Gene Oldham, a two-time cancer survivor, has noticed a lot more smiles around the N.C. Cancer Hospital.
Oldham was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, in 1991. He received a high-doses of chemotherapy treatment at UNC.
He was treated in the Gravely Building, and described the building as depressing, drab and crowded. But the treatment he received put him in remission. Oldham went on to buy and restore a soda shop in Pittsboro that is S&T’s Soda Shoppe today.
More than 20 years after his initial diagnosis, he was diagnosed with cancer again, this time with a slow-growing cancer called mantle cell lymphoma. He has received another stem cell transplant, and so far, his treatment has worked.
“I’m a guinea pig for the second time in my life,” he said.
Now, in the new hospital, he said he notices that many of the staff are smiling.
His wife, Vicky Oldham, said the difference is like “night and day.” As a former nurse for gynecologic oncology patients at UNC, and later as a caregiver for both her mother and for her husband during their cancer, she witnessed the transformation firsthand.
“The new one is open and airy and light,” she said. “Granted, nobody wants to go there to be treated, nobody wants to be sick. But if you’ve got to be there, it’s a much more pleasant atmosphere. The people are always good and knowledgeable.”
Gene has been in remission for six months now, and has regular checkups with his doctor.
“We’re happy and blessed,” Vicky said. “We’re both aware that it will come back some time, but right now, we’re happy and live our life and enjoy our family and try to move on.”
