Our Stories

“Green rain” fell once again at Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub for the benefit of Providence children’s health services. The in-person ceiling sweep on March 7 marked the 28th year that Kells owners Gerard and Lucy McAleese have donated green rain to Providence.

Bill Schonely had a special passion for the children and the care they received at Providence Child Center and the Center for Medically Fragile Children. 

When Renate was pregnant with her son, Gabriel, she received the devastating news that his brain might not develop and he would most likely live with severe impairment.

Denise Molendyk has fought cancer on every front. She cared for her first husband until he passed away from complications of glioblastoma—a rare and fast-growing brain tumor.

While survival rates are increasing for patients with common types of cancer, cancer treatment may pose risk to the heart. The Jack Loacker Center for Cardio-Oncology is a partnership of Providence Cancer Institute and Providence Heart Institute to help patients keep their heart healthy while receiving lifesaving cancer care.

Thanks to Providence Foundations of Oregon and other Providence partners, college students from underserved communities are being mentored and supported as they apply to medical school. 

Nearly 20,000 runners and walkers in the 40th year of Providence Hood to Coast Relay raised more than $650,000 to support cancer research at Providence Cancer Institute. Community support of this event helps Providence scientists discover new innovations in treating cancer.

When a Hillsboro man learned he had a noncancerous tumor in his jaw, he turned to Providence Cancer Institute for help. Doctors performed the innovative “Jaw in a Day” surgery that uses the leg bone to shape a new jaw.

Brad and Kathleen McLeroy will be forever grateful for the personally tailored care Brad received at Providence Cancer Institute. Brad is the full-time winemaker for Ayres Vineyard, and Kathleen manages winery operations.

In 2007, Mark Williams learned he had 14 tumors in his lungs and esophagus. His doctor told him he had stage IV melanoma and would not live more than a year. Mark and his family refused to accept this devastating timeline and sought a second opinion from Brendan Curti, M.D., at Providence Cancer Institute

Kyle, husband and father of two young boys, discovered he had thymoma, which is cancer of the thymus. An aggressive tumor in his chest was nearly the size of a grapefruit.

A patient's care team must walk a tightrope to effectively treat the brain tumor without causing irreparable damage to the surrounding tissue. Cancer patients are typically offered a treatment plan that includes a combination of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and novel clinical trial options that include immunotherapy—harnessing the body’s own immune system to attack the tumor.