When he sits in the waiting area at Cincinnati Children’s, Joey Evans is usually the oldest patient in the room.
At 40, Evans, a childhood cancer survivor, doesn’t mind looking like he’s old enough to be someone’s father. He already knows he fits in at Cincinnati Children’s. It’s practically where he grew up.
Evans is one of 1,800 survivors who routinely visits Cincinnati Children’s for specialized follow-up care. Doctors he has known all of his life continue to see him to monitor and minimize the long-term complications of cancer therapy. Evans says coming back to a place that ranks among the top three in the nation for cancer care makes him feel even more confident about continued treatment here.
Back when Evans was diagnosed as a toddler with rhabdomyosarcoma, a tissue cancer, fewer than 10 percent of children survived 10 years after a cancer diagnosis. Today, 80 percent of children with a cancer diagnosis are expected to survive.
The cancer survivor program at Cincinnati Children’s is one of the oldest and largest in the country, and it is a leading center for research. Not only does the program help kids survive cancer, it is here for patients even after they beat it.
As we celebrate Cancer Survivors Month, we are excited to share the stories of Joey Evans, Maria Seta, Joseph Dunn and Matthew Grosser. They are cancer survivors. And they have a lot more life ahead of them.
My brother Frederick M Kuhlmann is in the books at children’s hospital for the largest tumor. He was diagnosed with undiffernciated sarcoma at the age of 11. A 10lb. tumor had taken over his right kidney. He was given a 50/50 chance of living. Children’s hospital saved my brother. I watched him live at the hospital for a year getting radiation and chemo. My mom was by his side through it all. He is 39 now and lives a wonderful life. He recently got married and lives in Norwood OH. He is my hero and i have walked in his honor many times at cancer walks. He also makes visits to Hemotology-Oncology.