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My father died of hairy cell leukemia in 1980, when I was only 4. Before he passed away, he wrote me letters for every major milestone in my life. So, when I received my high school diploma in 1995, graduated from college in 2000, earned my master¡¯s degree in 2007, got engaged in Feb. 2010, and got married in July 2011, it felt like a part of him was still with me. 

That was a really wonderful legacy, and I¡¯m so glad my father thought to leave it. But it was an entirely different set of letters I inherited from him that has made me an MD Anderson fan for life.

Correspondence reveals MD Anderson¡¯s consistency in Caring 

My mother presented me with a big box of cards and letters while I was still in graduate school. She explained that they¡¯d been sent to her and my father while he was receiving leukemia treatment at MD Anderson, as well as after his death. Now that she had remarried, she felt like I should have them.

Going through the box, I found dozens of cards and letters from the MD Anderson doctors, nurses and other clinical staff who¡¯d taken care of my dad. They were all more than 20 years old by then. Many of them only had the senders¡¯ first names, but they were still so sweet and precious. One member of his care team, who signed off only as ¡°Mick,¡± said that my dad had ¡°left an impression forever in our hearts.¡± That really struck a chord.

My mom gave me the box six or seven years before I joined MD Anderson as a clinical nutrition manager. But every single one of those letters and cards was so supportive, I just started crying. I already knew that MD Anderson was a wonderful place. After I found those letters, I really wanted to work here.

¡®Our core values are still exactly the same¡¯

You might think it would be weird to work at the same place my father died. But it hasn¡¯t been ¡ª not at all. It¡¯s actually felt like home from Day 1. Our core values are still exactly the same. 

That has been proven true time and again, including when I was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome in 2011, and later, a type of brain tumor called a benign cavernous hemangioma in the winter of 2018. I¡¯ve been in remission from the first disease since MD Anderson guided my local treatment in Kansas in 2012, and on surveillance for the second disease ever since my diagnosis.

I simply cannot adequately express how much the people here care. Even though I¡¯m not considered a high-risk patient, my doctors still treat me with the same level of care as they would the very sickest. And, that¡¯s really saying something.

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