Catherine Sleight came to Stanford Hospital after her colon cancer, which had been previously misdiagnosed at a different medical center, had begun to spread. While colon cancer can generally be detected and treated early, precious time had been lost for Catherine. When she first visited Stanford, the diagnosis was grim. ”Initially I was told one-to-two years,” she explains. “That was six years ago.” In the face of devastating news, Catherine did not give in to despair. Six years later, she continues to experience the benefits of a program whose emphasis on patient care and comfort goes far beyond the clinical processes that keep people with cancer physically alive. Patient navigators are always on hand to provide support, information and guidance to cancer survivors.

Catherine Sleight receives chemotherapy treatment from Chris Tucker, RN.

Since the Cancer Center’s opening, Catherine has researched her condition in the Health Library, taken yoga classes at the Center, and participated in support groups that have let her express herself through poetry.

“I think it’s really dangerous to have anyone’s life stop when you get a diagnosis of cancer. Because we don’t know, any of us, how much time we have. I think it’s really important to just take every day and turn it into life.”

Turning Every Day into Life

While Catherine certainly benefits from the expertise and coordination of her doctors, it’s the entire Center staff—who have been seeing her for years—that have truly made a difference in her life. From the medical assistant who checks her in with a song and a smile to the nurses who sit with her during chemotherapy, Catherine knows she has an entire team pulling for her. “I feel positive and relaxed, because there will always be support waiting for me,” she says. Catherine credits the medical care and emotional support that she receives at the Cancer Center for the time she has been able to enjoy with her loved ones. “I have an amazing, heroic husband. Just to have that would be enough for a lifetime,” she confides. “But on top of that we have three really great children, they’re just wonderful human beings. I mean, how lucky can one person get, to have all of that?”

Medical Assistant Lynette Nervis-Brown shares a hug with Catherine.