Straight from the Heart: Local Physician offers History, Hope to Cancer Survivors by Page E. Bishop Published: June 2006 Hear Dr. Mark Ellis speak at the Survivors’ Reception at the sixth annual Relay For Life of Williamsburg on June 2 inside the Jamestown High School cafeteria. The reception begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Survivors’ Lap at 7:00 p.m. Cancer survivors plus one guest are invited to attend the Survivors’ Reception. Two weeks before he is expected to speak in front of a group of cancer survivors at this year’s Williamsburg Relay For Life, Dr. Mark Ellis sits in his private office gathering his thoughts. Ellis, the founder and director of Peninsula Cancer Institute, remembers his own battle with cancer and his struggle to find a “silver lining” in that dark and tumultuous time during his early years as a college and medical student. At 16, Ellis says, he was a “typical teenager” who was “too busy playing football and chasing girls” to realize a cancerous lesion had developed on his upper back. After he was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, doctors removed the skin cancer, so Ellis was surprised when, a year later, the cancer recurred in the lymph glands under his right arm. It was the summer of 1967, and again surgery was the only option available. The operation was a success, and Ellis, thinking he was free and clear, finished high school and looked forward to college. But early in his freshman year at Wake Forest University, Ellis’s skin cancer returned full-force. Not only had it spread to one of his lungs, it had produced a brain tumor the size of a golf ball. “One day I had trouble smiling,” he recalls. “There was this numbness in my face. That’s when they discovered a large tumor.” Surgeons removed the brain tumor, and Ellis’s parents took him home without much hope for the future. “I was young, and I was scared,” says Ellis. “At that time, oncology was just becoming a specialty. I consider myself very, very lucky; hardly anybody survived a brain tumor in those days.” Because of his diagnosis, Ellis had the unique opportunity to experience firsthand some of the early breakthroughs in cancer treatment. Chemotherapy was becoming the standard for cancers that had spread throughout the body, and Ellis was treated then with a new chemotherapy drug that is still used today for the treatment of melanoma. Fortunately, the lung tumor disappeared “after a few months” of chemotherapy. Unfortunately for him, there was very little in those days to treat the nausea and vomiting that routinely occurred as side effects of chemotherapy. Ellis took chemotherapy for five years. “Back then,” he says, “they didn’t know when to quit!” Since his years in college and then medical school, Ellis says a near-revolution has occurred in cancer medicine. Better diagnostic tools and treatment methods have improved patient outcomes and saved many lives. “More and more victims are becoming survivors,” he says. Recalling his own career choice, Ellis says, “Certainly, my personal experience got me interested in medicine, and I chose to study oncology because of the types of patients we see and my personal connection with them. They may not know what happened to me all those years back, but I remember, and that helps me understand their struggles.” “It’s a pivotal time in cancer medicine right now,” he says, today, with a wide smile. “Within the last five years, advancements such as biological medicines, targeted therapies, immunology, vaccines and genetic therapy have offered a renewed sense of excitement for oncologists and hope for patients.” Ellis says he first felt the pride of being recognized as a survivor when he walked in the Survivor’s Lap at last year’s Relay For Life of Williamsburg. Those who knew of Ellis, who is well-known and respected by area physicians and cancer patients, were surprised to discover that he, too, had a history of cancer. Rarely does he share his story with others, he says, but he discusses it openly if people ask. After his appearance on the track during the Survivors’ Lap, the questions began to pour in from all sides. “When I walked the track, I was proud to be surrounded by survivors and their families. People were curious. They wanted to know my story. One of my former partners was standing there, clapping her hands and cheering for everybody. She knew about my history, and she gave me a big high-five, as if to say, ‘Way to go.’ It was an amazing feeling – all those people cheering us on. It was also very humbling, knowing that not everybody does survive. Relay For Life shows the heart of this community – everyone has a reason to walk.At this month’s Relay, Ellis says, he looks forward to sharing his own story of survivorship with a familiar audience. He knows a lot of local cancer survivors – after all, his medical career is based upon helping patients live longer, fuller lives after a diagnosis of cancer. More than anything, though, he hopes to offer words of inspiration that will help others find a silver lining in a life-altering experience like having cancer. “I want to show others that they can turn a tough situation into something positive for themselves. I’ll simply talk straight from the heart. I’m going to tell them, ‘We can live a better life, and, yes, we can survive.’ ”

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