Author: Joanne Dragun, M.D.

We would hope that the Miter, cape and staff, the blessing from God, and the directive to lead billions of world Catholics would provide some degree of immunity from harm. No Vatican guards or bullet proof Popemobile can protect when the body is fallible. Pope Leo’s early reign is now punctuated with an event highlighting his own humanity. Even early stage, this disease is dangerous and requires life long surveillance. Now the first American Pope joins the esteemed group of cancer survivors. I believe that makes him even more powerful.

His diagnosis raises our own awareness. His successful surgery reminds us to sign up for the best insurance we can afford. His grace in recovery inspires us to allow no cancer or any infirmity to define us. Perhaps Pope Leo has even greater purpose as he begins his tenure. His enthusiasm has generated excitement for US. Catholics. Just this week, his joy and nod to his own history, brings his Villanova fans and Notre Dame basketball teams into Rome at his behest. He hasn’t forgotten to have fun.

As we pray for health and wellness, we know the Pope is courageous and Leo can now stand as a figurehead for those with cancer, inspiring even greater admiration. It will be exciting to see where he steers the Church in the years ahead, but cancer is personal. There will be reflection, there will be decisions made that intimately affect him. I believe this challenge in Pope Leo will invite him to become an even better leader. One with even more compassion. A Pope with even greater appreciation of daily life. A leader who can reach 1 billion people and grant them peace and hope, knowing that he is also fallible and precious.

God bless the Pope in these coming days, months and years. I pray for his continued success in his tenure as leader of the Catholic Church. I pray that all those in the throes of managing cancer will find that there is peace, hope, love and maybe a miracle in their future as well.

We talk a lot here about the fight. To battle cancer, to pull out all the stops, to search for protocols that are cutting edge, to allow for years or even just a few months. Your oncology team, your family, your friends, everyone is all in, making every effort for a successful outcome. Today we can explore what success looks like. While we champion every new nuanced therapy, there is so much more going on.

Change in life and circumstances can be dramatic. One of life stressors is moving and this also occurs frequently in patients who are undergoing care and need more support. Immune systems are dramatically affected. The blessed patient is one who can be near home and the comfort with family surrounding. When the battle is over for any reason: health, aging or otherwise, there is time that is so much more important than the treatment time. Yes there was frenzied activity, but now the slowing down requires undivided attention and even effort.

Loss is terrible. No patting of the hand or the head can help when it is the heart that grieves. We each must take our own internal fortitude and apply it with deliberateness. Watching a loved one pass, holding their hand and whispering words of comfort and love, is the best we can do to help them achieve their new goal. While we beg for more time and wish for more strength, our loved one is often ready. Guiding them with patience and love and kindness is a gift everyone would hope for.

Know that in this endeavor and in your families and among your friends, you are not alone. We are grounded in this earth, which joins us all, and the energy transforms into each of our hearts and minds as the collective spirit raises us up. When you are there for another, you are the biggest blessing in the world. There is not one treatment, one doctor, one hospital or one protocol that is as important as your hand on theirs at their time of greatest need. They will transfer their own great spirit, peace, and love into your hearts where they will live forever. God bless each of you as we journey this course together and know that you are never alone. To family and friends navigating this terrain the past few months and weeks, be comforted that your loved one wants you to find peace and remember them with gratitude, gentleness and love.

Cancer is selfish. It has a way of insinuating itself into every aspect of life. It is demanding; it is unrelenting. It is ubiquitous, and it is a pain in the ass. People who thrive in spite of this insult do not necessarily have special insight or information or even a Pollyanna gene. They do it one step and one moment at a time. They engage when they would be alone; they express when they would rather be quiet; they question when they could just comply; they move past a point of woe is me to wow is me. What a remarkable blessing to have witnessed this complex miraculous change in thousands of patients. You may be one of those them.

