Our Patient Stories

My first thought when I learned I had ovarian cancer was: "I need the best treatment." And even though I love working at Winchester Hospital and respect everyone, I assumed that meant Boston. I began my research with Dana-Farber and although I’ve worked in the medical field for the last 25 years and had some great resources one name kept coming up, Dr. Arlan Fuller of Winchester Hospital. He was the BEST. Dr Fuller came to see me in the emergency room on his day off after learning about my diagnosis. The minute he walked into my room I knew I was going to be OK. His expertise and experience in ovarian cancer was a big part of my decision to have him do the surgery, but it was his compassion, warmth and his positive attitude that saw me through one of the most difficult times in my life. This compassion and warmth extended to his outstanding support team. After extensive surgery and during my six months of chemotherapy, when I had concerns they had the answers. They never made me feel I was alone in this process; their support and experience made a difficult situation tolerable. I have since completed my treatments and remain cancer-free. I have a positive attitude about my outcome, because I can, thanks to Dr. Fuller and his wonderful support team. There was a time, before all this happened, that it wouldn’t have occurred to me to come to Winchester Hospital for treatment. Now I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else.

I’ve had an overactive bladder and bladder control problems for more than 30 years. Anyone who experiences these symptoms can understand it’s a horrible, embarrassing problem to live with.  I never felt comfortable talking about it, so I didn’t – not even to my primary care physician. I didn’t realize that I had options that could easily alleviate my issues. Dr. Rajan at Winchester Hospital performed a minimally invasive surgery that literally has changed my life. I was incredibly well-informed throughout the entire experience right through recovery, making it as pleasant as it could have been. I used to have to plan my whole day so I could stop if I needed to.  Now, I travel without a second thought. Women tend to take care of everybody but themselves, but when you improve the quality of your own life, I believe it makes you an even better caregiver.