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ABOUT KATHERINE MILLER
At the time of diagnosis, Katherine was half-way through her second term at Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She reached DMU in August, 2004, full of excitement, and impassioned about becoming a doctor. A Classicist and mathematician by training, Katherine brought an exquisite eye and memory for detail, a gift for problem-solving and intellectual rigor, to her studies in medicine. Following an undergraduate degree in Ancient Greek and Latin at University of Virginia, she undertook two years of baccalaureate pre-med coursework at Florida Atlantic University and Palm Beach Atlantic University, gaining top marks. During this time, she lived at home and learned from her colorful grandmother, role-model and namesake, Katherine Tsacoyeanes, a Greek immigrant from the Peloponnesus. Katherine Miller and Katherine Tsacoyeanes shared a genius for cooking. “We are brilliant in the kitchen,” was one of their mantras.
Katherine had two dreams: first, to become a doctor and to apply her gifts to help others in need of medical attention and care. Her special interests included the family of auto-immune diseases, sports medicine, preventive medicine and nutrition. Second, Katherine wanted to reaffirm her heritage as a Greek-American, and to find ways to build a bridge back to Greece in her future. She hoped to do a rotation of her training abroad, to learn from the approaches of physicians in other countries with different medical systems and traditions, especially in the Mediterranean and Australasia. She planned on applying the methods of osteopathy in her practice, focusing on the health and integrity of the whole patient. In her approach, she sought to address the imbalance of illness and disease that occurs in the mind of the patient, as well as the body.
At the time of diagnosis, athletics and fitness were a large part of Katherine’s life. A double water polo and swim team captain at Choate Rosemary Hall, she enjoyed jogging with Telemachus, her German shepherd-chow mix, playing tennis and working as a personal trainer. She possessed a talent in art and a flair for dance, and took classes in hip-hop and jazz during her time in Des Moines. Her friends and family cherished her laughter and upbeat company: her enthusiasm for trying new things, going new places, meeting new people was irrepressible, and contagious. Many of us who knew Katherine owe some of our most vivid experiences to her fearless vision and initiative.
In the winter term of her first year of medical school, Katherine began to complain of lethargy and abdominal pain. She struggled on for several months, immersed in labs, lectures and exams— believing that these symptoms were merely the result of an arduous schedule. When Katherine started buckling over, unable to sit through class, she went to a local gastroenterologist who performed an ultra-sound and discovered spots on her liver. The biopsy revealed a stage IV tumor in the colon with metastasis to the liver and lymph nodes. It was March, 2005: the week of Katherine’s 26th birthday.
With the support of her parents and siblings, and the generous help of her medical school, professors and classmates, she underwent tests and faced a devastating diagnosis with great courage. Within a matter of weeks, Katherine relocated with her family to New York City to undergo treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering. With few options in late-stage disease, Katherine elected for the most aggressive treatment available—the highest doses of chemotherapy, followed by two courses of biotherapy, still in experimental stages.
Despite the brutal potency of this regimen, disease spread relentlessly; Katherine fought on, battling to take nourishment, keep walking, exercising and interacting with friends and family. In July, 2005, she relocated again to Avon, Connecticut to be near her uncle Demetrios and revisit a house she loved as a child. While scans of the body showed up new tumors, Katherine persisted in attending treatments at nearby Hartford Hospital, always holding out a hope that the progress of the cancer could be halted by a combination of will, doctor’s expertise, medical science, and luck. She remained positive even when knocked down by the most disheartening of outcomes.
During her final months, Katherine spent as much time outdoors as possible. Despite muscle deterioration and severe weight loss, she tested her strength every day with a walk to the back yard where she could feel the breeze and the sunshine, and listen to the crickets, the lawn mowers, and her younger cousins splashing in the pool. With the help of analgesics, she continued to do laps, watch romantic comedies and eat at the picnic table with the family.
Katherine passed away in the early hours of the morning on September 10, 2005 at the end of a radiant late summer’s day. She was surrounded by family in the room which had been her grandmother’s, in a corner of the house sheltered by pine trees.
The memory of Katherine’s fierce battle to live, to live fully in the midst of physical and mental anguish and the fading of her dreams, provides the fire behind this cause. Katherine’s story is told so that others may know how cancer affects people in their twenties and thirties—with a view to the depths of those ravages and the triumphs of spirit. With greater knowledge and insight, doctors, researchers, and those of us who encounter cancer in young adults can detect the signs of disease at an earlier stage, seek available help and resources, and show sensitivity to the challenges accompanying a diagnosis during this time of life. In this way, we will ensure that no young person feels herself or himself to be fighting this war alone or without hope, or surviving into a world that does not understand.
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