Fall 2006 - Karmanos Cancer Institute

Ring
THE BELL
SURVIVING CANCER, JOANNE MANCINI CELEBRATES THE END OF HER CANCER TREATMENT AT KARMANOS
A few years ago, Joanne Mancini, R.N. sat down in
front of the TV one evening to watch one of her
favorite programs, “Houston Medical.” As a clinical
research nurse in the Gershenson Radiation Oncology
Center at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, she enjoyed
watching the television show about real people going
through cancer treatment at a major cancer center.
In this particular episode, a woman
with pancreatic cancer had just
completed weeks of radiation therapy.
Patients, nurses and doctors gathered
around as she read a poem and rang a
bell to signify the end of her treatment.
“I was very touched by this,” Joanne
said. “I thought it was a great idea to do
something symbolic like this to mark
the end of a patient’s treatment.”
The next day she came to work and
told her co-workers about the bell.
Everyone agreed it was a good idea, but with busy
schedules and a full load of patients, no one had time to
move forward with the idea. “The topic of the bell never
came up again,” Joanne said.
Then, in 2002 – at age 42 – Joanne was diagnosed with
an early stage breast cancer known as ductal carcinoma
in situ (DCIS). She was shocked by the diagnosis, but as
a nurse, she knew that breast cancer sometimes strikes
young women with no family history of the disease.
“I also knew my treatment would probably involve
surgery and radiation therapy,” Joanne said. “I never
considered going anywhere other than Karmanos for
my treatment; I wanted the best possible care and
this is the place to get it.”
But it was a delicate situation. Receiving radiation
therapy at the Karmanos Cancer Institute would mean
sharing her illness with her coworkers
and physicians – people
she’d worked with every day for
years. “It was a little awkward at
first, but they are so professional,
so caring. They really made it easy.”
THE BELL POEM
Ring this bell
Three times well
Its toll to clearly say,
“My treatment’s done,
This course is run
And I am on my way.”
Weeks passed and her treatment
progressed with excellent results.
Like most cancer patients, she
looked forward to her last treatment
– and life after cancer. Her co-workers
had been thinking about it too.
“On the last day of my treatment,
my friends at work had a victory celebration planned
and they had ordered a special gift for me,” Joanne said.
It was a bell – just like the one from the television show
– and a poem inscribed on a plaque. “I was just overwhelmed
by their thoughtfulness. It had been a while
since I mentioned that bell, but they hadn’t forgotten.”
Today, Joanne is cancer-free and still working at the
Gershenson Radiation Oncology Center. The bell
and the poem still hang on the wall there. Whenever
Joanne hears it ring, she can’t help smiling.
JOANNE MANCINI, R.N.