Weei/nesn Jimmy Fund Radio-telethon

Sponsor Find Mass Money.gov's representative Deb Goldberg states how much the Jimmy Fund means to her and her collogues.  

Following a typical, fun night out with friends Ryan woke up the next morning with severe stomach pains. He went to urgent care the same morning where scans revealed several masses in his stomach. Additional biopsies confirmed that Ryan had Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor or DSRCT, a type of sarcoma that forms in the body’s connective tissue.·       This past November, Ryan started his treatment regime of 2-day and 5-day increments on a biweekly basis. Since then, he’s completed 8 of 14 planned rounds of chemotherapy and 2 surgeries. Once he finishes chemotherapy, he’ll have an additional 28 days of radiation.·       Ryan graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Bridgewater State University in 2021 and now works as an Account Executive for the public relations firm, Spectrum Science. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants, and hanging out with his friends and family. 

He talks about his family and how important it is for him to keep everyone happy. Also, his goals and a season outlook for the Boston Red Sox. 

· Cecilia was diagnosed with optical pathways glioma in November 2023. Her mom had noticed that one of her eyes was moving differently than the other eye. Her pediatrician sent her to the hospital where doctors discovered a tumor in her eye. · Cecilia’s treatment has included chemotherapy and surgery. · Her mom, April, homeschools Cecilia and her three siblings, Xavier (9), Ricky (6) and Felix (5) · Cecilia loves going to the beach, boogie boarding, swimming and riding her bike. · Their family thinks the Jimmy Fund Clinic is so special because they go above and beyond in all that they do. Cecilia especially loves the toy room and crafts at the Jimmy Fund Clinic. 

Before cancer touched Robb, it impacted his family when both his mother and father were diagnosed with the disease. In 2013, Robb’s mother was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma and treated at Dana-Farber, by Dr. Philippe Armand, before passing gracefully in 2017. Three months later, Robb’s father was diagnosed with bladder cancer and began treatment with Dr. Brad McGregor at Dana-Farber as well. · Recently, when a large mass was discovered on Robb’s kidney, he knew he wanted to receive treatment from the same doctor who cared for his father. Before coming in to see Dr. McGregor, Robb was told that initial CT scans of his abdominal and chest area showed signs of possible metastasis from the kidney to his upper respiratory system. Robb met with Dr. McGregor who felt Robb was showing signs of sarcoidosis, not metastasis. Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease causing the immune system to overreact and sarcoid-like reactions associated with kidney cancer are rare. · Based on Dr. McGregor’s evaluation, a thoracic sur

Nicole Olivera: ? 7 Years worked for Flynn Applebee’s ? General Manager of Westfield, MA Applebee’s ? Store raised $3100 for Jimmy Fund ? In 2000, my grandmother was diagnosed with lymphoma. She was treated at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton and at some point the Hematology-Oncology Department at Dana Farber took over. She received chemotherapy and radiation and at the end of her treatment she was in remission. She was 68 years old - due to the treatment she received and the dedication of the Dana Farber team she lived to be 91.

In January 2018, at 8 months old while living in Puerto Rico, Lia suddenly lost movement and sensation from her hips down. She began treatment in Puerto Rico, but their experience wasn't the best, and one of the doctors told Lia’s mom that her tumor was very rare. Her mom conducted research and learned that Dana-Farber was one of the best places to be treated.  Lia is in a clinical trial for the second time. Oral medication twice a day, the same medicine/treatment she used from 2018 -2020.  Julibeth has no words that can describe what Lia has been through, but Lia is always excited when she knows she's having an appointment, she feels safe, she feels happy, and for the entire family seeing her like that make them happy. The Jimmy Fund Clinic is her special place, around people that love, care and always want what is best for her and her family.  Lia loves to draw, paint, dance, play pretend, Bluey, and unicorns. · Lia will be saying “Play Ball” at tonight’s game. 

