Contributors

Dr. Valerie Lee

Dr. Valerie Lee is a medical oncologist with the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Debbie Legault

Debbie Legault is the mother of a young woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 27. Debbie chose to share the experience of being a full-time caregiver to her daughter during treatment in a blog called “Mom … It’s Cancer” and published the compilation of those thoughts in book format when active treatment was completed. Legault soon realized that the end of treatment was actually just another beginning and continues to write about the realities of survivorship both from her perspective as a caregiver and from her daughter’s point of view.

Tamron Little

Tamron was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma — a rare cancer caused by asbestos exposure — in 2007, as a 21-year-old new mother. As a woman diagnosed at just 21 years of age, she was anything but the typical mesothelioma patient. After more than a decade of living with mesothelioma, she began to share her experiences with others by blogging on 

Sue McCarthy

Suzanne (Sue) McCarthy is a comparatively new writer. Sue graduated the University of Delaware, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. After working in several nontraditional academic positions, she started her home-based tutoring business and in 2022 celebrated twenty-five years as a self-employed tutor and business owner, serving school aged students in the Pittsburgh, PA area.

Patti McGee

Selected in 2014 as “Women of Status” by the Oneida, NY Zonta Club for all she does to empower women and girls, life coach and inspirational speaker, Patti McGee is an author, a massage therapist and breast cancer survivor of 20 years. Her career encompasses many years of learning and teaching people about health, nutrition, spirituality and bringing the mind, body and spirit together. Patti has made it her mission to help women and youth to overcome health issues, move past trauma and connect with their mind, body and spirit. She believes living a peaceful and balanced life helps prevent disease and illness. Patti has specialties in mastectomy and breast massage and therapeutic massage. Patti is passionate about helping her clients reduce stress, manage pain and bring a sense of well being to their life.

Dr. Michael J. Pishvaian

Dr. Michael J. Pishvaian is based at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. He is the director of Gastrointestinal, Developmental Therapeutics and Clinical Research Programs for the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in the Greater Washington Area and an associate professor at the School of Medicine.

Dr. Pouneh Razavi

Dr. Pouneh Razavi is director of breast imaging for Johns Hopkins National Capital Region.

Anne M. Reb

Anne M. Reb Reb is a nurse practitioner who holds a PhD, as well as an assistant professor in the Division of Nursing Research and Education within the Department of Population Sciences at City of Hope, located in Duarte, California.

Sid Salder

Sid Sadler is a kidney cancer survivor and patient advocate.

Dr. Ritu Salani

Dr. Ritu Salani currently serves as the Director of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), UCLA Health, and is a board-certified gynecologic oncologist.