Three cancer survivors raise funds to support Colorado patients

In 2014, Amanda Boswell was a young mother to her six-month-old son, Court. One day when she was breastfeeding, she noticed an unusual lump in her breast. She told her local doctor in Denver, Colorado, who recommended further testing. After an ultrasound and biopsy, she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer.

After her diagnosis, Amanda was encouraged to seek a second opinion on her treatment options from Jennifer Litton, M.D., at MD Anderson.

“MD Anderson had the best medicine, and if things didn't go well, then they also had the option of clinical trials,” Amanda says. “I chose MD Anderson because I wanted to know I did everything that I possibly could do. As a new mom, I couldn’t leave anything on the table.”

Litton understood Amanda’s life and support network was based in Colorado — and that Amanda would want to be close to friends and family during her treatment. So, Litton coordinated a treatment plan with Amanda’s local care team to administer chemotherapy treatments in Denver. Once Amanda finished chemo, she traveled to Houston for three months to complete her surgery and radiation treatment at MD Anderson. This arrangement allowed her to pursue the best possible treatment with less disruption to her life.

“Every single doctor involved in my care put a personal connection to my treatment,” Amanda says. “They often shared which treatment they would recommend for their own child, wife or mother. It gave me even greater confidence in their approach and the hard decisions one must make when first diagnosed with cancer.”

Today, she is cancer-free and serves on MD Anderson’s Advance Team, a volunteer board of next-generation leaders advancing the organization’s mission to end cancer. She organizes and participates in awareness-building and fundraising events throughout the year, while also serving as a resource for newly diagnosed cancer patients in the Denver area. She encourages those facing a cancer diagnosis to advocate for themselves to receive the best care — and, when possible, to seek a second opinion at MD Anderson.

“I love connecting people to MD Anderson. There are so many people that saved my life through this process. I just want to do that for others,” she says.

Second opinion at MD Anderson leads to successful adenoid cystic carcinoma treatment

Two of the people Amanda helped connect to MD Anderson include fellow Denver moms Holly Anderson and Amy Schwartz.

In 2015, Holly was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare head and neck cancer, just three months after giving birth to her daughter, Madeline. Holly explored her treatment options locally, but a treatment she wanted to pursue, proton therapy, was not available anywhere in Colorado. However, it was available at MD Anderson. With Amanda’s encouragement, Holly sought a second opinion at MD Anderson and pursued treatment here.

Holly says that MD Anderson’s expertise with rare cancers like hers was pivotal to her treatment. Where other places may see a patient with her type of cancer once a year, William Morrison, M.D., her radiation oncologist at MD Anderson, sees patients with her type of cancer multiple times a week.

“Getting a second opinion changed the course of my life tremendously,” Holly says. “This is where you want to be if you're going through cancer treatment. For what it was, I could not imagine having a better experience through all of that. My care team was, and continues to be, phenomenal.”

Today, Holly is cancer-free and has joined Amanda on the Advance Team.

Second option stabilizes brain tumor

In 2020, Amy was diagnosed oligodendroglioma, a form of brain cancer. She, too, came to MD Anderson for a second opinion at Amanda’s recommendation. She underwent proton therapy, an awake craniotomy and combination chemotherapy.

She says her care team at MD Anderson — Vinay Puduvalli, M.D., and Frederick Lang, M.D., along with many nurses, technicians and specialists — made her feel at ease during a challenging time, especially during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when she was unable to bring anyone with her to the hospital. As a single mom, she says the compassionate care she’s received at MD Anderson made all the difference for her.

“They were there for me, not only from a medical perspective, but also from an emotional and mental health perspective,” Amy says. “MD Anderson becomes part of your family. They make you feel so comfortable, so well taken care of, and then you just simply adopt them as part of your family.”

Today, Amy’s brain tumor is stable, and she visits MD Anderson every six months for surveillance scans. MD Anderson works with her local oncologist for her ongoing checkups, helping her stay close to home with her 10-year-old son, Leo, while she receives the best quality of care.

Teaming up to give cancer the boot

As members of the Advance Team, Amanda and Holly wanted to create a local event that would help spread awareness among the Colorado community about the resources and treatment options available at MD Anderson. In 2023, they tapped Amy, who has professional experience as a fundraiser, to help them put on a local team walk in Denver as part of MD Anderson’s Boot Walk to End Cancer®.

Together, they decided their Boot Walk team, Team Colorado, would raise money for a social work fund to help fellow Coloradans travel to MD Anderson for consultations and treatment.

“We wanted to help our friends and family and neighbors understand the benefits of a place like MD Anderson, and the Boot Walk was a good way to do that,” Holly says.

The three women organized a 1-mile walk around a pond in Washington Park in Denver in early November 2023. They provided breakfast and coffee for participants, as well as information about MD Anderson. About 150 to 200 people showed up, mostly families — including some with multiple generations present. Together, they raised $22,050 for the Colorado patient assistance fund.

Building on the success of last year’s walk, the women are organizing another local walk with Team Colorado this fall. They look forward to helping even more Coloradans seek care at MD Anderson.

“It's been really rewarding to be able to give back to MD Anderson in a way that allows me to do it with one of my closest friends,” Holly says.

Register to join the Boot Walk on Saturday, Nov. 2.