Celebrating Cancer Survivorship

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This June, we at Penn State Health come together to honor the incredible strength and resilience of cancer survivors. Cancer Survivorship Month is a time to celebrate the triumphs, acknowledge the challenges, and support those who have faced this formidable journey. Every survivor's story is a testament to courage and hope. By making a gift to our cause, you help provide essential resources, support programs, and research that make a real difference in the lives of survivors and their families. 

We want to share one of the stories directly from our grateful patient and loving colleague, Kelly Frownfelter.

Kelly's Story

As a healthy senior in high school, Kelly Frownfelter had a consistent shooting pain down her leg. Thinking it was an injury from playing softball, she tried physical therapy. After a month of no improvements, she decided to see a specialist at a local practice in Lancaster County. 

The doctor informed her that it was not a softball injury, it was a tumor on her spine. The shooting pain was a result of the tumor pushing on her sciatic nerve. Doctors said it was not cancerous, and that she would recover. After having it removed, however, another tumor grew on the other side of her spine, and one grew again in the same spot as the original tumor.

At 20 years old, Kelly was diagnosed with Osteogenic Sarcoma, a form of cancer. Her doctors recommended she come to Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center because the local hospital in Lancaster County could not perform this level of complex treatment.

“I had to drop out of college during my first year because the treatment required me to be in-patient,” said Kelly. “After rounds of chemotherapy, I underwent two surgeries totaling 23 hours where they took out the bottom two vertebrae in my back and replaced it with a cage and some bone from my hip. They also installed two rods that go up my spine and one across the bottom.”

During an intense recovery period and months of in-patient rehab, Kelly had to re-learn how to walk and do normal tasks, such as putting on her shoes and brushing her hair.

“Today, I am celebrating being cancer-free for 27 years and I work in our Development and Alumni Relations office every day,” said Kelly. “I truly believe I wouldn’t be here if not for the care of my doctors at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, support from my family, and support from Four Diamonds.”  

As we recognize National Cancer Survivorship Day, will you join Kelly by making a gift? Anyone who has fought cancer is a survivor from the day of diagnosis, and this is a great way to support those who are fighting this battle or who have fought in the past

“It is amazing to see how much Penn State Health has grown with its cancer care in the last 27 years,” said Kelly. “When I first started going through my treatments, they were performed on one floor of the hospital with three small wings. This floor had a mix of pediatric and adult patients. It’s now grown into the entire, nationally recognized cancer institute with services and survivorship programs out in the community.”

Your support, no matter the size, will help us to provide essential resources and support to cancer survivors, like Kelly. Together, we can ensure that every survivor can live a healthy, fulfilling life.