look back on her experience some day. That photo is now precious to her.

Her Experience Comes Full Circle

During her illness, Toni tried to keep her life as normal as possible by attempting to take part-time college courses and working, but the disease took its toll. If she wasn't sick from the chemo treatments, she often found herself hospitalized, fighting infections caused by low white blood cell counts. With her friends away at college, and finding it difficult to do normal things like attend school, date, and work, Toni became secluded.

"I didn't have anybody I could relate to," she said. "I was treated in the adult clinic alongside patients much older than myself who were facing different life issues."

When Jane Deering, a social worker at U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, recognized how isolated Toni was, she felt compelled to start a support group called "Young Adults With Cancer." Toni not only inspired the group of patients 18-30 years old, but she became a regular attendee. In addition to her regular support group involvement, Toni became a volunteer peer counselor for young adults with cancer. Continuing in her efforts for over a decade, Toni was proud to be named, "Peer Counselor Volunteer of the Year" at U-M Health System in 1998.

Throughout the past sixteen years since Toni has been in remission, she has lead a very successful life that's included college graduation, marriage, and a business career. During all this time, Toni remained active as a peer counselor in the "Young Adults With Cancer" support group. She found working with cancer patients so rewarding that she left her business career to earn a Masters in Social Work degree at U of M, and she is currently employed as a Clinical Social Worker at U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Through her experience as a patient, volunteer, student, and employee at U-M , Toni has gained a unique perspective on patient care. "Collaboration is key," she remarked. "Doctors, nurses, and social workers all work together to learn what patients are going through in order to offer the best possible care."

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See Also:
Pediatric Hematology Oncology Clinic

Finding Strength in Others web page -- provides information about Cancer Center support groups and peer counseling