Rose Murphy has experienced life-threating challenges since her first cancer diagnosis at age 56. A nurse by training, she went to see her primary care physician in late 2000 when she felt something was off. Her instinct was correct: she had stage III pancreatic cancer. At the time, 95% of pancreatic cancer patients did not survive more than five years.
Now 80 years old, and living in Naples, Florida, Rose has beaten those odds and then some. She survived pancreatic cancer, plus T-cell lymphoma, chronic leukemia and sepsis — and lived to write the tale. Rose has gathered the lessons learned through her diagnoses and treatments, and presented them in a book to offer hope, tools and techniques to help other patients. Called Everlasting Rose, her memoir chronicles the range of treatments she received at Massachusetts General Hospital, which included a complex Whipple procedure, five years of CAT scans every six months, as well as a comprehensive stem cell transplant to treat her lymphoma.
“My hope? That people will get cancer less often. And if they do, they will be cured more easily and frequently.”
To show her gratitude to the caregivers who provided these lifesaving treatments and help find the next generation of cancer therapies, Rose is donating proceeds from Everlasting Rose to the Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research at Mass General. The Krantz Center’s aim is to conduct pioneering basic and translational research that will have a global impact on the treatment, early diagnosis and prevention of all forms of cancer.
“I tell my family and friends, ‘If I need to have surgery or any major medical procedure, take me to the airport,’’’ Rose says. “I sing Mass General’s praises for all kinds of reasons.”
A Brave Face
Rose first came to Mass General from her hometown of Albany, New York, when her doctor referred her to Carlos Fernández-del Castillo, MD, director of the Pancreas and Biliary Surgery Program and clinical co-director of the Tucker Gosnell Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers, to confirm her diagnosis. Dr. Fernández-del Castillo performed an 11-hour Whipple procedure — a painstaking operation to remove parts of the pancreas, part of the stomach, duodenum, small intestine, bile duct, gallbladder and associated lymph nodes — to address Rose’s tumor. The surgery was a success, and Rose remembers how kind and respectful Dr. Fernandez-del Castillo and the nurses were as she grappled with a path forward that included chemotherapy and radiation in her hometown of Albany.
“I was really brave until that point,” she says. “The day after the surgery, the prognosis hit me, and I was sobbing thinking that I was going to die. Dr. Fernández-del Castillo came to my room, sat with me until my husband and son arrived and gave me all the reassurance I needed.”
After five years of follow-up appointments, Rose was officially in remission. But, years later, when she was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma, she came back to Mass General for a stem cell transplant, staying in a hotel across the street for three months for follow-up appointments. That procedure was also a success.
Since finishing her treatments, Rose has stayed close with Dr. Fernandez-del Castillo and other members of her care team, including David Ryan, MD, president of the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, and Daniel Haber, MD, PhD, director of the Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research. In addition to donating her book sale proceeds, Rose has given back to Mass General through other fundraising efforts; in 2008, she launched a golf tournament that raised more than $250,000 to support cancer research.
“From the first time I met Rose Murphy more than 20 years ago, it was clear she was a remarkable woman with a love for life,” Dr. Fernández-del Castillo says. “She fought and won two extraordinary battles with different cancers. At Mass General, we are grateful for the inspiration she provides to all of us and her philanthropic efforts.”
“My hope? That people will get cancer less often,” Rose says, “And if they do, they will be cured more easily and frequently.”
Turning Words into Innovations
As a nurse, Rose considers herself to be a scientific thinker — “words don’t come easy to me,” she says. But when she started contemplating what she had been through, what she had learned and what she wanted to give to other people who might be facing the same odds that she did, Rose decided to put pen to paper. Her next-door neighbor, a physician who also writes children’s books, helped her get started. She self-published Everlasting Rose in September 2024, and sent copies to her Mass General care team, receiving heartfelt notes in return.
Rose’s overwhelming goal is to have the Krantz Family Center benefit from her book for their groundbreaking work. The Center’s researchers are exploring innovations into various cancer strains that drill down to the cancer cells’ lowest level. Those innovations include investigations into boosting immunotherapy response, uncovering treatment resistance in brain tumors and targeting intrinsically disordered cell proteins as part of the Krantz Awards — Mass General’s most significant internal funding opportunity for cancer research. Rose has a particular interest in childhood cancer research, and previous Krantz Award winner Liron Bar-Peled, PhD, is exploring less common cancer strains that tend to impact pediatric patients more often.
Beyond the philanthropic component, Rose hopes readers find helpful lessons about hope, support systems and faith throughout her book. Those three pillars are what helped her navigate her numerous health challenges, and what she believes are critical for those wrestling with a difficult diagnosis.
“You have to move forward,” Rose says. “Be strong and force your mind to bring you there. There were a couple times during very strong chemo when I thought, ‘That’s it.’ But then I thought of my family and decided never to give up, never, never to give up.”
To learn more about Everlasting Rose, click here.
To support the Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research, contact us.
