Rebecca Whitehead Munn - All of Us Warriors

This book serves as a tremendous resource for cancer patients and their families. Their faith, strength, and perseverance should serve as an example for others facing adversity. They are an inspiration to many, including myself.

Ricardo J. Komotar, MD, FAANS, FACS, Program Director, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Miami School of Medicine

This book is life-changing for cancer patients and their loved ones. It is like a conversation with a new best friend (or twenty of them), full of understanding, acceptance, and practical advice gained from personal experience. It opened a door that made me want to share my story and hear the stories of others. It demonstrates how much we each have to gain and to give within our unique community, and contains real information and strategies that cannot be found in online medical sites. It is, simply, a powerful fuel for the body and the soul.

Doris Schneider, breast cancer survivor and author of Borrowed Things, By Way of Water, and Nana and the c

The word cancer can be a frightening term to many. All Of Us Warriors: Cancer Stories of Survival And Loss strips away the fear, demonstrating time and again that there is always hope and there can be joy in life, even when one is faced with the tremendous challenges of illness.

Dr. Robin Williams, breast surgeon at Saint Thomas Medical Partners

What a great book of storiestrue stories of persistence, patience, and determination. I highly recommend it for any family with a cancer diagnosis.

Dr. Peter R. Ledoux, breast surgeon at PRMA

To see that you are not alone is a great comfort. Rebecca Munn has presented twenty stories for you to read with elements of shock, disbelief, and debility of the fight, but each case brings some new elements to consider. Cancer is a hard thing to accept; reading these stories will help.

R. Scott Anderson, MD, FACR, medical director of Anderson Regional Cancer Center and author of The Hard Times and Terrence and the Toilet Fairy

All of Us
WARRIORS

Copyright 2020, Rebecca Whitehead Munn

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, digital scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please address She Writes Press.

Published 2020

Printed in the United States of America

Print ISBN: 978-1-63152-795-1

E-ISBN: 978-1-63152-796-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020905837

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She Writes Press

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Berkeley, CA 94707

Interior design by Tabitha Lahr

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T his book is dedicated to my mother, who survived late-stage breast cancer in her fifties and later lost the battle to colon cancer in her seventies. She was an invaluable role model for me in living and in dying.

This book is also dedicated to the people who were willing to speak up and bare all on these pages, in an effort to demystify the cancer experience and help others: Melissa, Robyn, Helen, Ronn, Jennifer, Bill K., Dana, Bill G., Valerie, Dan, Peggy, Robert, Holly, Nikki, Kim, Gina, Tricia, Debi, Alan, and Kristi.

C ancer impacts each of us. One-point-seven million men and women will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and nearly two out of every five people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Individuals, families, friends, and colleagues are all impacted by cancer. What used to be never discussed is now a familiar topic.

Fortunately, major advances in treatment are leading to patients living longer and better. Cancers that were untreatable twenty years ago are now routinely treated. The goal of finding a cure has not changed, but where we cannot achieve cure, we are striving to reduce cancer and the symptoms that come from itallowing individuals to live with cancer. And as treatments become more effective, they are increasingly less harmful, allowing individuals to live with quality.

Innovations in technology and deeper scientific insights have led to the discovery of novel treatments that can specifically target cancer cells, and not healthy cells. As well, breakthroughs in our understanding of how the immune system can be used to identify and kill cancer have led to the development of groundbreaking approaches in cancer treatment that have revolutionized the landscape of cancer care. We are experiencing one of the greatest eras of achievement in cancer treatment, and the future is brighter than ever.

But it hasnt always been this way. Growing up with a father who worked as an oncologist allowed me to see the challenges of caring for patients with cancer. The availability of therapies was more limited; and these treatments were often toxic, with modest benefits. My fathers partners discouraged me from going into oncology. Work would be hard, medicine would be increasingly regulated, and there were other pursuits that offered easier paths in life. My dad never pushed medicine on me, but he always supported my interest. I accompanied him on hospital rounds, spent summers in the lab and in the hospital, and shadowed different kinds of doctors to see all of the ways one could practice medicine. The one thing that always resonated with me was the gratitude patients and families had, even when things didnt turn out well. That gratitude convinced me that caring for others, even when they are at the hardest times in their lives, was a privileged role.

Oncology is a field where your impact is meaningful. Helping someone and their family through one of the hardest periods in their life is an honor. And to be able to provide hope, because advances in care are occurring at a rapid pace, is truly rewarding. Those advances come from research and the sacrifices of other patients and families. We still have far to go to help more people, and yet the successes of the past several years provide a foreshadowing that we will make even greater progress in the years ahead.

There is reason to have hope. I believe you will find inspiration and hope in each of the stories included in this book. The one truth of all cancer experiences is it will change your life, forever. The change may be small or unnoticeable or it may be life-threatening. These stories provide examples of why there is always hope for anyone fighting cancer and why that journey will not be taken alone.