Ora Germany, 79, of Syracuse (holding the pink teddy bear) celebrated her last round of chemotherapy on Feb. 22 by ringing a bell in the Upstate Cancer Center, surrounded by loved ones including her four daughters and several grandchildren. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer in August 2016 and underwent 12 rounds of chemotherapy. She says her tumor got smaller during treatment. The Upstate Cancer Center features a bell on each of three treatment floors. Patients are invited to ring it when they finish treatment or reach a milestone.
(PHOTO BY SUSAN COLE)
When Patrick Mohr, managing partner of Eastwood Litho Inc., oversaw the printing of the first issue of Upstate’s Cancer Care magazine, he did not expect to be featured on its pages.
But in December 2015, Mohr was treated for thyroid cancer. His symptoms had started with a lump at the back of his throat, and a biopsy confirmed the presence of cancer. Ear, nose and throat surgeon Mark Marzouk, MD, removed the thyroid and the cancerous tumors on it and followed the surgery with internal radiation therapy.
Through the placement of radioactive iodine directly on the tumor site, to eliminate any remaining cancer cells, Mohr was able to avoid chemotherapy and further radiation treatments.
“Dr. Marzouk did a fantastic job, for which I am forever grateful,” Mohr said. “I saw him for my regular checks in November 2016, and Dr. Marzouk told me the cancer is gone. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Mark Marzouk, MD (left), the chief of head and neck cancer surgery at Upstate, chats with Patrick Mohr. Prior to becoming Marzouk’s patient, Mohr’s only contact with the Upstate Cancer Center was printing its magazine. (PHOTO BY SUSAN KAHN)
This article appears in the spring 2017 issue of Cancer Care magazine.
