"There was only one place I knew that could take good care of me, so I called up Roswell. They asked, 'Who referred you?' and I said, I did!"

In 1958, when Jill Waddington was just 15, she noticed an odd bump on her leg. It turned out to be a rare childhood cancer of the soft tissue.

Janice had passed a big milestone in her journey as a breast cancer survivor — the five-year mark — and figured going in for a six-year exam would be no big deal. She didn’t expect to be told the cancer had returned.

A second opinion at Roswell Park led to an immunotherapy clinical trial that gave ovarian cancer patient Julia Falleti more time with her family.

Dr. Clinton willingly traveled from Ohio to Buffalo every month, and sometimes more often, because the clinical trial “was the most advanced immunological treatment for my genetic type of cancer.

“Other than a shot once a month, I’m in no pain,“ Judi says. “Instead, I’ve already lived three years longer than I thought I would at the beginning of this diagnosis. I’m happy to be alive and feeling well, and one day, I hope to ring that Victory Bell at Roswell Park.”

It’s OK to feel the feelings you have, it’s OK to be sad, but don’t dwell on it. Positivity breeds positivity. Attitude is everything.

“It’s so easy, I feel like I’m getting away with something.” That’s how Nella Smolinksi describes the last three years of treatment with an immunotherapy drug to control her rare form of Hodgkin lymphoma.

On June 23, 2019, Ted Rung crossed the Ride for Roswell finish line, completing the 100-mile route. No small feat for a 31-year-old who had just fought cancer for the third time.