Cancer Survivors Share Their Stories

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

In 2006, Mike Ameroso of Amherst, now 81, received his prostate cancer diagnosis.

Cancer survivors all have a different story, as everyone’s journey in life and cancer is unique. 

Nonetheless, most say their experience has given them a new perspective on life after undergoing the devastation of their diagnosis, the struggle to select their next step, their treatment and their recovery.

The support of family, friends and their medical team helped in ways they never expected.

In 2006, Mike Ameroso, now 81, received his prostate cancer diagnosis.

“I had no inkling I had any kind of cancer because I felt good,” the Amherst resident said. “He laid it on me, right out of the blue, ‘You’ve got cancer.’ My first thought was ‘How long have I got to live? When will I die?”

He received a second opinion at Roswell, where he also received his biopsies and eventually chose surgery. Attending meetings at Us Too, a support group for men with prostate cancer, helped arm him with information to proceed with prostatectomy in 2007 at Roswell Park.

“My father had prostate cancer and the statistics show that it was in your family, chances are, you’ll have it worse,” Ameroso said. “My thinking was it won’t get better, so I had it taken out.”

His surgery went well and he said that he experienced no pain and an easy recovery. Every three months, he has his PSA checked. It is slowly increasing, but he said that his providers chalk that up to his age and are not concerned because the number is moving so slowly.

Ameroso advises anyone newly diagnosed to get a second opinion from an expert in that type of cancer.

“Don’t just go by what your primary care provider is telling you,” he said. “Then, definitely educate yourself on procedures and the different treatments such as being in a support group where you can meet a number of people who’ve been through this.”

Physician Steve Lipshultz, president of UBMD Pediatrics and chairman of pediatrics at UB, is a cancer survivor and a physician who pioneered the field of pediatric cardio-oncology.

His team studied the long-term effects of cancer-fighting drugs. Some of these drugs caused 10% to 15% of the children taking them to develop heart failure as adolescents or young adults. Lipshultz helped develop medication to prevent this side effect. 

After decades of taking care of young cancer patients’ hearts, Lipshultz received a lymphoma diagnosis in 2000. He endured chemotherapy, radiation, bone marrow transplant and three relapses. Despite these experiences, he said, “I was one of the lucky ones; God was watching over me” because at one point, he was told he had a less than 20% chance of survival.

Although many people have told him to take it easy, he said he has never worked harder as he wants to improve the care of his patients.

“I circled the drain but didn’t go down,” he said.

The brush with death reinforced to him how cancer devastates families on so many levels.

“You never forget the families,” he said. “Every day is an anniversary of a child lost to cancer from a family.”

Lipshultz feels that like any other cancer patient, he is a different person on the other side.

“The privilege of being able to serve I think to me enabled me not to dwell on it,” he said. “This interview is the most I’ve talked about it. I’ve dealt with the greatest modern miracles in history and also stories you don’t wish on anyone.”

He has remained in good health since 2001.

Lipshultz encourages anyone newly diagnosed to build a good support system and to trust their medical team.

“Be able to be the patient and honestly share what you feel,” he said. “It’s appropriate to be scared and have uncertainty. You do your best as your doctors are treating your cancer to work to have the best other aspects of what you comfortably can do.”