156: Jonathan Gegerson survived head and neck cancer | salivary duct carcinoma | taxol | herceptin
Release Date: 11/04/2025
160: Marcel D’Allende survived Stage 4 Lung Cancer | carboplatin | pemetrexed | durvalumab | immunotherapy
Cancer Interviews
Marcel D'Allende was in outstanding health, an avid hiker in the mountains overlooking her hometown of Cape Town, South Africa. However, in October 2021, she began to experience shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. That led to a diagnosis of Stage IV non-small cell adenocarcinoma, or lung cancer. Determined not to let cancer define her, she underwent a treatment regimen of radiotherapy, then chemotherapy with carboplatin and pemetrexed, and immunotherapy with durvalumab. In September 2022, a PET scan revealed Marcel was cancer-free. It took a little while for...
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159: Margo Wickersham survived bladder cancer | cystoscopy | radical cystectomy | plasmacytoid
Cancer Interviews
In November 2019, Margo Wickersham noticed blood in her urine. Three months later, she was diagnosed with two types of bladder cancer. After an aggressive chemotherapy regimen, she underwent a radical cystectomy and a hysterectomy in June 2020, resulting in the removal of her bladder, uterus and ovaries, all this during the quarantine phase of the COVID pandemic. Ever since, Margo has been cancer-free, but she had to get fitted with a stoma bag and had to learn how to manage it. The bag is an annoyance, but she considers it a small price to pay in order to stay...
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158: Casey Kang survived acute lymphoblastic leukemia | experimental immunotherapy | doxorubicin | methotrexate
Cancer Interviews
When she began experiencing severe bruising and fatigue and turning pale in late 2013, Casey Kang sought medical attention. This led to a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She was placed on an aggressive, 18-month chemotherapy regimen, which included doxorubicin and methotrexate. Casey relapsed three times during which she was placed on an experimental immunotherapy. All told, she spent 168 days in a hospital, but Casey achieved survivorship. She is now a coach who helps women diagnosed with cancer through the physical, mental and emotional...
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157: genetic testing helped stacy martin survive gastric cancer | prophylactic total gastrectomy
Cancer Interviews
Stacy Martin says genetic testing saved her life. The testing indicated she had the CDH1 mutation. The mutation gave her an 80 percent chance of getting gastric cancer and a 60 percent chance of breast cancer. She opted for a prophylactic total gastrectomy to remove her stomach and addressed the possibility of breast cancer with a bilateral mastectomy. Without a stomach, Stacy has had to change the way she eats, requiring food every two hours, and having to completely chew everything she eats. Despite this live-changing surgery, Stacy is leading a healthy...
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156: Jonathan Gegerson survived head and neck cancer | salivary duct carcinoma | taxol | herceptin
Cancer Interviews
In 2019, Jonathan Gegerson sought medical attention went he felt a lump on the right side of his neck. After a couple of scans and a biopsy, he was diagnosed with salivary duct carcinoma, a rare form of head and neck cancer. Jonathan survived, but not before enduring 67 sessions of radiation, 12 cycles of chemotherapy (carboplatin, taxol, herceptin) and seven surgeries. He still undergoes a targeted therapy on a monthly basis, and the surgery has affected his speech and his diet, but Jonathan has resumed an active lifestyle that includes skiing and hiking. Jonathan...
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155: Luke Mutter survived cholangiocarcinoma | systemic chemotherapy | oxaliplatin | folfirinox | trastuzumab
Cancer Interviews
It took two chemotherapy regimens, but Luke Mutter survived a rare form of bile duct cancer. A CT scan found a 14cm tumor in his liver. At that time, his care team told him he had cancer, but it could not identify the type of cancer. He was put on a systemic chemotherapy cocktail of folfirinox and oxaplatin, which attempt to kill the tumor. When that didn’t work, Luke learned he was a candidate for a hepatic artery infusion, which included chemo far stronger than his first regimen. Luke has achieved survivorship and is very thankful to be to lead a healthy...
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154: Linda Trummer survived mantle cell lymphoma | blastoid variant | doxorubicin | vincristine | cytarabine
Cancer Interviews
It was a stressful journey, but Linda Trummer survived Stage IV mantle cell lymphoma. In 2015, she went to her primary care physician after discovering a lump on her jaw line. That led to a diagnosis of a slow-moving blood cancer, MALtoma. However, further tests revealed a lump under her left arm and the diagnosis was upgraded to Stage IV mantle cell lymphoma, a rare form of blood cancer. She underwent R-Hyper-CVAD, a multi-faceted chemotherapy regimen and just two months later was declared to have No Evidence of Disease. Linda still suffers from the many side...
