Jane Folgeman

By the time COVID waned, Jane Folgeman had gone two and a half years without her previously-annual colonoscopy; when she received the results, she was shocked. Stage three cancer. She was facing the same disease that had taken her mother in the late 1970s.

Her family expected she would return to New York for treatment. “I said no, I'm not. I'm going to stay here. I want to be in my own home with my husband, with my dog, with all my friends around. And I know that the people at St. John's Health Oncology are just top notch,” Jane recalls. She began the long, difficult journey of conquering her cancer.

By the fall of 2023, Jane was cancer-free, and she credits the exceptional care that she received through the St. John’s Health Oncology department as well as St. John’s Foundation-funded Cancer Survivorship program, which provided holistic treatment support from the first days of her diagnosis. “I really believe that I am well because of not only the program, but being in town, being here,” Jane says. “It's like a miracle to have care like this right in our little town.”

Embracing the diversity of resources that the Cancer Survivorship Program offers, Jane felt empowered to navigate her recovery from a place of strength, not fear. “You're not now a victim that has cancer. You're someone who is going to beat this thing,” she says. Through complementary services like massage, mental health support, Pilates and more, Jane not only defeated the disease, but has emerged feeling stronger than ever.

“There's just been so many things that St. John's has given me,” she says. “I feel like I'm back to me.”

Jane had a team of people who helped her along her journey, they were instrumental in her recovery and she has many thanks: Katelyn Webb, LPC – Cancer Survivorship Program Manager, Beth Dannewald, NP – Oncology Nurse Practitioner, Lynnette Gaertner, LCSW – Clinical Social Worker, Dr. Melissa Cohen – Medical Oncology, Dr. Hannah Caulfield – General Surgeon/Breast Surgeon, Anita LaRose, RN – Infusion Nurse, Riley McIntyre, RN – Clinical Coordinator, Tara Rosalas – Oncology Office Coordinator, Wendy Kincaid, RN, Nurse Educator