INDIANAPOLIS — September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
At Ascension St. Vincent, this time of year means a little more for a few of the doctors and nurses working in pediatric oncology.
That includes Dr. Doug Cipkala, who has worked as a pediatric oncologist at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital since 2011.
"Many little boys and girls and children and young adults who have stories very similar to mine," Cipkala said.
That's because when Cipkala, originally from Columbus, Ohio, was just 14 years old, he noticed a lump in his neck.
"I went to see the doctor and was told that I had Hodgkin's lymphoma," Cipkala said.
What the otherwise healthy teenager didn't know at the time was that the cancer would return three more times.
"I know the data, and I am well aware that I am very fortunate and lucky to still be here. I count my blessings every day," Cipkala said.
Inside Peyton Manning Children's Hospital, Cipkala now works alongside nurse intern Rachel Northam, who is also a childhood cancer survivor.
Northam said she received months of treatment for synovial sarcoma in the same building where she now works. Her journey started when she was just 11 years old, staying in and out of the hospital for months.
"I would do that cycle, I did that from April to November," Northam said.
Northam entered remission in November 2011.
Looking at a past photo of her younger self, Northam said, "I think she is strong."
Pediatric oncology staff say most childhood cancers are curable, but that does not mean it is easy.
"Cancer treatment is a journey, and it's a fight, and it's a challenge," Cipkala said.
"I really do feel it with them because I know it was hard," said nurse Lexy Sanders, of Russiaville.
Sanders, too, was a patient at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital, battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at just 15.
It started with what appeared to be a golf ball-sized tumor in her lower abdomen. It then grew to the size of a volleyball, said Sanders.
"It had engulfed a lot of my bowels, intestines and my entire right ovary and fallopian tube," Sanders said.
To this day, Sanders said she doesn't really remember the moment she learned it was cancer.
Sanders said during her six months of treatment, one moment with one nurse changed the course of her life.
It started when Sanders commented on the nurse's Tiffany & Co. necklace.
"Not knowing me, she took it off and put it on my neck in that moment. She left, and I never saw her again," Sanders said. "I was like, 'That's what I want to do when I grow up.' I still have the necklace, and I still wear it. I think about her a lot. Now, I am three years in to being an oncology nurse, and it's because of her."
Now, the nurse with the Tiffany & Co. necklace is fighting a new generation of childhood cancer, sharing her own story as a source of inspiration for current patients.
"Having them see a light at the end of the tunnel or just giving them some sort of hope, it's nice to be able to do," Sanders said.
In fact, Sanders said she now wears a Tiffany & Co. bracelet in hopes of giving it to a patient someday.
"I don't think I would find another job or another nursing position fulfilling like I do here," Sanders said.
Likewise, Cipkala said he is also able to offer hope thanks to the people who supported him the most, including his own doctors and nurses.
"I think of them often as I continue my career in pediatric oncology," Cipkala said. "I am very blessed to have been cared for by many, many wonderful, loving people, starting with my family, my parents and my brothers.
"As Lou Gehrig once said, 'I am the luckiest man on the planet.'"
Northam is set to graduate from Ivy Tech Kokomo in December and become a full-time nurse at Ascension St. Vincent.
Sanders is newly engaged and set to be married in 2024.