I am a cancer survivor. I have a great story I’d like to share.
In 2012, I got lymphoma. Standard chemotherapy put it into remission. In 2014, I got breast cancer and had surgery and chemotherapy. In 2015, a second lymphoma returned in a more aggressive cell. Through late 2015 and into 2016, chemotherapy at a major East Coast hospital worked for a while but the lymphoma returned, with the third and fourth versions being yet more aggressive. Last May, I came back to Hawaii so I could at least die at home in a nice climate.
Then I met Dr. Elliot Epner, who had arrived shortly before that at North Hawaii Community Hospital (NHCH, now part of Queen’s Health Systems) to run their cancer center. Now let me tell you about this man, briefly. He has both an MD and a PhD from Columbia University. As an oncologist, he’s spent half his professional life in clinical practice and the other half in research work. So he sees cancer from the patient’s side as well as the researcher’s side. He’s written or collaborated on dozens of papers on subjects that are at the leading edge of oncology research, particularly immunotherapies. So basically, he’s a top-notch talent in the oncology world.
And he saved my life. When I got home to Hawaii last May, PET scans showed my body full of tumors. I was maybe two months away from dying. Dr. Epner immediately started me on an immunotherapy program, which started reducing the tumors immediately. A PET scan in December showed all tumors were gone. I’m totally clean.
Dr. Epner’s arrival here is a wonderful thing for our medically underserved population on the Big Island. My profound thanks to Queen’s for bringing him in.
Virginia James is a resident of Paauilo