Tag: CancerForward Survivor in The News - Part 2

Matt Ferster, Founder/President, Single Jingles A Testicular Cancer Foundation

On January, 23 2009, at age 21, Matt Ferstler was diagnosed with testicular cancer. As part of Matt’s treatment, his left testicle was removed, leaving him with just one and thus, as he puts it, a “Single Jingle.” The thought of losing a testicle can be unbearable for some men, but it beats the alternative….

Don’t Bet Against Ray Johnston

Ray Johnston made the NBA, beat leukemia and formed a rock group, The Ray Johnston Band.  Curing cancer and getting a date with Jennifer Aniston are next on his list. Don’t bet against him. He’s a modern Odysseus whose talents and determination have taken him from an undrafted signee with the Dallas Mavericks to lying…

Oh, My Lord! You Won’t Believe This One!

In Reverend Susan Sparks’ book, “Laugh Your Way to Grace,” a single phrase sums the unique perspective of a lawyer, minister, standup comedian cancer survivor: “…alone with what were soon to be my two constant companions: cancer and sarcasm.” After facing a breast cancer diagnosis five years ago, Susan Sparks found herself using humor to…

The State of James Howard

I am not willing to tell James Howard, a brain cancer patient from Texas, that his treatment might not be covered. Most people have not had the President of the United States stand before a joint session of Congress and a national television audience to defend their healthcare coverage. The story that took James Howard…

Cancer, Comedy & Friendship

Who is Will Reiser? He’s the screenwriter and executive producer of the hit comedy “50/50” a film inspired by his own journey of coming to grips with a spinal cancer diagnosis at a young age. Kate Allen Stukenberg chats with Reiser about his emotional inability to deal with the cancer, the often futile but humorous…

From the Deepest Valley to the Highest Peak: A Survivor’s View From the Top of The World

When asked by the New York Times in March 1923 why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, English mountaineer George Mallory famously responded, “because it’s there.” Nearly eighty years later, Ohioan Sean Swarner also summited Mt. Everest; not because the mountain was there, but because he was. The survivor of two highly-lethal cancers during his…