Patient Stories

	Scott, Prostate Cancer What he thought was an ordinary drive home from watching a spring training baseball game in Ft. Myers, Fla., turned out to be a defining moment in Scott’s life. "I was devastated," said Scott, who had just turned 61. "I thought I was too healthy and too young. I thought I was invincible and that there was no way my biopsy would show cancer." To read more about Scott’s story, click here.
	Joan, Lung Cancer For Joan, a 66-year-old resident of Waldorf, Md., a colonoscopy was the secret to an early diagnosis of lung cancer. Joan’s doctor saw something suspicious during a routine colonoscopy in June 2004... To read more about Joan’s story, click here.
	Suzanne, Brain Tumor For 34-year-old Suzanne, nothing is more important than being the best mother possible to her young children. But in the fall of 2005, a discovery during a routine brain scan threatened to hinder the Phoenix, Ariz., mom’s ability to care for her children. To read more about Suzanne’s story, click here.
	Sean, Orbital Lymphangioma "I was kind of scared before I went in," Sean admitted, because his surgery a year before resulted in a hospital stay and a lot of facial bruising. "But the CyberKnife® treatment was easy. I just went to sleep while they did it, and then went back to the hotel with my parents." To read more about Sean’s story, click here.
	Stan, Intestinal Cancer In June of 2000 after experiencing epigastric pain, backache and eventually weight loss, Alan – who also goes by Stan amongst friends – was diagnosed with a rare and non-aggressive cancer in his duodenum, referred to as a schwannoma. By the time he received his diagnosis, the tumor unfortunately had grown into the head of his pancreas. To read more about Stan's story, click here.
	Valorie, Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) In February 1969, Valorie’s arteriovenous malformation (AVM) bled for the first time. She felt extreme pain on the back of her neck, her body shook with spasms for about an hour and the right side of her body went numb. Valorie’s parents thought she had thrown out a vertebra in her back. To read more about Valorie's story, click here.
	Karen, Bile Duct Cancer Karen Vinci is a 57-year-old native Californian who was born and raised in the Bay Area and continues to work at her family's restaurant, The Fat Lady, a long-time landmark and one of Oakland’s finest eateries. In 2003, after a routine physical, Karen was diagnosed with bile duct cancer (Klatskin tumor in the left & right hepatic ducts). To read more about Karen's story, click here.
	Mark, Acoustic Neuroma Mark’s journey with his Acoustic Neuroma started years before he knew it. In 1991 he remembers sitting in his living room listening to music through headphones and thinking that the right speaker didn't sound right. He assumed that the stereo was broken and he’d just have to replace it someday To read more about Mark's story, click here.