A local challenge
Cancer disproportionally affects the Shenandoah Valley, taking close to 800 lives per year. That’s why it seems like everywhere you turn you hear another story of someone being diagnosed. Chances are you know someone personally who has faced this dreaded disease. Worse yet, the need for cancer care is projected to increase by 15% over the next 5 years, and 31% over the coming decade.
The Sentara RMH Hahn Cancer Center is here to provide patients and their families with expert cancer care right here in our community … but we can’t do it without your help.
You can help
In the past 12 months, donations to the Sentara RMH Hahn Cancer Center have helped provide everything from an expansion and renovation of the pharmacy and medical infusion area, cutting edge digital mammography equipment that better detects breast cancer, to wigs for patients who lose their hair during treatment.
Your donation to the Sentara RMH Hahn Cancer Center will provide life saving equipment, upgrades in technology to ensure a high standard of care, and training for staff to keep them informed about the latest treatment techniques.
Just after dawn one morning in June 2018, Bob Scott woke up with searing stomach pain. “I thought it was gallstones,” he remembers. Bob didn’t even bother waking his wife Patsy before making the short drive to the emergency room at Sentara RMH Medical Center. After a CT scan and other tests, Bob learned the news … he had stage 2 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “Hearing I had cancer gave me an empty feeling,” recalls Bob, who graduated from Harrisonburg High School and worked for 35 years in the Rockingham County Public Schools. “I never expected it,” he adds.
Treatment began with six aggressive chemotherapy sessions, each three weeks apart, with one session as long as nine hours. Bob appreciated the nurses’ efforts to answer his questions and keep him comfortable during this challenging time. Hahn Cancer Center pharmacist, John Moore, PharmD, stood out for Bob during his long cancer treatment. “He came around to see how I was doing, explain what was happening and discuss possible side effects,” Bob says. “He even called me at home after my first session to see how things were going. He’s wonderful.”
After completing chemotherapy, Bob underwent 15 rounds of radiation at the Hahn Cancer Center. He finished the last of those sessions just after Christmas in 2019. Bob has since enjoyed a return to health and a sense of normalcy.
Bob credits the Hahn Cancer Center for his clean bill of health and bright outlook. “I can’t say enough,” he says. “It’s such a tremendous asset for the people of our community.”
Help provide extraordinary care, close to home.
About The RMH Foundation
The RMH Foundation exists solely to support Sentara RMH Medical Center and enhance its mission to improve health and promote wellbeing. Sentara RMH has been able to significantly improve the care patients receive because of gifts from our caring and generous community. One hundred percent of donations directly benefit patients and our community through the purchase of new equipment and support of compassionate programs.