Barbara Moore: Two Diagnoses. One Extraordinary Journey.

Barbara Moore had always understood that exceptional care is about more than the treatment a patient receives. Just as important is finding a team that provides compassionate care and sees the whole person behind the diagnosis. After facing two cancer diagnoses in just over a year, that belief became more apparent—and more meaningful—than ever.

I had retired after a full professional life and was finally beginning the chapter I had long imagined. I was active in my ministry, tending my garden, and spending as much time as possible with my husband Sherman, our three children and four grandchildren. I was enjoying my new role of “Grandnanny,” stepping in when my children traveled. My life was busy, joyful and full. Cancer was the furthest thing from my mind.

Then, in January 2024, I was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, a form of breast cancer.

A routine mammogram the previous fall had shown something unusual. Because I had received a similar result years earlier that turned out to be nothing, I was not especially concerned, even when the radiologist recommended a biopsy. I was active and maintained a healthy lifestyle, so I simply could not fathom that cancer could be my reality. And as I told the doctor that afternoon, I simply did not have time for it.

Cancer, of course, does not consult our calendars. 

Searching for the Right Place

I did not begin my treatment at Fox Chase Cancer Center. I was initially referred to a surgeon within another health system. She was delightful, but the experience surrounding my care was challenging. There were long waits between appointments, drives of more than an hour for scans and procedures, and a troubling lack of continuity.

Everything felt fragmented. At one particularly painful appointment, I left feeling uncertain about the quality of the care I was receiving.

While scheduling a preoperative appointment with my primary care physician, the office manager suggested that I consider Fox Chase. She had been treated there years earlier for a rare cancer. After I confided in her about what I had experienced, her suggestion became more emphatic.

My primary care team contacted Fox Chase. Within days, I received a call, and soon afterward I was sitting across from breast surgical oncologist Dr. Richard Bleicher.

That was the moment everything changed. 

Dr. Bleicher listened carefully as I explained my concerns. Then he shifted so he could look directly at me and told me, with calm confidence, that I was going to be OK.

I cannot fully describe what those words meant at that moment. He did not minimize what lay ahead. He explained the next steps, ordered additional testing and answered our questions with clarity. But he also understood that before I could absorb a medical plan, I needed to feel seen, heard and understood - to know that my care team truly recognized the person behind the diagnosis. That reassurance was invaluable.

By the time I left that first appointment, several additional visits had already been scheduled, and I knew which departments would be calling me next. The pieces that had felt scattered were finally coming together.

At Fox Chase, I found what every patient deserves: continuity, compassion and excellence. I found a team that did not simply treat the cancer. They treated me.

A Long Road Back

After much prayer, reflection and discussion with my care team and family, I chose to undergo a double mastectomy with reconstruction in March 2024. Dr. Bleicher performed the breast surgery, while plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Sameer Patel took on the work of reconstruction. 

Dr. Patel brought the same patience, compassion and quiet confidence I would experience throughout my care at Fox Chase. His calm presence helped steady me through an extensive procedure and the difficult recovery that followed. Months later, when I had the opportunity to sit with him at a Fox Chase event, I experienced that same warmth outside the clinical setting. Our conversation reminded me that the humanity I had felt during treatment was not simply part of the job, it reflected the hearts of the people who work there.

The surgery was extensive, and the recovery required patience. I woke up bruised and sore. For a time, I could not stand fully upright. I used a walker, needed daily injections and later received physical therapy through Fox Chase’s lymphedema program.

Through it all, Sherman, our children and our grandchildren surrounded me with love. Slowly, I began reclaiming my life. By early summer, I was well enough to travel with my family to Curaçao. By late summer, because I did not require chemotherapy or radiation for the breast cancer, I believed the hardest part was behind me.

I was wrong.

In December 2024, while visiting our son, Courtney, and his family in Las Vegas, I noticed something. It was a symptom I recognized from the experience of a close family member who had been diagnosed with uterine cancer. When I returned home, I made an appointment with my gynecologist.

In February 2025, barely a year after the breast cancer diagnosis, I learned that I had uterine cancer.

The news was shocking and truly surreal. Before these two diagnoses, I had been healthy and conscientious about recommended screenings. Unlike breast cancer, however, uterine cancer has no routine screening test for people without symptoms.

This time, I knew immediately where I wanted to go.

Choosing Fox Chase Again

I asked to be referred to a Fox Chase gynecologic oncologist and met Dr. Gina Mantia-Smaldone. Once again, I found extraordinary clinical expertise wrapped in unending compassion.

Before my hysterectomy, another Fox Chase surgeon, Dr. Randall Lee, removed a large kidney cyst that was obstructing the surgical area. Dr. Mantia-Smaldone then performed the cancer surgery. Her skill gave me confidence and her warmth helped carry me through the uncertainty. She, like all the others who had cared for me at Fox Chase, treated my questions, my fears and my humanity with the same seriousness as the disease itself.

My treatment continued with six chemotherapy infusions and 25 radiation treatments. There were difficult moments, including an intense reaction after my first chemotherapy treatment that led me to call the on-call physician at 2 a.m. The response was immediate, patient and kind. No matter the hour, I never felt like an inconvenience.

On November 19, by God’s grace, I rang the bell marking the end of treatment.

After two cancers, two major surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation, all in less than two years, the sound of that bell felt amazing.  

Living With Gratitude

Today, I am a two-time cancer survivor.

I have completed genetic testing at Fox Chase, which fortunately found no inherited mutations associated with increased cancer risk. I have also begun volunteering with the center’s Patient-to-Patient Network, offering support to people who are standing where I once stood: frightened, overwhelmed and trying to understand what comes next.

My son’s gratitude for the care I received inspired him to make a gift to Fox Chase in my honor. I chose to direct it to uterine cancer research, both because of my experience and because our family has seen how devastating this disease can be.

Cancer interrupted the life I had planned, but it did not take that life away.

I still serve my church congregation. I still travel. I still garden. My children still call when they need “Grandnanny,” and my grandchildren and I continue planning adventures. Sherman and I will soon celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary.

These are not small things. After cancer, they feel bigger than ever.

Fox Chase gave me outstanding treatment, but what stays with me most? It was the care. I was seen. I was heard. I was guided through a complicated journey by people who understood that healing involves more than removing a tumor or completing a treatment plan.

Cancer was not part of my plan. But when it arrived, twice, I was guided to the place where I needed to be.

And for that, I am eternally grateful.