Phaedra was 14 years old and sitting in her high school nurse’s office. The nurse noticed her pupils were dilated different sizes and called Phaedra’s mom, recommending she get checked out by a doctor. At the hospital, it was discovered that they had a benign tumor, which was promptly resected. Scans a few years later at 17 indicated that there were no signs of the cancer coming back.  Dr. Kimberly Perez, MD is a member of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Cancer Center Gastrointestinal Oncology and Cancer Genetics and Prevention disease centers. She is a Senior Physician in Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber, an Associate Physician in Medical Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, co-Director of the Dana-Farber Gastrointestinal Clinical Trials program, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Jenn Perry discovered her breast cancer like many women do: finding a lump. She had a biopsy which confirmed a tumor. But Jenn is not like most breast cancer patients and survivors. Jenn has an inherited genetic syndrome known as Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS).  When Jenn was treated for breast cancer, she didn’t know what LFS was. She just knew there were a number of relatives in her family who had cancer, including her mother who lost her life to breast cancer. She underwent genetic testing to see if her cancer was caused by genetics and she learned that it was. Jenn felt she would get the best care at Dana-Farber, especially being pre-disposed to multiple different cancers from LFS. Dana-Farber is home to one of the only LFS Centers in the country. The knowledge that her cancer was caused by an inherited condition, while empowering in some ways, gave rise to a more difficult question – could her daughters also have LFS and should they undergo genetic testing. When the timing was right, both her daughters under

 Kevin M. Haigis, PhD, joined Dana-Farber as Chief Scientific Officer in 2020. Prior to assuming this role, Dr. Haigis was Director of Cancer Genetics at Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center. Dr. Haigis received his PhD in genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and did post-doctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a Robert Black Fellow of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. Dr. Haigis has a long-standing interest in intestinal biology and the molecular pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. His laboratory combines computational and informatic approaches with experimental approaches in genetically engineered mice to study the relationship among Ras oncogene signaling, colorectal cancer, and inflammation.

Two miles there and two miles back. That’s the distance John Warner would walk from his Back Bay home to Dana-Farber to keep himself in shape while in treatment for renal cell carcinoma, or kidney cancer. John was diagnosed in the winter of 2021. John experienced blood in his urine which led to a scan at his physical. That scan revealed a tumor between one of his kidneys and ureters that was promptly removed. He consulted several top medical centers around the country before ultimately undergoing a chemotherapy plan with Dana-Farber. He was cancer-free after six months, until it returned three months later. John pivoted to immunotherapy treatment under the care of Dr. Toni Choueiri for several months before joining a chemotherapy clinical therapy exclusive to Dana-Farber patients.  John stayed on the trial for 16 months and just came off it a few months ago. He’s continued to work as a Senior Partner at McKinsey and Company throughout his treatment, while also doing activities he loves like playing golf and g

 Craig Bunnell, MD, MPH, MBA, is the Morse Family Chief Medical Officer of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School-affiliated teaching hospital. In this role, Dr. Bunnell oversees adult and pediatric clinical services at Dana-Farber. Under his leadership, the Institute has become a leader in implementing technology to enhance patient flow, operational efficiency, and patient access.  Dr. Bunnell is also a breast medical oncologist at Dana-Farber and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has been the principal investigator of several institutional and multicenter clinical trials and serves on several editorial boards.  Dr. Bunnell received his MD from Harvard Medical School, MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health, MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed his medical training at Brigham and Women's Hospital where he also served as Chief Medical Resident.  Dr. Bunnell has more than 120 orig

 Dr. Jänne received his MD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. He completed postgraduate training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and in medical oncology at DFCI in 2001. He is the Senior Vice President for Translational Medicine and the Scientific Director of the Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science. His main research interests include studying the therapeutic relevance of oncogenic alterations in lung cancer. He was one of the co-discoverers of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and has led the development of therapeutic strategies for patients with EGFR mutant lung cancer.  In September 2020, amid downsizing to a forever home with her husband, Barbara Ackerman, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.  After experiencing persistent back pain, a chiropractor suggested an x-ray, leading her to consult her doctor. She knew she wanted to be treated at Dana-Farber due to its reputation, and Dr. Janne, a specialist in EGFR, was highly recommended. Doctors f

