Cancer

Finding Her Way

Finding Her Way

Alumna embarks on a 500-mile journey to grapple with her devastating diagnosis and advance breast cancer screening for others

The pilgrim gripped each stone, one by one, turning it over in her hand. She felt its weight and ran her finger over its surface before laying it gently down at the base of the Cruz de Ferro.

One stone for each of her four Sigma Kappa sorority sisters who had died of breast cancer, one of whom passed away since Leslie Ferris Yerger (M’84, S’85) embarked on her 500-mile pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago. She solemnly closed her eyes and thought of Toni Mark Hicks (S’84), Madelon (Moulton) Shahroozi (HHS’86), Nancy Keil Slamkowski (HHS’84), and Sally (Shock) Wurster (LA’87). Less than one year following her own diagnosis, Yerger reflected on their too-short lives.

Don't Ever Give Up

Don't Ever Give Up

Tyler Trent was diagnosed with bone cancer twice by age 18. He’s had nine major surgeries in the past three years. Now the Purdue freshman and die-hard sports fanatic is determined to live life on his own terms, come what may.

Tyler Trent knows the statistics.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 450 children and adolescents are diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the United States every year. About 2 percent of all childhood cancers are osteosarcoma. If treated before it spreads, the five-year survival rate is between 60 and 80 percent. Recurrent osteosarcoma occurs in 30 to 50 percent of patients with initialized local disease. If the disease has spread to the lungs, the long-term survival rate is about 40 percent. Once it spreads to other organs, chance of survival drops to 15 to 30 percent.