Pat with her first husband, Terry, and son, Peter
Fighting cancer is not a one person job. It takes a strong and supportive team in order to fight every day. Nobody knows this better than Pat Carstensen, who took care of two husbands battling cancer. Though it was not always easy to serve as a support system, Pat was able to find a silver lining through it all. She was able to witness firsthand the groundbreaking developments taking place at the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC).
When Pat's first husband, Terry, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at age 44, his entire life was thrown for a loop. As a husband, father and avid golfer, he was not sure how to take on his illness. After some research and reflection, Terry and Pat made the decision to come to the ACC, where Edward Stadtmauer, MD, conducted an autologous transplant—which uses the patients' own stem cells. The transplant was a success, and provided Terry with more time than initially expected. Though he passed away eight years after his initial diagnosis, Terry's decision to seek treatment at the ACC provided him more time with family and friends than ever thought possible when he was diagnosed.
Pat, originally from England, became a United States citizen
Years after Terry's passing, Pat remarried. Her husband, Skip was also a fan of golf, in addition to being a computer specialist and retired veteran. Skip was in great physical shape until he found himself in need of a hip replacement. As Skip prepared for his hip surgery, he was stunned to learn that he had been diagnosed with aggressive bladder cancer. Having already lost a husband, Pat was devastated by the diagnosis. However, having been through a similar ordeal before, she knew exactly where to go for treatment. The ACC provided Skip comfort in his final months, and when he passed away in April 2015, his family was grateful for his care.
Despite experiencing such unimaginable loss, Pat has not let hardships overshadow the joys in her life. She currently has two grandchildren, and enjoys golfing and spending time with family in her free time. When it comes to reflecting on her experiences with the ACC, Pat chooses to remember the kindness she experienced with both Terry and Skip. "Penn was so sympathetic to our situation. A cancer diagnosis is a stressful time for everyone, but no one showed that stress. Everyone we encountered at Penn, from check-in to check-out, was considerate and thoughtful. They don't treat you as a number, they treat you as a real person with real problems."
Pat with her second husband, Skip
Part of what keeps Pat able to stay so positive after unthinkable loss, is lasting faith in the Abramson Cancer Center's mission to develop and support cancer-focused research programs. When Terry received his transplant, he was one of Dr. Stadtmauer's first patients to undergo such a procedure. This required a relationship built on trust. "When you decide where to undergo treatment, you have to trust the people who are treating you. It was important to me for our care team to be positive – healing is 90% about attitude. And as soon as we met our doctors at the Abramson Cancer Center, they had our full confidence."