Hockey Fights Cancer: Your Stories

As part of our Hockey Fights Cancer initiative, presented by Northwell Health, NewYorkIslanders.com is asking you to share inspirational stories of a fight against cancer. They can be personal stories, or stories of an inspirational family member or friend battling cancer or a selfless caregiver providing support. Share stories here.
Jump to a story: Jackie Barber | By Joel Evans | By Matthew Goldstein | By Brian Garczynski
MY HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER STORY
BY MAXINE BABB
I'd like to being by saying... "I am a pancreatic cancer survivor!"
My story began in July of 2019 just as my husband was recovering from a battle with Lupus. He was newly diagnosed in February 2019 at the age of 62. We both led healthy lifestyles so you can imagine the surprise when we were told of his new health status.

God never gives you more than you can bear. Well, He had a lot of faith in us! Just as my husband's health was stabilizing, I developed an ulcer-like pain. The assumption was it was stress induced.
A trip to Northwell's Emergency Room on July 21, 2019 uncovered the cause of my pain, a pandemic tumor. Wow! Didn't see that coming! No diabetes, no drinking or smoking, no family history, just PC!
HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER
NOV IS HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER MONTH
Community Star: Alex's Lemonade Stand
Community Star: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Community Star: Candlelighters NYC
Pediatric Cancer Survivors Tour UBS Arena
I Fight For Card
NHL HFC Hub
The ER doctor whose job it was to deliver the life-changing test result was gentle, informative, and delivered a tough message in just the way I needed it delivered. I did not feel panicked, as he equipped me with the names of three Northwell oncologists who ultimately saved my life!
I met Dr. Sandeep Anantha on Tuesday July 23rd. That's when my survival journey began. With the help of this very caring and capable oncology surgeon, I was able to accept and process the sobering projections of the months to come.
Dr. Wasif Saif was next in line to offer me 12 rounds of a cocktail of medicines to shrink the tumor and reduce the tumor markers. My response was immediate and steady!
Dr. Maged Ghally joined in the battle with three rounds of radiation!
The nurses, nurse practitioners and staff at The Monter Cancer Center in New Hyde Park completed a team of people that contributed to my success! Big Shout out to Jyothi Jesse, the Nurse Practitioner who stayed with me every step of the way.
Last, and certainly not least, I thank God for taking me through those dark days and nights. It was my faith in Him knowing that He put these amazing doctors in my life to help me win the battle over this invasion of my body.
To date, my scans are clean and my bloodwork is normal! I can say that the thought of living with this diagnosis is not easy. I pray that a cure for all cancers will be found.
Both my husband and I are doing well. We came from his and hers chemo to living strong, healthy, active lives thanks to our amazing doctors!

JACKIE'S HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER STORY
BY NORTHWELL HEALTH
Jackie Barber used to care for kidney disease patients as a nurse at North Shore University Hospital. One day, when she found a lump in her breast, she scheduled a consultation there with surgeon
Charles Conte, MD
, whom she knew from when she had worked on the hospital's surgical oncology floor.
The series of tests Dr. Conte ordered brought bad news: Jackie had
breast cancer
. "I had so much going on at the time," said Jackie, who lives in Hicksville, NY. "My son was 5 and had autism. But I received so much support from my doctors and nurses. The oncology team made it so all I basically had to do was show up. All my appointments were scheduled for me, and everybody was so kind."
In order to reduce her chances for a recurrence later, Jackie decided to have a double mastectomy with Dr. Conte as her surgeon. She was then referred to medical oncologist
Lora Weiselberg, MD
, at

