Like many patients, Michaela assumed Pastoral Care programs were meant for people who were members of organized religions. But the Spiritual Care programs at Roswell Park are for everyone regardless of what they believe and whether they identify with any religion.

Today, more people than ever are surviving cancer. We have made great strides and advances in terms of treatment, quality of life and overall survivorship.

Christine, who lives with her husband, William, and their three children, Jackson, 18, Bella, 15, and Livi, 13, in Ellicottville, New York, learned she had colorectal cancer in 2016.

To help relieve pain and stabilize spinal fractures, Roswell Park first began offering patients a technique known as vertebral augmentation, specifically kyphoplasty, in 2001. “We were the first clinic in Western New York to offer vertebral augmentation for cancer patients, and our experience makes a difference,” Dr. Alberico notes.

Most cancer survivors will tell you they have two extremely vivid memories: the moment they received their diagnosis and the moment they finally finished treatment. However, in between, and for people who may never finish treatment, there are many types of victories worth celebrating.

He won’t admit it, but Philip McCarthy, MD, is in the business of saving lives. He gives his patients hope; he gives families hope. He’s a world-renowned physician who has dedicated his career, his passion and his life to providing advanced stem cell transplants to hematological cancer patients.

As a Stage IV oral cancer survivor, I am very passionate about spreading awareness. Oral, head and neck cancers are profoundly different than other cancers in that they limit one’s ability to swallow, eat and talk.