Sharing Hope

Never are spiritual concerns more present or more urgent than during a serious illness or at the end of life. Michigan Medicine's Department of Spiritual Care chaplains walk that journey with patients and families all day, every day.

Yoga had been a part of Flora Migyanka’s life for years, but after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy, yoga became her go-to therapy for relieving stress and pain.

Cancer researchers are looking for ways to understand advanced cancers in order to give patients personalized options for treatment. And, the more researchers understand individual cancerous tumors and how they change over time, the sooner new treatments can be developed.

If you ask Carolyn C. about her 2005 cancer diagnosis or her recurrences since that time, there's a good chance she'll bring up the "hit by the bus theory." "Nobody is promised tomorrow," says the 51-year-old wife and mother of three sons. "People with cancer happen to be reminded of that more strongly. We can't let our fear of the bus get in the way."

Jennifer Kelley was unprepared for the rare diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma at age 52, especially since it was her third experience with cancer in a mere 30 months. She had the cancerous lump under her arm surgically removed and followed up with five cycles of chemotherapy as a precaution. Because Kelley's cancer had spread into a lymph node, he explained the cancer was categorized as stage 4 and expected to return.

Meet Laura Fliss, a successful, busy mother of two facing cancer of unknown primary, also called CUP. What makes CUP unique is that it is advanced to the point where its genetic characteristics are lost, making it impossible to identify where the cancer started. For this reason, it is almost always metastatic and difficult to treat.

Laughter may not be the best medicine, but being able to see the humor even in tough situations is helpful. Lila Green, an ovarian cancer survivor, shares a lighthearted look at cancer from a her perspective.

For Lisa Bourdon-Krause, curing head and neck cancer was only part of the challenge. Her cancer impacted her tongue and removing it (and the cancer) would make it impossible for her to talk. As a mother with young children, she needed more -- and doctors at the cancer center decided to do their best to save her ability to speak.