Debbie Boland

Our sister, Debbie McCarthy Boland, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in August 2014.  As the McCarthy sister who has dedicated her medical career to caring for others, we were all stunned and saddened by this news.  She had extensive surgery and an intensive course of chemotherapy.  Unfortunately, this past March it was discovered that the breast cancer had recurred just 15 months after completing chemotherapy.  Although home is in Syracuse, she is now being treated in Boston at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where her doctors are hoping that further surgery, radiation therapy, and another course of chemotherapy might cure Debbie.  In June, she completed her radiation therapy and has now begun chemotherapy, requiring her to go to Boston every 3 weeks for several days at a time.     Debbie is determined to do her very best to beat this cancer.  She feels a lot of confidence in her very specialized team at Dana Farber.  And, via very helpful recommendations from other cancer survivors, Debbie has been in touch with a Stanford-trained MD who focuses on holistic and integrative health for patients during and post cancer treatments.  Via a very individualized treatment plan, the doctor focuses on fine tuning the relationships between all the body’s organ systems and their interactions through a number of additional therapies, supplements, dietary adjustments, etc. We’d like to offer her our support as she seeks out this additional treatment and additional therapies to provide a well-supported route through this aggressive disease.    Debbie was really enjoying her work as a psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner but is out of work a second time due to her cancer.  We know that the emotional and physical stresses of cancer are enormous; we'd like to help relieve her and her husband the additional financial stress of travels and treatments.       We welcome your support, in any form, for Debbie.  We know that positive thoughts, healing wishes, prayers, encouraging energy and financial support make a tremendous difference to folks on a healing path. Her heart is open to receiving your loving kindness, in any form.    And we send gratitude to you for keeping her in your heart,  Debbie's sisters