Coming to Dana-Farber as a Young Adult | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

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07/18/23

Christina Dixon, who was 22 when diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, looks back on her experience coming to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as a young adult.

Learn more about Dana-Farber's Young Adult Program by visiting www.dana-farber.org/youngadults.

Music: "Tell Me" by Alialujah Choir

Transcription:

When I came to Dana-Farber for the first time, it was really scary. I was 22 and had just found out about the diagnosis, and I really didn’t know what to expect. Once I found out about my diagnosis, it was actually just a day before I came in and met Dr. Fischer. When I came in for my first infusion appointment, I started out by going to lab services, where they checked me in and gave me schedule for what I would be doing for the day, and walked me through exactly where I would need to go and who I would be meeting with. I was really impressed with how organized everything was, but also how nice and caring everyone was.

When I met Kerry for the first time, I walked in and she had a big smile on her face and welcomed me and told me exactly where I was going to be going. I just immediately felt like she was going to be a really important person in my treatment. Kerry was very patient with me and explained to me exactly what I would be doing. She took my initial labs, and I found out that she would be my infusion nurse for most of my treatments. Kerry really inspired me to never lose my sense of humor regardless of the circumstances, and I’ll never forget how she was just always very positive.

So, when I met Dr. Fischer, I sat down with him and we talked through what he had seen from the biopsy and what he believed was the best treatment for my cancer. He was very, very patient with me, and I walked in with a lot of questions, and he went through each question with me and took time to help me understand what the side effects would be and what to expect. I had a lot of confidence in both Dana-Farber and specifically Dr. Fischer as my doctor. He would stop by every chemo appointment and ask how I was doing and make sure if there that was really bothering me, he would help me figure out a solution to it.

In a very scary time, they were able to make me feel much more secure. The more I came, the more I got to know them and they got to know me, and as they realized what kind of personality I have, they were able to give me advice that was very effective and that was specific to my personality type.

When I transitioned to surveillance, it was the most difficult experience of my life, and I wasn’t expecting that. Because they knew me, they were able to steer me in the right direction in terms of finding resources, whether it was talking to social workers or getting involved with the young adult program, and that ended up being a really important of my cancer experience.

I met with a couple of different people in the program—specifically Karen [Faciano 03:01], who helped me find a place where I was able to contribute and meet other young adults. I found about the annual conference and attended that, and through some of the workshops met other young adults. For the first time, I realized that the things that I was struggling with were completely normal and that I wasn’t the only one who felt isolated because of cancer.

At the time, Karen and the young adult team—they were developing the online platform to help young adults at Dana-Farber connect to each other. I was able to attend the focus groups on that and help in designing the website, and that was really meaningful to be a part of that.

At the end of treatment, I was really scared, because I was afraid that the support I had had during treatment was going to end, and I quickly realized that my care team here for me whenever I needed any support or help. I immediately began to feel a sense of freedom, that I could go out and do the things that I was afraid the cancer would take away from me.