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Memorial Hospital Physician-in-Chief Robert Wittes (second from left) welcomed National Survivorship Day speakers (from left) Brian Whitman, the Reverend Calvin Butts, Karen Greene, and Nicholas Du Brul. |
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"As the number of adult survivors of cancer has increased, it's become clear that cancer survivors face a host of challenges that need special attention," said Memorial Hospital Physician-in-Chief Robert E. Wittes, welcoming the hundreds of patients and their families who filled the Rockefeller Research Laboratories Auditorium on June 12 to mark National Survivorship Day, an annual event at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. In recognition of these challenges, Memorial Sloan-Kettering established the Survivorship Initiative under the leadership of Mary McCabe. The initiative is oriented, Dr. Wittes explained, "to the needs of survivors, the research, and the information exchange that needs to go on to make sure that the circumstances of surviving cancer get better."
Four cancer survivors, including the Reverend Calvin O. Butts, III, pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City, then talked about their experiences.
Brian Whitman, who survived thyroid cancer and the amputation of his left leg a little more than one year before the evening's celebration, asked, "How long must one survive to be considered a cancer survivor?" His answer? "Surviving is just another word for living. And so, as long as I'm alive, I'm a survivor."
Karen Greene, a seven-year survivor of metastatic bladder cancer, observed, "We faced our mortality and are still here -- live long and prosper!"
Nicholas Du Brul, a 25-year survivor of Ewing's sarcoma, reported that he went on to marry after treatment and that he and his wife are parents of a five-year-old girl, "one of many miracles."
Finally, Dr. Butts, a survivor of both colon and prostate cancers, encouraged the audience, "If every one of us goes out of here today and talks about our survival -- no matter how long or how short -- we inspire somebody else."
