Opening the curtains
Einar "Jimmy" Gustafson, who as a boy helped inspire the creation of Dana-Farber's grassroots fundraising arm, the Jimmy Fund, returned to Dana-Farber in 1998 after years of living a private life. He described traveling from Maine to see Sidney Farber in the '40s and '50s (he had a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma), and how hospital staff would pull the curtain around a child, "then they'd pull the curtain back again and the kid would be gone."
For many years, having the disease was considered a stigma, and many people believed it was contagious. "In the past, patients got chemotherapy in isolated rooms behind potted plants," remembers Robert Mayer, MD, who specializes in gastrointestinal cancers and has been at Dana-Farber since 1974. "They felt they were not to be seen, and that they couldn't talk about their fears and anxieties. Now patients undergoing a similar experience are brought together to support each other, and nurses and social workers are more attuned to their concerns."
"In the past, patients got chemotherapy in isolated rooms behind potted plants. They felt they were not to be seen."
—Robert Mayer, MD
Along with the Internet – which has opened a universe of information (not all of it equally helpful) to patients and families – health fairs, ad campaigns, and outreach services like Dana-Farber's Blum Family Resource Center Van help spread the word about cancer prevention, detection, and treatment. This has yielded significant health benefits, with some cancers caught when they are more treatable or require less aggressive care. "We still see the patient who has no idea what's going on and doesn't want to know," says Pellerin. "But so many more come in and say, 'I went to the Internet, and they're using XYZ at this hospital, and you're using ABC. Why?' So they're much more informed and have pretty sophisticated questions."
- Next: "I'm not afraid"
- Cancer pioneers: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