, for chemotherapy. Jackie also saw
Beatrice Bloom, MD
, who at the time was a radiation oncologist at North Shore University Hospital. She underwent radiation therapy as well, after her chemo was completed.
Throughout her care, Jackie's nurses would sit with her and ask how she was feeling, and whether she needed anything. "The nurses genuinely wanted to know if I was OK," said Jackie. "The care I received made me change my career path. I wanted to work with cancer patients."
After her treatment was successfully completed, Jackie took a job working on a leukemia bone marrow transplant floor at North Shore University Hospital, where she remained for about seven years. "Even though I had a different type of cancer than the patients we treated, I understood what it was like to worry," explained Jackie. "To worry about your family, to worry about your future. So, I would spend the extra time with patients. I would go in and close the door and sit with them."
Then, a few years later, she joined Monter Cancer Center as a nurse, working with lung and breast cancer patients. She also got to work with the doctors who were instrumental in saving her life-both Dr. Conte and Dr. Bloom had moved to CFAM, where Monter Cancer Center is located, in the years since Jackie's breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Her personal and professional experience led her to where she is today, at a job that is particularly suited to her-a breast cancer nurse navigator. Breast cancer nurse navigators are highly knowledgeable about breast disease and offer educational and emotional support to patients. These professionals help implement treatment recommendations, assess their patients' needs, and advocate for patients and caregivers.
"Now, I get to see patients who are newly diagnosed, help them with their doctor appointments and spend time getting them on the path to feeling better," said Jackie. "It's just the most incredible feeling."
Ensuring that women who are new to their diagnosis feel understood and have someone to turn to when they are frightened is a privilege, she added. "I love watching out for them and making them feel as protected and cared for as I was." She also has the opportunity to help those who may be experiencing financial challenges through a fund that provides food for families and transportation to appointments, so patients have one less thing to worry about during treatment.
Jackie has found greater purpose from her cancer journey as a way to help others, empowering patients and helping them contend with the uncertainty that comes with breast cancer. "I think about any missteps I may have made along the way, and I'll use that as a learning tool to make sure patients get everything that they need support-wise," said Jackie. "I'll always stop and share my story with people, so I can say, 'I got through a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment because I had people who cared about me.'"

MY HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER STORY
BY JOEL EVANS
I consider myself the luckiest man on the globe EVERY DAY. I have felt this way since February 12, 2015. That was the date of my Whipple surgery. Why am I the luckiest man alive? I have a great family that has been with me every step of the way during my cancer journey. And through the prodigious skill of Dr. Gene Coppa and his team from Northwell Health, my Whipple surgery was a great success.
Despite the dire prognosis for those with pancreatic cancer, I was able to dance with my daughter and give a toast at her October 2015 wedding AND we recently celebrated her fifth anniversary. Wow! I am one of less than 10 percent of pancreatic cancer survivors to make it five years. Now, I'm closing in on six years. I am so grateful.
How am I doing today? Great. I walk a brisk three miles every other day. My life is pretty normal. I am involved with volunteer work, especially with the Lustgarten Foundation for pancreatic cancer research. My passion is to give back.
In October 2020, I participated in festivities to publicize Lustgarten's virtual walk to raise funds. We did photo and video shoots involving both Lustgarten and Northwell Health personnel. After several years of exchanging email notes, I was really excited to see Dr. Coppa in person at this event. We got to catch up. It was emotional for both of us.
As part of my "giving back," I wrote an uplifting book on my experiences. It is available FREE
here
.

MY HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER STORY
BY MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN
Though my mom passed away a few weeks ago, I share this story with you in hopes that it helps someone and their family hold onto hope.
I'm a pretty private person, but I want to share some light on a personally dark chapter. Recently, I lost my mom to cancer. She had breast cancer, then eight years ago developed ovarian cancer and she had been fighting it ever since. Four weeks ago, my parents decided to halt treatment for quality of life. Two days later, she entered hospice and stayed asleep the whole time. She passed with my father, brother, and me at her bedside.
Pretty much a downer, right? She was always a fighter, and stubborn. The doctors, from day one - eight years ago - told her she had a maximum of one year to live. They repeated this yearly. Even while at the hospice, they gave her a few hours almost every day until they gave up trying to guess. No matter what odds are given to you - you fight and complete that goal on your terms. Spread happiness to others because they may need it. Be kind, not because someone deserves it, but because everyone deserves it. That's how my mom would want it.