Molly is wheeled into the exam room by a daughter visiting from Chicago. She presented for her treatments and even follow ups in a “housecoat“ and fuzzy scuffed slippers daily. I almost didn’t recognized her. Her hair is neatly coiffed She is in a simple dress and with light makeup. I noticed it right away and comment. “Miss Molly you are a vision!” Her big bright smile, conveys pride. She states “My daughter told me I need to get dressed for Dr. Dragun”. No, she didn’t, but she did for her own self-respect. I am so pleased as I see them both beam with just the smallest change boosting Molly‘s immune system and Molly is delighted to lean into her daughter’s attention. Fred is decked out in Eagles football gear. He looks like he just came from their newest win, but I know better, because he is from Michigan and said that somehow a grandson became an Eagles fan and so he has all the “equipment“. He doesn’t say anything, but as soon as I remark about his “gear”, his broad smile tells me he did this just for me. “Fred, you are making my day once again!”. That was his intent. To do something for someone else, even in his only visit outside of the home in months to see his doctor.

Two simple examples of patients, who didn’t want to make the day about themselves or the disease. These are the small steps that make cancer less important in life. You see it all the time. The woman to your right playing mah-jongg who doesn’t detail her breast cancer history or events, but gets on with living a life with friends. The senior patient making ends meet as a cashier, smiling and wishing you a good day. Again, and again, people overcome and override, and overreach their own limitations.

When Sarah presents on her last day, family and friends have joined her, even a grandson who brings the balloons. She rang the bell, and as we cheered her, looked up at me and said, You know this was never about me. I did this for them”. I softly say, “I know, Sarah, but what a blessing you are“.

There may not be balloons, and there may not be a family surrounding you as you work through your journey. But your own secret sauce quietly percolates. You have the opportunity every day to reach out and show your courage and fortitude and trust me, every time that you do, you inspire everyone of us.

Know what got the message to “never give up“? Cancer cells. Yes these tenacious buggers keep outwitting even the most lethal treatments. We hoped immunotherapy would be a panacea, and it does prolong life for many patients, but now we learn that eventually, cancer can mutate and return. Target cells so that radiation can attack them? Great idea yet they outsmart. Our own macrophages destroy cancer all the time but cancer cells are finding a way around our natural immunities. Just this month so many scientific breakthroughs and yet….cancer survives.

Tell us something we don’t know. Yes these demon cells have survival instincts, and we are only just learning how very clever and devious they are. But when you put a challenged body with a determined brain and a bold, loving, courageous heart, the cancer “patient” actually has the advantage.

“Doc, it seems impossible and I am trying, and I am up for anything.” That is why science will not give up on you. Our own will to live is so great that we again and again triumph against the odds. We all personally know cancer survivors, many in our own families. Look to what people will do to survive any life-threatening, devastating situation. In Nepal just this week they are pulling people out of tunnels, finding them under the muddy rubble, deep in buildings and at no point giving up. Recall the miraculous Thai cave rescue (Netflix) of the soccer team, remarkable will to live and to rescue.

The desire and the force for survival is fierce. You don’t have to be a mother who lifts a car. You can learn CPR ( because we are all living as seniors) and bring someone back. You can rescue a child who fell in a pool. You can drop everything to come to someone’s aid. While remarkable research keeps tackling, life keeps going on and giving us opportunities to keep surviving. It isn’t always the fittest, it often is the most vulnerable. So have faith that although cancer is tricky (an understatement) there are millions surviving now, even if not fully cured or cancer free, living their best life with and in spite of disease.

While so much effort is ongoing for cancer cures, perhaps we just need to look to this tenacious spirit of survival to understand that it isn’t the disease, it is the desire.

Accolades abound regarding the sparkling star. Her larger than life spirit and smile will definitely be missed. Her remarkable generosity, extending to children, from Dollyworld to the international Imagination Libraries, leave a lasting legacy. Today, however I want to focus on her final gift.

In Dolly’s unexpected passing this week, she has acutely reminded us the need and importance of self-care. Cancer patients lean heavily on their spouses and loved ones and too often when the battle is over, won or lost, they now need treatments- mental and physical. Just juggling medical appointments can be a nightmare. An “All hands on deck” mentality takes over. Again and again however, I’ve witnessed the caregivers’ neglect.

