“We at North Shore Medical Center regard Jennifer Flanagan as a heroine,” says her nominator.
In 2006, Jennifer was diagnosed with an aggressive gynecologic cancer that could not be treated by surgery. Under the care of James McIntyre, MD, the chair of Radiation Oncology at Mass General Northshore Cancer Center, she underwent five weeks of daily radiation treatments and weekly chemotherapy. And at Mass General, Anthony Russell, MD, treated her with five rounds of brachytherapy — a minimally invasive procedure that implants radioactive “seeds” that deliver radiation directly to tumors.
After months of strenuous treatment, Jennifer went to work raising funds for the new Mass General/North Shore Cancer Center, which will open in June 2009. A past participant in our Cancer WALK, Jennifer agreed to serve as its 2008 chair and spokesperson. At the groundbreaking of the Cancer Center, Jennifer said, “This center will enable all of us who live or work on Boston’s North Shore to obtain the best possible cancer care right here in our own back yard.”
