Cancer Experience Leads to Research Encouragement

After her own cancer journey, Cindy Caporaso is advocating that patients are seen as real people and not just statistics.

My name is Cindy and in November 2022, I was diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer called chromophobe renal cell carcinoma. I have a subtype called the eosinophilic variant.

The tumor was small enough for me to have cryosurgery. My cryoablation surgery was successful, and I now get MRI scans each year in January. I have been in remission for two and a half years.

I have become an advocate for research funding since learning of my own cancer. The need for funding for clinical research is so great. Honestly, I was not fully aware of how vital the researchers are until my own diagnosis.

My awareness and knowledge have grown deep and wide because of my personal experience. There are so many people like me who have benefited from research. And there are so many more who need this to continue.

I participate in Kidney Cancer Advocacy Days with KidneyCan and I am so grateful for the money allocated for research.

Like other advocates, I was beyond disappointed with the recent budget cuts proposed for medical research funding. My own hope and efforts lie in getting politicians to see the faces of people with cancer. We are not nameless or faceless. We have families, lives, jobs, hope, and dreams.

I am equally grateful for the clinical researchers and my own doctors, too. Again, I have benefitted from their work and hope this continues for all patients.

Medical research leads the way to the development of new treatments and preventive measures that can improve not only the longevity of life, but also the quality of life for those with cancer. Undoubtedly, medical research benefits all of humanity.

I don’t know if my cancer will recur. What I do know is that if it does return, I want the best options in front of me.

Whether you are a patient, survivor, caregiver, or loved one touched by cancer, your story can have an enormous impact. You can provide hope and inspiration to someone recently diagnosed with cancer or a patient undergoing therapy.

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