Due to the stigma of a cancer diagnosis at the time, two tried successfully to keep their diagnoses secret — at least during their terms in office.

“The phoenix represents the stories of survival I’ve heard at Roswell Park,” says Joe Garguilo, a member of the Creative Arts Team. Inspired by the idea, he invites patients and survivors to pick up a brush and fill in the outstretched wings with colors and words of healing.

It was the middle of May. My son and his wife had just had their first baby — my first grandchild — on Mother's Day. I hadn’t been feeling well and got dizzy every time I went to stand up.

Cervical cancer is frequently diagnosed in young women, and a very important question many women receiving this diagnosis have is how this will affect their fertility and ability to carry a pregnancy.