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153: Ty Cedars survived stage two testicular cancer | BEP | cisplatin | beleomycin | etopicide | neuropathy
Cancer Interviews
In 2021, one day away from his fortieth birthday, Ty Cedars felt pain in one of his testicles and noticed it was enlarged. He contacted his physician, asking to be seen. The following day, en route to a birthday celebration, Ty received a call from his doctor, requesting that Ty come right away. The Alexandria, Louisiana-based schoolteacher soon underwent an ultrasound, then was directed to a urologist, who told Ty that he had testicular cancer. He took the news calmly and was told by the doctor that this was a very treatable cancer, but that he would have to go on a...
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152: erin bloodworth exercise oncologist | fitness assessment | individualized exercise program | lymphedema | neuropathy
Cancer Interviews
A clinical exercise physiologist by trade, Erin Bloodworth sought a career change and became an exercise oncologist. This enabled her to take her expertise and apply it to helping cancer patients, which she does through Northwestern Medicine Living Well. Erin says whether a patient is going through cancer treatment or is post-treatment, she puts the patient through an individualized exercise program. She assesses the patient's health with tests tied to their ability to grip objects and go from a sitting position to a standing position and...
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151: Stewart Greenfield survived stage IV bladder cancer | cisplatin | gemcidibine | novolumab | immunotherapy
Cancer Interviews
For Stewart Greenfield, the third time was the charm. After checking pictures of his bladder in 2016, two doctors told him he didn’t have long to live; a third doctor told him he had Stage IV metastatic bladder cancer, but insisted he needed to be treated. The cancer had burned a hole in his bladder and attacked lymph nodes from his groin to his neck. Treatment included a chemotherapy cocktail of cisplatin and gemcidibine, plus qualifying for an immunotherapy, novolumab. It was a smashing success. Stewart says his urinary function is normal and he is able to...
info_outlineIn 2019, Jonathan Gegerson sought medical attention went he felt a lump on the right side of his neck. After a couple of scans and a biopsy, he was diagnosed with salivary duct carcinoma, a rare form of head and neck cancer. Jonathan survived, but not before enduring 67 sessions of radiation, 12 cycles of chemotherapy (carboplatin, taxol, herceptin) and seven surgeries. He still undergoes a targeted therapy on a monthly basis, and the surgery has affected his speech and his diet, but Jonathan has resumed an active lifestyle that includes skiing and hiking.
Jonathan Gegerson thought his health was outstanding. He was an active skier and liked to hike up Colorado’s 14ers (mountains whose peaks exceed 14,000 feet), but was perplexed when he discovered a lump on the right side of his neck.
He did not waste any time seeking medical attention and went to his primary care physician. She conducted a physical examination and asked if Jonathan had recently undergone a root canal or some dental procedure that could result in an infection. When he said no, the doctor sent Jonathan to an oncologist, who called for a CT scan, a PET scan and a biopsy. That’s when he was diagnosed with head and neck cancer, even though at the time doctors could not specify what type of head and neck cancer.
His doctor in Colorado said Jonathan would need to undergo surgery, followed by radiation treatment and chemotherapy. When Jonathan learned his care team had no experience with dealing with his type of cancer, he sought a second opinion from MD Anderson in Houston, Texas. The doctors at MD Anderson suggested the same regimen, but Jonathan switched to them because they had experience dealing with salivary duct carcinoma.
His care team told him his treatment would result in a tightening of his face and would affect his speech, in addition to his ability to chew and swallow.
The chemotherapy regimen included carboplatin, taxol and herceptin. He said the chemo left him weak and tired, especially two days after each round of treatment. This, he said, was very frustrating because he was accustomed to being active. During this time, the best he could do was go on short walks.
When Jonathan experienced a recurrence, he was placed on a targeted therapy of kadcyla and herceptin. He eventually achieved survivorship but must continue to be on a monthly targeted therapy of unhertu and herceptin.
Jonathan Gegerson says his health is approximately 75 percent of what it was before his diagnosis, but he feels he blessed that he is living, is back to hiking and skiing, and hopes to continue skiing until he is 90 years old.
Additional Resources:
Jonathan’s Book: “Perspective C,” available on Amazon and Kindle https://a.co/d/4iW9BQ6