“Now you have to put up with me” Gene sheepishly shrugs his shoulders, as he presents for his own prostate cancer treatment. Marla’s battle had ended six months ago, and Gene wore the scars bravely. Mike held on with faith and hope while his beautiful daughter, Jennifer fought a G.I. cancer. From surgery, to chemo and radiation, having lost his wife years prior, he was her soul support. I witnessed him deteriorating during this time, encouraging him to seek attention. He deliberately avoided with large fearful eyes. He would just shake his head. Cynthia canceled her own appointments, as the senior citizen wheeled her son for treatments daily, managing a brain tumor, related to his burn pits exposure. Her own neglect emotionally and physically evident. These tragedies are easily recalled, but they are a small sample of my witness.

In her last days, Dolly admitted her lack of attention to her own needs over the past years caring for her husband. While Dolly was an avid philanthropist, making a mark on the world and mourned by many, it is her final message that resonates personally for us. Her gift that will keep giving will be to remind us that illness and injury cannot be given all power. Remember, how very strong you are. Remember that you have value and deserve attention. While you care for another with deep devotion, you benefit each other when you insert yourself in the caring process. You also have a future to unfold. Exercise, eating well even if you only have time to consume supplements, getting your own screenings, paying attention to your own symptoms and definitely recognizing the need to seek treatment for depression and sleeplessness. This is not suggesting neglect of another. This message is encouraging you, as you have helped them to live their best life, to live yours without regret.

Thank you Dolly Parton, for being honest and even in your passing, for reminding each of us of our value. You will continue to change lives.

Scientists will try everything. We’ve seen some really crazy stuff over the years in the name of cancer cure, but this is a fun first. The brilliant researchers at U Penn Dental School have found a way to reduce the cancer causing HPV virus by 93% in head and neck cancer. This is no small feat since it is a major, and globally increasing, cause of base of tongue, tonsil, oropharyngeal cancer. It will not mitigate the use of chemo and radiation, but can be used as an adjunct in head and neck treatments * (First to tackle this complex, transmissible virus was Merck when they developed a vaccine for pre-pubescent children, protecting them from this cancer-causing virus in their future. Now Merck is working toward individualized vaccines, further personalizing treatments).

Did you ever think your doc would give you a gum to reduce your cancer? No neither did I. Although it is still awaiting testing in humans. Think they are giving tiny chiclets to mice? I flash back to my time in college at Drexel University where, in the dark dank basement of the former American Oncologic Hospital, for nutrition science, we were charged with the vitamin A experiments. I was squeamish and dropped one little white mouse who scampered under the bench I could barely reach behind as he tucked himself against the wall. We were both scared. There was no leaving without recapturing him. I did not blame his wanting to escape. We both found the process creepy.

Over the years, I am now convinced science will try anything and everything. There are new pulsed tumor treating fields for GBM, directly attacking this terrible disease in the brain. The leaps and bounds just this past year for deadly pancreatic cancer have been miraculous. In animal models, adding drugs to reduce cancer resistance to treatments in deadly lung cancer. ** Even the most common cancer in men, prostate, has found a way into immunotherapy, for those no longer responding to hormones or even chemo for metastatic disease. Car-T therapy has now been used for 10 years on blood cancers but ineffective for solid tumors. Now scientists have found a way to use focused ultrasound to give the tumors a marker for the Car-T to attack ( the new therapy is called Shifters). Experiments always pushing limits, brilliant, exciting and clever. How about a bandaid patch that kills deadly melanoma skin cells when exposed to sunlight? Solar powered!

