Kathleen Salerno
Nurse Practitioner, North Shore Physicians Group

It was New Year’s Eve in 1994.  My husband, Jim, and I were celebrating with our parents and our two young sons, Matthew and James, at my parents’ house. Jim wasn’t feeling well which was very unusual for this healthy 33-year-old man.  “It’s probably the tuna fish and pickles that we had for lunch” he explained when his mother gave him a worried look.  We went home and put the boys to bed and then he complained about the sensation of a very strong heartbeat that had been occurring on and off for the past few days.  I was in graduate school, studying to be a nurse practitioner so I listened to his chest and noted a heart murmur.  The next office day he was seen by his PCP and, after having a chest x-ray and a CT scan, he was diagnosed with a grapefruit-sized tumor in his chest compressing his pulmonary artery, causing the murmur and his recent symptoms.  A few days later, a biopsy at Mass General Hospital confirmed large B cell non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.  

We were numb.  At 33 years old it is not something we had ever imagined - cancer, an uncertain future. I had left my job as a night nursing supervisor at Salem Hospital to pursue school full time. I had one intense semester of classes and clinical practice left. Jim is a CPA and tax season was approaching. When I had decided to postpone my studies, Jim challenged this, telling me “if I have to deal with cancer and chemo, the least you can to is finish graduate school.”  This was loving dare that I could not refuse. He was strong and determined not to hear statistics, they did not matter.  There was only one thing to do - beat this disease. We were blessed with a wonderful family and friends, colleagues and a deep faith.  Jim was on prayer lists at Catholic and Protestant churches and Jewish temples.  And we had the North Shore Cancer Center. 

Jim’s first treatment was at MGH because he needed monitoring as the initial chemo caused the tumor to break down so dramatically.  Subsequent treatments would be at the relatively new North Shore Cancer Center on Centennial Drive in Peabody, less than a ten-minute drive from our home.  His care team became family.  Dr. David Smith was the initial hematologist, followed by Dr. Jacobson.   Noreen Murphy, Betty Maloney and Jean Treacey were just some of the excellent, supportive nurses who still greet us with a hug when we see them - 25 years later!  Antoinette Lavino, a family friend, was the brilliant pharmacist at the Center.  

Jim would be treated every fourth Friday and return to work on the following Monday and was in excellent hands.  All this wonderful human chemistry played a great role in Jim’s physical and mental recovery.  We are forever thankful that this world-class cancer care was available so close to home, enabling life to continue without major disruption.  One special volunteer that we will never forget was Mary Ellen McGonnell.  She was a true “cheerleader” who had been through chemo herself.  Her smile and laugh would put Jim at ease.  She lost her own battle in 1997 but we remember her with a smile every year when we participate in the Cancer WALK - Mile One is “Mel’s Mile”.  

Our boys were seven and six at the time of Jim’s diagnosis.  Cancer is hard to explain to kids; they thought that it was caused by the “tuna fish and pickles”.  We were realistic and simple with the explanations and found that they would stop listening when they had enough to handle.  Fortunately, their lives did not change too much as their dad was able to work and participate in school and family functions.  To them, nothing had changed except his hair! 

In May of 1995, Jim finished chemotherapy and I graduated from my NP program and went to work as a family nurse practitioner.  These accomplishments were made possible by the care and support of the North Shore Cancer Center team.  Jim had regular follow ups and scans for the next five years.

In 1996, the year after Jim’s treatment, we formed a WALK team, Great Strides, with a large group of family and friends.  For years we gathered in gratitude at Salem Willows Park every June.  We walked the streets of Salem and had a big celebration afterward in our yard and we all treasure these precious memories.   In 1997, we were blessed with the birth or our daughter, Lauren, an unexpected and wonderful surprise that we thought was impossible post-chemotherapy.  She’s been referred to as the “miracle baby” who is now getting ready to graduate from college!  She is one of the babies featured on the cover of the WALK’s Tribute Book in 1998, the same year Jim was one of the Cancer WALK spokesmen.  James is 31 and Matthew is almost 33, the age that Jim was when he was diagnosed.  It seems unbelievable to us that it has been 25 years and we are grateful for every day.

Although the team, Great Strides, faded out several years ago, we continue to participate in the Cancer WALK each year on the “Sammy’s Superheroes” team to honor our niece, Samantha Bouchard.  She who was successfully treated for Hodgkin’s disease at MGH in 2016.

We are grateful to the North Shore Cancer Center, now Mass General/North Shore Cancer Center, for providing the excellent treatment, venue and, most importantly, the people that made Jim’s treatment and recovery so successful and so close to home.  We like to refer to it as “the best place we hope you never need”.