Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was diagnosed with breast cancer 16 years ago. After undergoing 15 months of surgeries and treatment, she is cancer-free and wants to help other cancer patients.
“My story began like so many here almost 16 years ago with the same harrowing words: ‘You have breast cancer,’” Wasserman Schultz said. “I never want anyone to hear those words that I did almost 16 years ago, but if they do, I want us to be there for them during and after their diagnosis and treatment.”
On Oct. 16 in NSU’s Rick Case Arena, Wasserman Schultz hosted the first Cancer Survivorship Summit, an event featuring speeches, panels and videos discussing the difficulties and inequities of the cancer survivorship journey.
First Lady Jill Biden was the keynote speaker of the event.
“When Joe and I lost our son Beau to brain cancer, we decided to turn our pain to purpose by helping families like ours,” Biden said. “Cancer doesn’t care who you vote for. It’s not a red issue or a blue issue. It’s a human one and it takes all of us to stop it.”
PHOTO BY BRIELLE AGUAYO Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz hugs First Lady Jill Biden as she welcomes Biden to the stage.
Biden discussed the Biden administration’s Cancer Moonshot plan, which she described as “our White House initiative to build a world where cancer is not a death sentence.”
“Through the Cancer Moonshot, we will end cancer as we know it,” Biden said.
The Cancer Moonshot’s goals include improving the cancer experience for patients, promoting prevention and screening, ensuring cancer care is distributed more equitably, reducing cancer mortality by 50% in the next 25 years and eventually ending cancer.
Biden said that through the Cancer Moonshot, President Biden has expanded the number of patient navigation grants, established the new agency ARPA-H, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, and provided $330 million to research teams around the country to fund potential breakthroughs in cancer treatments and cures. He also revitalized the Childhood Cancer STAR Act to help children with cancer.
“Of all the things cancer steals from us, time is the cruelest. The days spent in treatment or surgeries, anniversaries and holidays, missed pages of photo albums unfilled,” Biden said.
NSU President George L. Hanbury II opened the summit. He shared that the day before, he gave the eulogy at the funeral of a cancer victim.
“What this summit is about is to let all of us know that there is life after diagnosis,” Hanbury said. “It is a difficult journey and everyone is involved, and that’s why we need to hear stories.”
The summit also featured a collection of survivors’ stories.
Many survivors discussed the long-term implications of their diagnosis.
“I’m cancer free, but I’m not free of cancer,” one survivor said, due to the side effects she continued to deal with after successful treatment.
Another said, “So many people think cancer ends when you finish treatment, but that is not true. I am eight years out, and I have permanent nerve damage from chemotherapy.”
Other guest speakers were Julia Lemigova from Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Miami,” U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough and professional tennis champion Martina Navratilova.
Wasserman Schultz said she hopes to continue to host this event at NSU.
“They have such a comprehensive approach to healthcare,” Wasserman Schultz said. “[NSU is] a central location in my district, the only full university campus I have the privilege of representing.”
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