 In June 2018, Gloria was playing golf when she realized something was wrong. Her primary care doctor was alarmed when Gloria asked to bump up her physical and arranged for an immediate appointment and blood tests, which revealed she had Acute lymphocytic leukemia. · Referred to Dana-Farber by her son, a physician, Gloria began a grueling chemotherapy regimen, sometimes undergoing treatment for 21 hours a day. Undeterred, she requested a stationary bike for her room and continued to walk - even while attached to IV poles. Her determination paid off, and after becoming cancer-free, Gloria underwent a stem cell transplant in December 2018, with a donor from California. But her journey didn't end there. A few years later during a winter vacation in Florida, doctors discovered her cancer returned. This time, she underwent Dana-Farber’s innovative CAR T therapy and was once again deemed cancer-free.· Throughout her cancer journey, Gloria remained active and engaged, chatting with nurses about fashion—she owned a w

The Dubowik household came down with the flu. While everyone else recovered, Evelyn got worse and had “bizarre” bruising. Her mother took her to the emergency room for difficulty breathing. After some lab work, doctors discovered she had cancer.· Evelyn is in a two-year treatment plan and went from “standard risk” to “high risk” when she didn’t hit remission when she was supposed to. This meant giving her a stronger chemotherapy regimen. Today, Evelyn is in remission and is set to finish her treatments at the start of 2025. · When she’s at The Jimmy Fund Clinic, Evelyn loves the people there, crafts, the decorations, music therapy, and Opry the facility dog. Evelyn will be in first grade and is home-schooled. She loves to swim, do acrobats, dance, and sing. Evelyn is a hard-core Swiftie and one of Taylor Swift’s biggest fans. 

Nine years ago, Joel was diagnosed with prostate cancer at his annual wellness exam while living in Connecticut; his best friend was his urologist at the time. He began making regular visits to Boston to get treated at Dana-Farber. Dr. Mark Pomerantz is a medical oncologist and Clinical Director for the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Pomerantz received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his medical degree from Stanford University. He trained in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He then pursued a fellowship in Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber. Dr. Pomerantz received his post-doctoral training in cancer genetics with Dr. Matthew Freedman at Dana-Farber and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. He also teaches as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. 

Paul Mossberg, 58, esophageal cancer, Brookline, with Melissa Levin, MSW, LICSW, Senior Clinical Social Worker and Programmatic Specialist for the Neuro-Inclusive Oncology Care and Empowerment Program, Dana-Farber.

  Dr. Meyerhardt is the Chief Clinical Officer for Dana-Farber and Co-Director of the Colon and Rectal Cancer Center as a medical oncologist specializing in cancers in the GI tract. He is also the Douglas Gray Woodruff Chair in Colorectal Cancer Research and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.       Dr. Meyerhardt received his MD from Yale School of Medicine in 1997. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston, followed by a medical oncology fellowship at DFCI. He joined the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber in 2002.  

  Anne Gross, PhD, RN, FAAN, is senior vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer. Dr. Gross is responsible for adult and pediatric nursing practice across all sites of care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in Nursing and Patient Care Services, and the Center for Clinical and Professional Development. She also oversees a variety of other clinical services, patient and family programs, and Volunteer Services.       Since joining Dana-Farber in 2002, she has led implementations of a primary nursing care model and a residency training program for newly licensed nurses, and secured funding for programs and research to support inclusion, diversity and equity, positive practice environments, and self-care and renewal programs. She also is involved in committees, boards, and initiatives nationally and internationally and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.       Dana-Farber continues to grow, and Nursing and Patient Care Services is conti

Lisa Scherber talks about what the first day of the Jimmy Fund Telethon has been like so far and the stories that have touched her the most.