What brought you to the field of survivorship?
When I was starting off in my social career I had the opportunity to help support a Prostate Cancer Survivor group through the Curtis D. Robinson Center for Health Equity in Hartford, CT. This opened my world not only to the experience of cancer survivorship, but also the challenges of accessing and navigating care. As I moved forward in my career as a full-time therapist, I encountered many clients who described similar survivorship stories.
Perhaps most poignantly, those stories rang true in my own life, as about 6 years ago my father was diagnosed with Leukemia. As I watched him go through diagnosis and treatment, I witnessed first-hand as a family member the gifts and challenges a diagnosis of cancer brought to our lives. So both professionally and personally, survivorship is an incredibly
What excites you most about the future of survivorship?
One of the things that I learned from my work with people living with cognitive changes is that the voice of those with the lived experience must be at the forefront of any movement or activity that pertains to them. What excites me most about the future of survivorship, particularly at OncoveryCare, is the furtherance of this intention. Especially as survivorship numbers grow, I’m excited to see how we can further amplify the voice of cancer survivors to shape the trajectory of what survivorship looks like.
What’s the best part of being part of the Oncovery team?
Being with like-minded and like-hearted people is invaluable. Though I’ve only been on the team a short time, I know already that this is a team of passionate people who truly put those in survivorship first. And given the awesome Slack Channels, they know how to laugh and have fun in community as well!
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I dabbled in a few ideas, from being a basketball player to a marine biologist. But finding out I would not grow very tall (I’m only 5’7), and that I got VERY sea sick (found that out the hard way), I guess I needed to recalibrate as I grew older!
What’s your favorite way to spend a Sunday morning?
Being a pastor’s kid (PK) and having gone to theological school myself, my family and I will go to church in the morning as that is a grounding point for me. And certainly on Sunday afternoons if there is an opportunity to go for a hike and get outdoors I’m all for it. Part of the nice thing about living in CO is that there are so many opportunities to connect to the outdoors, and I relish the opportunity to get out on the trails if I can.