Right Here – a podcast from Texas Oncology Texas Oncology

Mellany Gray, an organized business owner and mother of two, spent most of her time driving her teenagers from one sport to the next. An avid fan of enjoying the “simple pleasures” of life, Mellany’s life suddenly became anything but simple when a lump on her leg was diagnosed as embryonal alveolar pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma – a rare form of sarcoma. Being among less than 1% of adult cancer patients with this disease and running out of options, Mellany’s care team turned to a new advanced treatment which ultimately saved her life.

Nell Nations, a chief radiation therapist at Texas Oncology, was no stranger to cancer. Her relationship with this disease soon changed when what she thought was a chronic illness led her to become a colon cancer patient within the very walls where she worked. Turning to her own team for care, Nell also used her passion for art to not only motivate and inspire herself during treatment, but bring hope to others in the cancer community too.

Walker Huggins is known as one of the youngest music directors in the Texas rodeo industry. Growing up, when he wasn’t running audio at the rodeo, he was learning to ride bucking horses and traveling to various events across the state with his dad. With big plans ahead of him, Walker’s world suddenly shifted at the age of 16 when he went from a young cowboy to being diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer most common in children and young adults.

Heather Field, a wife, mother of two, and business owner, always made time for everything and everyone – except herself. Despite being young and healthy, the chest pain and high blood pressure she originally wrote off as just stress and anxiety turned into a stage II breast cancer diagnosis. Although Heather was physically ready to fight cancer alongside her loved ones, including her husband of 23 years, Cody, she wasn’t prepared for the mental and emotional toll that cancer would have on herself and her family.

Steve Dombek was an active guy who skied three times a year, played competitive soccer, and traveled the world with his young daughter. Until one day, Steve experienced a pain in his side, which led to a double diagnosis of multiple myeloma and systemic mastocytosis – a rare blood disorder most commonly seen in patients twice his age. Eight years later, Steve continues to define what it means to be unbreakable as a father, friend, and cancer patient.

Pearce Murphy was a happy-go-lucky fourth grader who loved playing baseball, building pillow forts, and bonding with his three other siblings. Until one day he returned from summer camp with a stomachache that wouldn't go away.