Celebration of Life 2003

Cancer Survivors Day Celebration, Thursday, June 5, 2003

Telling and Showing:
Speakers, Artists Celebrate Life as Cancer Survivors

Once again, speakers and artists from different walks of life came together on the Jefferson campus to celebrate their lives as cancer survivors at the fourth annual celebration by Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center (KCC) in conjunction with National Cancer Survivors Day.

Three speakers held a capacity audience in rapt attention while telling their stories as patients. A fourth speaker described her role as a caregiver for her husband.  As in previous years, many other survivors displayed their art work, writing or crafts.

Before introducing the speakers, Walter J. Curran Jr., MD, Clinical Director, KCC, and Chairman of Radiation Oncology, commended the audience for their participation each year. “Your voice is important because participating on the Jefferson level helps foster involvement and support on the national level.”

Dr. Curran then introduced each speaker in turn.

Brian Costello

Our first speaker is a member of our Jefferson family. Brian Costello is the Director of Human Resources Operations for Thomas Jefferson University. He holds a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Widener University and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. After retiring from the U.S. Navy, he lived and worked extensively overseas. Mr. Costello and his wife have four children, ranging in age from 25 to 29. He was diagnosed in 2000 with prostate cancer.

In telling how humor helped his return to health, Mr. Costello involved and regaled the audience with numerous anecdotes about the importance of humor in all aspects of daily living.

“When you smile, it affects your whole body. Laughter is therapeutic – 20 seconds of a good laugh is as good as 20 minutes on a treadmill.”

Mr. Costello credits his awareness of the importance of humor to his father, who maintained a steady sense of humor despite being progressively ill with multiple sclerosis during 16 of Mr. Costello’s childhood and teen years.

Chris Stoddard

For the first time, a family member was invited to share the vital role of supporting a loved one through a cancer diagnosis, treatment and beyond. Chris Stoddard is the mother of three children and grandmother to three grandsons. In 1996, her husband Jack was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome, acute bone marrow failure, and received a bone marrow transplant at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Chris is an active volunteer and member of the Penn-Jersey Board of Directors of the American Red Cross. She works part-time at the Association for Women’s Alternatives, a nonprofit agency dedicated to keeping families together. Jack volunteers for the Kimmel Cancer Center’s Buddy Program, and through that program, Chris has supported the spouses of patients that Jack has been matched with.

Mrs. Stoddard told the audience that her husband received his diagnosis just as they were anticipating a “wonderful life of retirement and looking forward to spending much time with our children and grandchildren.” Mr. Stoddard had just retired after 29 years as a special agent with the FBI. In recounting the difficult weeks and months before and after her husband’s successful transplant, Mrs. Stoddard said, “We learned how to take it one day at a time – and some days it had to be one hour at a time.”

She closed her remarks by exclaiming about her husband seated in the front row, “Jack, the duffer, just got a hole in one! Life is wonderful!” as the two embraced to warm applause .

“Our next two speakers have taken the title of ‘Celebration of Life’ to heart. Not only have they survived their cancer experience, they have thrived through it, and have learned to celebrate and live life to the fullest,” said Dr. Curran.

Vicki Burks

Vicki Burks is the single mother of two children, James, 16, and Michelle, 12. She was diagnosed with AL Primary Amyloidosis, a rare blood-related cancer, on her 40th birthday, April 9, 1996, and received a stem cell transplant at Jefferson on August 12, 1997. She is a strong advocate for the education of parents and children and is involved in a number of volunteer organizations. She is employed at Canaan Baptist Church Institute of the Arts and is a volunteer for the Kimmel Cancer Center’s Buddy Program.

Ms. Burks gave much praise to her Jefferson doctors and nurses for their support and understanding regarding her parenting role while ill. “The silver lining is that I have met lots of beautiful and wonderful people who are still in my life after my diagnosis seven years ago. My life has been changed around because of my illness, and we have made the best of it. My dreams have come true – my son has decided he wants to find a cure for cancer.”

Leslie Stiles

A breast cancer survivor, Leslie Stiles serves as the newly appointed Executive Director for the Pennsylvania Commission for Women. Leslie has been in the communication business for over 20 years, recently serving as Director of Marketing for the National Constitution Center. She serves as a founding board member of the Philadelphia Marion Anderson Award, an organization that focuses on community investment programs and its award for artistic and humanitarian achievements. She is a volunteer for the Kimmel Cancer Center’s Buddy Program, and is the proud recipient of the Susan G. Komen Foundation “Celebrate Life” award and the BMW “Local Hero Award.” She serves on the editorial board of the Kimmel Cancer Center’s Pink Ribbon Newsletter and is a member of the survivors dragonboating team.

Ms. Stiles, who had regularly been checked and tested for breast cancer, credited her “incredibly astute” surgeon at Jefferson, Melvin Moses, MD, with suggesting she take “one extra test – an MRI – just to be sure.” She became the first patient at Jefferson to test positive from an MRI. She reflected on what might have been the outcome without that incisive suggestion. As the last speaker, she saw important commonalities in previous remarks, giving special importance to forming friendships and participating in activities such as KCC’s Buddy Program and dragonboating. She concluded by assuring the group, “It’s okay to grieve, to be depressed and negative at times – just don’t stay there. I too have fears, but I have a new-found appreciation for family and life. I love my life, and I just want to get on with it!”

The event, which also featured music and food, was co-sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, Wyeth, OrthoBiotech, Cephalon, Aventis, Bristol Myers Squibb Oncology Division, and Novartis.