Since 2016, GreatNews.Life’s Survivor Series has spotlighted cancer survivors who are in remission. These survivors share their inspiring stories of hope and impart wisdom and resources to those battling cancer and their loved ones.
Sue Straatman sat in a doctor’s office in the Community Healthcare System (now Powers Health) Hospital Emergency Room next to her only son, Rob, when she received her ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2008. The team of five doctors sitting in front of...
Colleen McQuillan, a resident of Highland, has religiously received mammograms since she turned 40. When she couldn’t secure an appointment at her doctor’s office in Illinois in 2020 for a mammogram, she made an appointment in Indiana instead....
John Dempsey, a resident of Munster, Indiana, began his long battle with cancer at the age of 52-years-old. Dempsey had no idea that receiving a colonoscopy as a preventative measure would begin a six-year journey with colorectal cancer. Dempsey...
St. Louis, Missouri native Pamela “Pam” Barton had only moved to Hobart a couple months before her diagnosis. In the fall of 2022, she decided she would go in to see the doctor for a routine check up. Despite having little signs or symptoms, her...
Valparaiso resident Karen Nelson is a breast cancer survivor. Despite having gone through a hard battle, Nelson used the experience as a growing one rather than a negative one. Nelson used a positive attitude and faith to guide her through the...
Valparaiso resident Roberta Tuft is a thyroid cancer survivor who has survived cancer not once but twice. Her journey started just before Thanksgiving in 2006. She went in to see Dr. John Carter, her primary doctor in Hobart because she was having...
Merrillville resident Joy Johnson always goes in for an annual mammogram. However, in the year 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson was nervous to go. Now just over two years cancer free, Johnson is thanking her blessings that she...
Andrea “Andie” Wolfinsohn’s life took a drastic turn when she went in for her yearly mammogram almost four years ago. The results prompted her radiologist to schedule an additional ultrasound and biopsy, and the latter came back with the...
COVID-19 was a rough time for everybody, but for Micki Pressley, circumstances made the time incredibly difficult. During the outbreak of COVID-19, Pressley went in for her annual mammogram, where a mass was found. She had a biopsy, and it was proven...
In August 2020, Louie Maldonado, a resident of Michigan City, went in for a colonoscopy after noticing he was starting to have stomach issues. It was then that it was determined he was indeed having problems, and Maldonado was diagnosed with stage...