MY HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER STORY
BY BRIAN GARCZYNSKI
My personal story about how this Islanders run has been a big lift for me during my fight against cancer. 2020 has been real bad for many people due to COVID-19, but mine has had some real twists and turns.
I've had low-grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma since 2010 and will have it the rest of my life. It's not a big deal. I've got a Rituximab treatment and I have been going to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center three times a year to get my blood counts checked out and my scans had been status quo.
My 14-year-old daughter Angelina and myself try to attend as many Islanders home games as we can per season. I brought her to games when she was young, not expecting her enjoyment of the Islanders and NHL hockey in general to grow. She was probably the only little girl in her kindergarten class to know what "icing" and other rules were. The whole experience of going to games at Nassau Coliseum made her love watching the Islanders with me even more. Between going to games and watching on TV our bond grew strong. In 2018, I even got a small ticket plan and took Angelina to Game 1 of the [Pittsburgh] Penguins playoff series.
Last October, we attended a bunch of games including the comeback win vs St. Louis and great wins vs. Philly and Tampa. But the game on 11/1/19 vs Tampa Bay, was when I knew something was wrong.

While at the game I felt off and didn't eat anything, that fun game kept my mind off it. Following that night I went to my gastroenterologist and he said, 'Let's get you in for a test.'
I got the test results and he said at you have an elevated mass in your stomach. The slides of biopsies were sent to Memorial Sloan Kettering, right next to Nassau Coliseum, and I began getting more tests. After a PET scan, I was told I now have Large B-Cell Lymphoma. The doctors said it was treatable, but I needed to start chemotherapy. It would be for five months and this time, I would lose a ton of weight, all of my hair and couldn't do much except stay home. I knew it would be a battle, but thought positively. In the back of my mind, I thought about how I would not be able to take my daughter to any more games this season and she would sort of lose her passion/fandom of the Islanders and the bond we have going to games.
The first few months were very rough. I spent Dec. 26 to Jan. 4 in the hospital, I lost all of my hair (which was like a hockey player's sort of mullet, I had a nice head of lettuce ha) and lost 55 lbs. I slept a ton.
My wife Joy helped me to walk and my seven-year-old daughter Rosabella tried to get food in my system. Angelina would come home from school reminding me that the Islanders had a game at 7 pm since I didn't really have a headspace for what day and time it was. She would watch every game with me and it would keep me awake, and on a regular schedule with something to look forward to. My family and friends were really concerned about me. But all I kept thinking about was getting better so I could take Angelina to another Islanders game in April, which meant the Isles would need to make the playoffs.
I was feeling ok enough to go back to work in February. Then in March, the company I worked for said I should work from home with the COVID-19 virus coming on strong and my immune system being so low. I worked at home for another month until my company laid off 90% of the staff. Since the company works in the sports publishing industry and no games were being played I knew this might be a while before I would be working again.
Whenever I got treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering, which is in the same parking lot as Nassau Coliseum, all I could think of is getting better for my family and getting back to regular life and the small goal of returning to the Coliseum to attend a game with Angelina.
A few days after a treatment in March, my doctor called me on a Sunday morning and told me that me and my wife were subjected to someone who had COVID-19. Luckily we didn't have it, I just had the same bad chemo after effects.
My last three treatments I could not have anyone come with me, I had to bring myself, it was rough. After one of those treatments, when I finished, I sat in my car for an hour or so staring at the Coliseum until I felt ready drive myself home which was only a 10 minute ride to Levittown.
It was a very rough five months, but I thought about the light at the end of the tunnel forcing myself to walk and eat a little which was very hard for me, and my family watching the way I was living.

Fast forward to May 2, 2020, I was told I'm now clear of the Large B-Cell Lymphoma which is good. I'm gaining weight, riding my bike or walking almost every day. I was still not back to work, but when the NHL announced its Return to Play, it gave me and my daughter something to look forward to, a big escape for me.
The first game fell on Angelina's birthday (August 1). She wanted to have a few friends and family around and put the TV in the backyard to watch the Islanders game in the summer, it was odd, but fun. We have been going to Blue Line Deli in Huntington once a week as a ritual during the playoff run. We sat in the same seats in the living room while watching games and wearing our Isles gear. We attended the Isles Pep rally, hearing everyone beeping their horns to the "Let's Go Islanders" chant like at home games was fun & refreshing. It would have been some irony if we were able to return to the Coliseum for the Eastern Conference Final vs Tampa Bay since that game on 11/1/19 vs Tampa Bay was the last game we attended.
What a great run this has been by this Islanders team a top to bottom, total team effort. This really meant a lot to me after such a horrible 2020. I'm sure this was a nice positive moment for many Islanders fans, but is a little extra special to me.
Thank you
Brian Garczynski