To circle back, I’m just confused as to how they came up with the concept of gum. Did they try a mouthwash, a gargle, a lollipop? I’m very interested to see where this goes, but I can’t get out of my head the concept of having little pieces of gum, inserted into the tiny mouths of mice and watching them chew. Actually, I believe they are just testing the antiviral in the Petri dish, but mice always find their way to be heros. Mice are not the only brave souls. People with cancer will try anything. They will undergo cutting edge surgeries, replace their bone marrow, climb on a table daily for radiation beams, plug into life altering, chemo stations, and even battle this disease for years. Just like the mice, they are fearless. Just like the researchers they are willing to try everything. We are moving into a newer, kinder, gentler way of management. Where a patch? Have a liquid biopsy? Receive a cancer treating vaccine? Or even chew gum! We are up for it all. Thank you pesky little mice for your contributions. Thanks to everyone, stepping into the unknown on clinical trials. You are changing lives for generations.

*Science Daily August4,2026.
** Science Advances, 2026, Baylor College Medicine

Have you already have enough excitement for one lifetime? Did you hope retirement would be simple, calm and relaxing? You have the spirit for a future still holding so much more. There are innumerable experiences to be had and some will even require a real reinvention. You’ve done it before, so fear not. It may be a career, a move, change in relationships, passing of a spouse, injury, or health issues but reinvention is a life requirement. There is no luxury being complacent in having a steady path. The unknown is what can both inspire and excite us, even as it can be terrifying. In the cancer center, the reinvention occurs not only for the patient, but significantly for family. The caregiving responsibilities present immediately when a loved one is ill. Plans for travel, work and even school are often put on hold. If you have gone through the cancer experience, you know all of this well. You dig deep and find the resilience needed for the journey, even as you gently guide your loved ones beside you.

When we were younger, this discussion of cancer was unusual. Unfortunately, now it presents often in even off handed comments. You meet many who also have developed amazing courage, fortitude, peace in the process, and shared wisdom that comes from this reinvention. Can the fact that others have managed cancer give you solace? Can they help you face your own fears? Yes. But each of us goes through life individually. We are in parallel with others, but we live our own experiences. As we do this, we lean, but we still have to stand. We have anxiety, but we still need to perform and succeed. We may be timid in this new process, but we must find the courage.

This week, a friendly chat reminded me of this resiliency. Marlene and I met a few years ago and sadly, her husband‘s cancer journey was swift and devastating. As a widow, she was unsure as to her new direction: stay in her current community? Move closer to children and family? She had just retired and was caregiver to her husband of 40 years. She seemed adrift then, but was still determined to carve a path. I had not seen her for some time but now she has an entirely new story. She was headed to the gym, determined to be as strong and as vibrant as she could. Her enthusiasm is infectious. Yet she detailed that six months ago, she went through her own cancer journey. Having surgery then chemo she proudly showed me her Porta cath site. She was not going to tolerate any words of empathy or surprise. She shrugged with a grin and said, “It’s a new life”.

We can look to others for examples like Marlene, but when the lab results, the biopsy, the scans have your name on them, the challenge just got very real and personal. It is OK. You are allowed to have fear; you are allowed to be angry. You are allowed to be confused. Please remember that you have reinvented yourself many many times in your years and this “new you” is well prepared. You will also experience kindness and compassion in new ways. All those life experiences, tough and joyful, have brought you to this point. Trust that with age has come increased boldness, and your amazing uniqueness will welcome another powerful reinvention.

Blessed Cardinal John Newman’s words: “ To live is to change, and to become perfect is to have changed often” .

