(Center at the microphone) Liz and Peter Menges, parents of the late Bobby Menges, and founders of the "I'm Not Done Yet Foundation."
DCI Rings Nasdaq Opening Bell
Published
From the Duke Cancer Institute archives. Content may be out of date.
On October 7, 2022, representatives from the DCI Teen and Young Adult Oncology Program (TYAO) joined the I'm Not Done Yet Foundation in ringing the opening bell at Nasdaq in New York City. Duke Cancer Institute and the I'm Not Done Foundation were welcomed and acknowledged on the jumbotron in Times Square.
The Foundation, which was started by the parents of Bobby Menges — a Duke student who succumbed to brain cancer at age 19 — is an important TYAO partner; supporting a peer-to-peer support program called “Bobby’s Coaches” as well as helping young cancer patients pay for fertility preservation services. Menges would have been 25 on October 21.
DCI staff and the "I'm Not Done Foundation" celebrate in Times Square, New York City, the ringing of the Nasdaq opening bell. The I’m Not Done Yet Foundation was started by the parents of Bobby Menges, a Duke student who succumbed to cancer at 19 years old. He would have been 25 on October 21.
In 2022, when Iris Bugbee, MS, CCC-SLP, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 34, she had a lot to think about besides cancer. Working full time as a speech language pathologist and caring for her then-two-year-old daughter, Mila, occupied her days. She took nearly six weeks off for surgery, but she worked throughout the rest of her treatment, just reducing her hours.Bugbee, who lives in Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, and was treated at Duke Women’s Cancer Care Raleigh, fit radiation appointments in between patients. She works with adults and older people who have speech or swallowing issues. “I would go to work, travel to Raleigh, and then come back and see the rest of my patients,” she said. “I was going through treatment and doing what I could for my patients and then what I could as a parent at home. I didn’t think a whole lot about my own treatment or diagnosis.”One year after her mastectomy, when a nurse called asking if she’d be willing to participate in a clinical trial of a new, structured support program for young adult cancer survivors, Bugbee said yes. She wanted to get stronger physically, and she saw it as a good way to get motivated. She had exercised regularly before surgery but had not been exercising at all since. She had developed cording syndrome (inflammation, scarring, and hardening of the tissue that can happen as a side effect of surgery), and she was having trouble with range of motion in her right arm. Cleaning, picking up her daughter, and even typing at work were challenging. TThe program encouraged her to plan and set goals, to start slowly to regain strength and to go easy on herself. “When I started this program that’s when I began walking and stretching and building off of that,” she said.The sessions also helped Bugbee begin to process all that happened to her. She said that the support group, which was held online, felt less like a mandatory class and more like a chat with her peers. “It was nice to see the perspective of other cancer survivors who are in the middle of this part of their life – raising a family or in the middle of their careers,” she said. “Hearing everyone’s experiences and their challenges made me feel like, ‘Okay, yeah, I’m not the only one.’ The two psychologists who ran the support program were inviting and gentle, and they just made you want to share."The clinical trial was led by Caroline Dorfman, PhD, a clinical psychologist at Duke Cancer Institute. Read more.This article was originally published in the Fall 2024 Breakthroughs. Read more about DCI's breakthrough research and patient care in this biannual magazine.
Being diagnosed with cancer and going through treatment isn’t easy for anyone. For people diagnosed as young adults (ages 18-39), the experience comes with some unique challenges.“This is an age of transition,” said Caroline Dorfman, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Duke Cancer Institute. People in this age group are often in the midst of reaching milestones such as graduation, landing a job, building a friend group, getting married, and having children, she said. “One of the things we hear from our patients,” she said, “is that the cancer diagnosis stops them in their tracks from being able to move forward on life milestones.”Even after treatment ends, life doesn’t suddenly switch back to normal. Physical symptoms like pain and fatigue can linger, and emotional distress is common during the post-treatment period. Multiple follow-up appointments can present financial and logistical difficulties as well as emotional reminders of cancer.“Sometimes they just want the cancer behind them and to get back to doing what matters to them,” Dorfman said. “The trouble is that when they are in the midst of treatment, they are just trying to get through it, and they don’t stop to process the experience.”That emotional processing often happens after the last chemo treatment or radiation session.To support young adults during this vulnerable period, Dorfman has designed a 10-week program that aims to give them the tools they need to navigate physical and emotional symptoms and learn how to successfully manage their new lives as cancer survivors.
In 2022, when Iris Bugbee, MS, CCC-SLP, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 34, she had a lot to think about besides cancer. Working full time as a speech language pathologist and caring for her then-two-year-old daughter, Mila, occupied her days. She took nearly six weeks off for surgery, but she worked throughout the rest of her treatment, just reducing her hours.Bugbee, who lives in Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, and was treated at Duke Women’s Cancer Care Raleigh, fit radiation appointments in between patients. She works with adults and older people who have speech or swallowing issues. “I would go to work, travel to Raleigh, and then come back and see the rest of my patients,” she said. “I was going through treatment and doing what I could for my patients and then what I could as a parent at home. I didn’t think a whole lot about my own treatment or diagnosis.”One year after her mastectomy, when a nurse called asking if she’d be willing to participate in a clinical trial of a new, structured support program for young adult cancer survivors, Bugbee said yes. She wanted to get stronger physically, and she saw it as a good way to get motivated. She had exercised regularly before surgery but had not been exercising at all since. She had developed cording syndrome (inflammation, scarring, and hardening of the tissue that can happen as a side effect of surgery), and she was having trouble with range of motion in her right arm. Cleaning, picking up her daughter, and even typing at work were challenging. TThe program encouraged her to plan and set goals, to start slowly to regain strength and to go easy on herself. “When I started this program that’s when I began walking and stretching and building off of that,” she said.The sessions also helped Bugbee begin to process all that happened to her. She said that the support group, which was held online, felt less like a mandatory class and more like a chat with her peers. “It was nice to see the perspective of other cancer survivors who are in the middle of this part of their life – raising a family or in the middle of their careers,” she said. “Hearing everyone’s experiences and their challenges made me feel like, ‘Okay, yeah, I’m not the only one.’ The two psychologists who ran the support program were inviting and gentle, and they just made you want to share."The clinical trial was led by Caroline Dorfman, PhD, a clinical psychologist at Duke Cancer Institute. Read more.This article was originally published in the Fall 2024 Breakthroughs. Read more about DCI's breakthrough research and patient care in this biannual magazine.
Being diagnosed with cancer and going through treatment isn’t easy for anyone. For people diagnosed as young adults (ages 18-39), the experience comes with some unique challenges.“This is an age of transition,” said Caroline Dorfman, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Duke Cancer Institute. People in this age group are often in the midst of reaching milestones such as graduation, landing a job, building a friend group, getting married, and having children, she said. “One of the things we hear from our patients,” she said, “is that the cancer diagnosis stops them in their tracks from being able to move forward on life milestones.”Even after treatment ends, life doesn’t suddenly switch back to normal. Physical symptoms like pain and fatigue can linger, and emotional distress is common during the post-treatment period. Multiple follow-up appointments can present financial and logistical difficulties as well as emotional reminders of cancer.“Sometimes they just want the cancer behind them and to get back to doing what matters to them,” Dorfman said. “The trouble is that when they are in the midst of treatment, they are just trying to get through it, and they don’t stop to process the experience.”That emotional processing often happens after the last chemo treatment or radiation session.To support young adults during this vulnerable period, Dorfman has designed a 10-week program that aims to give them the tools they need to navigate physical and emotional symptoms and learn how to successfully manage their new lives as cancer survivors.
