DESCRIPTION While jogging in 2023, Tessa Parry-Wingfield felt an unusual sensation in her left eye.  It wasn’t painful but merited medical attention.  She was seen by three doctors before learning she had ocular melanoma, a form of eye cancer.  Because of the particulars of her diagnosis, she had to undergo an enucleation, the removal of her cancerous eye.  With an acrylic implant taking the place of the cancerous eye, Tessa had an enormous amount of learning ahead of her, mo

DESCRIPTION For Bhavika Taunk, life took a radical turn in 2017 when her four-year-old son, Kabir, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.  After a bone marrow transplant, he went on an aggressive chemotherapy regimen for two years.  Kabir relapsed twice, but has been in remission since 2020.  Bhavika tells the story of how she cared for her son and how she reaches out to other parents of children diagnosed with cancer.   Bhavika, her husband and two young sons retur

DESCRIPTION In 2021, Brian Vesall noticed some pain in one of his testicles when getting in his car.  He sought medical attention, which led to his getting an ultrasound.  After briefly looking at the scan, a urologist confirmed to Brian that he had Stage 2A testicular cancer.  He underwent an orchiectomy to remove the cancerous testicle, followed by an aggressive chemotherapy regimen of bleomycin, etopiside and cisplatin.  But he wasn’t done.  Brian also underwent an additio

DESCRIPTION Marcel D'Allende was in outstanding health, an avid hiker in the mountains overlooking her hometown of Cape Town, South Africa.  However, in October 2021, she began to experience shortness of breath and extreme fatigue.  That led to a diagnosis of Stage IV non-small cell adenocarcinoma, or lung cancer.  Determined not to let cancer define her, she underwent a treatment regimen of radiotherapy, then chemotherapy with carboplatin and pemetrexed, and immunotherapy wi

DESCRIPTION   In November 2019, Margo Wickersham noticed blood in her urine.  Three months later, she was diagnosed with two types of bladder cancer.  After an aggressive chemotherapy regimen, she underwent a radical cystectomy and a hysterectomy in June 2020, resulting in the removal of her bladder, uterus and cervix, all this during the quarantine phase of the COVID pandemic.   Ever since, Margo has been cancer-free, but she had to get fitted with a stoma bag and had to le

DESCRIPTION When she began experiencing severe bruising and fatigue and turning pale in late 2013, Casey Kang sought medical attention.  This led to a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.  She was placed on an aggressive, 18-month chemotherapy regimen, which included doxorubicin and methotrexate.  Casey relapsed three times during which she was placed on an experimental immunotherapy.  All told, she spent 168 days in a hospital, but Casey achieved survivorship.  She is