Physicians across the country were disgusted when we realized that the leader of the free world, who should have the very best healthcare available, was mismanaged. We learned that Joe Biden had prostate cancer because Jill Biden was the one who said, “Joe you’re getting up seven times a night to pee. I am taking you to Jeff (Thomas Jefferson Hospital)) in Philly to find out what’s wrong“. This is such a perfect example, though unfortunate, to prove the disaster of directives by the government for your healthcare. The attention to screening was taken away when Dr. Zeke Emmanuel brought his own biases into the program and crafted Obamacare. Read his opinion in the Atlantic at his age of 55 and then again at 65 when he doubled down. He does not believe we should work or seek aggressive healthcare after the age of 75 because, well, you’re slowing down and it’s really not worth it. The American Geriatric association blasted him and now I wonder if he still would refuse all care “allowing nature to take its course after 75” since his father died at 92! Therefore, believe it or not, we in healthcare, even the incompetent doctor at the White House, were advised to stop screening by a doctor with personal arrogance that impacted us all even our past President! This is why no one tested Biden’s PSA after that age and how he was allowed to develop widely metastatic to bone prostate cancer instead of having treatment in an earlier stage. Colonoscopies are stretched out. They used to be yearly than every three years than every five years and you could see where this is going until finally companies caught on and developed the stick on or the stool tests so you could find it for yourself. Here’s the thing about that. Only a colonoscopy could remove a pre-cancerous polyp and avoid colon cancer altogether. Another screening, mammograms were recommended every other year, and not past 70 or after outcry, 80. Well many of my friends, family, patients with breast cancer know how much trouble you can get into within a year with an aggressive breast cancer. We started 5K runs and fundraisers in my town in Pennsylvania to fund free mammograms for patients without insurance. We stepped into the abyss when people who “had your interest at heart with better healthcare“ failed. I opened my clinics twice a year to free prostate exams with psa blood tests and the turnout was tremendous.


Again and again I have seen where we are going with this. They make it very clear that we cannot afford to give everyone everything all the time. Then tell you that oh you just don’t need it. I was in the pharmacy this week and a woman in her fifties was lamenting to the pharmacist that her pap tests are not covered or “ needed” who do you think we treated for years even into their 80’s? Now Kaiser Permananti has development a do it yourself swab at home (no exam ! But better than nothing ) Don’t tell me that these directives are to benefit us……not at all. They are to reduce costs …period.

The reason I am on fire today is because, while I avoid discussing politics on this site, the concept of “universal healthcare” I have actually witnessed. There are countries who provide a baseline “healthcare” that, trust me, is very very basic. There are long, long years and months of waiting for any care, a joint replacement? Three years. Testing, chemo and radiation for cancer, up to a year. Do you think they’re going to send you for genetic testing and retest your biopsy for special genes that will allow you to get the most cutting edge therapy that’s now being developed? No. I have seen my entire career people come to the US for care with cash in hand. As a resident in a Philly University hospital, the owner of a soccer team came from Italy with his body guard and surgeon, pulled out a roll of money and asked the receptionist, “ how much?” They come from Canada, from England, Ireland, from Spain, even from Australia, places where I know well having worked for a company in those countries, people will get care here and quickly, but be on long waiting list for minimal care there. It is a two tier system no one is telling you that. You will pay out-of-pocket again and again for anything that you want if you are not permitted to have your own health insurance. There is a safety net in the US and it is called Medicaid. Universal “free” will bankrupt the system for Medicare patients and severely limit what you can get and when you can get it.

For years, I’ve encouraged people to get the very best insurance they can afford. Even these insurances have started to put in controls and authorizations which are going to become more difficult when they start using AI instead of speaking to a real person.

Bottom line, get your screenings, even if you have to pay for the test. I would tell patients to pay for the $60 mammogram. I said you pay for a dress why not something that could save your life ? Don’t let someone else with their fake, smug, we know best plan that sounds great but does not benefit you, replace your own involvement. Please pay attention, this is important and I am still a Doc who is devoted to getting the very best for you. Refuse to be duped. You are smart, savvy but “ experts” want power not care for you. Stay aware. My interest as a patient advocate, is to find your cancer early, make use of the valuable screenings, treat while treatable, find the most cutting edge options being actively rolled out and then to send you on your way to an amazing full, productive life you have yet to lead and certainly deserve.

