Caring Relationships - Gundersen Health System

“I am alive today because of the advances
made over the past ten years.”
Bill Medland
Bill and Donna Medland
passion for raising awareness about
lung cancer. “Taking positive action
is my way of dealing with it,” she
says. “You develop the ways you
deal with crises by going through a
few crises. I just want to be able to
do something so that other people
coming down the line aren’t going
to have to go through such terrible
things in the future.”
Bill
In the summer of
2006, shortly after
retiring as the longest serving
president in the history of Viterbo
University, Dr. William J. Medland
was speaking with his longtime
friend, Mrs. Marjorie Reinhart. He
mentioned the severe pain that had
returned with his cancer, and she
urged him to consult with Gundersen
Lutheran about a new, highly
advanced cancer treatment system
known as stereotactic radiotherapy
(SRT.) Acquisition of the state-ofthe-art
equipment had been made
possible by a major gift from Mrs.
Reinhart, and she was aware that
numerous patients in the community
had been treated successfully.
Bill followed her advice. Just a few
weeks later, he received the first of
three SRT treatments by radiation
oncologist Patrick Conway, MD.
“And it worked,” recalls Bill. “By the
second treatment I was feeling much
better, and by the third treatment
the pain in that area was gone.” As
a ten-year veteran of the cancer war
(his first surgery was in 1998), Bill
is a strong believer in the power of
faith, and the power of research.
“Quite honestly, what is taking
place today in the area of cancer
treatments, cancer medications, and
cancer detection was not available
to me 10 years ago.” Another
change he has seen is the physician’s
perspective, specifically “the greater
realization that cancer affects not
only the individual, but their spouse,
their family and their friends.”
Bill and his wife, Donna, have
been private about their respective
battles with cancer, but when recently
asked about serving on the PFAC,
Bill willingly volunteered. As he
says, “I’m ready to help out anywhere
when it comes to cancer.” Promoting
improved relationships between
patients, families, and staff is a key
part of the PFAC’s work.
A. Erik Gundersen, MD, vice
chairman of Gundersen Lutheran
Medical Foundation, serves as
co-facilitator of the Cancer Center’s
Patient and Family Advisory Council.
Activities of the PFAC, as well as the
General Cancer Support Group, the
Lung Cancer Support Group, and
the Lung Cancer Awareness Project
are supported in part by Foundation
grants with the goal of empowering
and enhancing the quality of life for
Gundersen Lutheran cancer patients
and their caregivers.
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