The fantastic video of the young 16 year-old lifeguard savior, Ryder Williams, of a 10-year-old near unconscious boy in the Santa Cruz surf this week, truly captures our hearts. What a remarkable and miraculous event. He shrugged it off and said “This is my job and I love what I do”. He hopped back on the stand and apparently saved several more in that rough surf. But, he is 16 years old. Himself a child. He had so much determination in the moment and he was fearless. The commitment to rescue is fierce. I am more fascinated by the miraculous event since my husband was a young beach lifeguard and Olympic level swimmer as a teen, before he was sent to Vietnam. Today as a senior citizen, with two knee replacements, when someone calls for help in the surf, he is immediately aware, when no one else is. I’ve seen him pop up, drop everything and run in. He never asks someone else to join him, knowing full well the eminent danger that rescuers themselves face. He also shrugs. ”It’s what we do”.

I love the concept of rescuing. Whether you are at the kennel and rescuing a puppy, a senior dog or a kitten, or even more precious, you are adopting a child or fostering for a family in crisis, perhaps, as so many now, attending to your own super seniors with dementia, who test your patience and resolve, or you are caring for young children, parents and grandparents and finding deep inside the grace and fortitude you need to keep others safe, every single person has had opportunity to be that savior, and that rescuer either in the moment, as this young man did, or for several years.

When the young teenager. who just learned to drive comes into the clinic, wheeling their grandparent, holding their hand and helping them seek advice and counsel (when they say Grandmom or Pop pop it melts my heart), they have already learned what this young lifeguard has. The need and desire to be there for someone else is ingrained. It is a true gift. People rise to the occasion continuously. You never know when you will be tested, but you will be. There can be an injury. There can be a devastating accident. There can be cancer and there can be illness, but you will be there for someone in your life. Know that you are needed. It almost doesn’t matter your own concerns, issues, problems, or limitations. What matters is that you step up every-single -time. That you are fearless. That, even if you have cancer, you will be there to save another.

God bless this young man who, in only a few inches of water found that devastating, overwhelming, massive surf continually pound him and this child again and again and yet he not only had skill, but he had unparalleled courage and refused to give up. A real life hero at just 16. An inspiration. If he can do it, we can do it. Be there for someone. Be that rescuer and oh yes, allow someone to rescue you.

Here is the thing: if you’re from Philly, you are used to rooting for the underdog. Frankly, from birth it is in our DNA. We love proving doubters wrong. The World Cup final introduces us to the two top soccer franchises in the world, on our soil. As excitement builds, many like me, have become new and captivated fans of the sport. I am rooting for Argentina, as star Messi is adopted as part of our Florida family in Miami and it’s hard to believe that Argentina is considered the underdog.

I bring this up because there is a time in every cancer patient’s journey, as the diagnosis settles on them, that they may feel that they are the underdog. Too strong a word? I doubt it. I’ve witnessed this change in personal perception. People take on the moniker as if they have been knighted into an unwelcome position. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of cancer will cause you to be dismayed, troubled, thoughtful, reflective, and may even extend to anxious, grieving and overwhelmed. So there is a big “underdog” association. What is fantastic about challenges, is that they also provide us with the opportunity to be brave, driven, determined, and frankly, amazing.

Today, as many of us cheer on an “underdog”, I have a personal devotion to those who are exceptional, fearless, blessed and powerful. Yes, we have detailed here there are so many advances in cancer care. There are ways that we are going to highlight cancer with a special light and then focus on it and target it with radiation. There are ways that we are going to change your genes and apply microscopic nano bots that are going to kill cancer. But, you know what really matters? It is your belief in your personal power. We cannot do anything in cancer treatment unless you step up and say, “ I am ready. I am prepared. I will not back down, and I will succeed.”

So, I say to anyone who sees themselves as the underdog, those who have advanced, metastatic, or highly aggressive cancer: be prepared you will achieve the goal that you are meant in life to achieve. Even if it is not curing your current cancer. It is that you have impacted people in your life in a way that you will live on forever. Know that you are valuable. Know that people love you. Know that you are a winner. Always.

Ps: Thank you World Cup athletes and fans for bringing your fantastic exuberance to the US and reminding us how really exceptional our wonderful country is.