Why Karen Moynihan Loves Loma Linda University Cancer Center and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians

This holiday season, Karen Moynihan is extremely grateful to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the physicians, nurses, and other health professionals at the Loma Linda University Cancer Center for helping her fight the biggest enemy she’s ever confronted—colon cancer. According to Mark Reeves, MD, PhD, director of the Loma Linda University Cancer Center, “the incredibly generous support from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has allowed the Cancer Center to integrate cutting-edge cancer research into clinical care.” The support he alludes to is the $3 million gift the center received from the band between 2011 and 2013 that resulted in the establishment of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Biospecimen Laboratory and the renaming of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Medical Oncology Center, both at Loma Linda University Cancer Center. Ironically, Mrs. Moynihan, who holds a PhD in chemistry, invented and developed a number of anti-cancer medications in her decade-long career as a pharmaceutical researcher. But if professional qualifications meant she understood the disease better than other cancer patients, they did nothing to shield her from the devastating emotional and psychological trauma associated with the disease. When she received the diagnosis in May 2008, Mrs. Moynihan was well into her second career as a professor at the Keck Graduate Institute of the Claremont Colleges. Her favorite part of the job, which consisted of training future generations of pharmaceutical researchers, was helping students navigate the complicated approval process for getting new, potentially life-saving drugs on the market in this country and overseas. Since her husband, James A. Moynihan, DO, is assistant medical director in the department of emergency medicine at Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda University Cancer Center was her first choice of treatment venues. “We were probably the worst nightmares for the doctors,” she jokes, “but the doctors, nurses, and staff at Loma Linda saved my life. They cared for me, they prayed for me; they were just incredible!” She reels off dozens of individuals whose professional expertise and compassionate care meant the world to her, but when asked to narrow the list, cites four Loma Linda physicians for providing exactly the care she needed at critical junctures: Michael H. Walter, MD, fellowship program director with the division of gastroenterology and hepatology, “took extra time to do the additional testing on me that saved my life by finding my tumor as soon as I sought his help.” Jan H. Wong, MD, professor of surgery, performed the surgical resection of her primary tumor that enabled her to have significant and prompt relief. “That really jumpstarted my healing,” she recalls. Jason Smith, MD, program director in the division of interventional radiology, performed the microwave liver ablation that “made a huge difference in the control of my metastatic liver disease.” She reserves her strongest praise for Chung-Tsen Hsueh, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at LLU School of Medicine, her personal oncologist the last five years and counting. “Dr. Shea,” as she pronounces his name, guided her through the ever-evolving maze of cancer treatments, medications, and side effects. Whimsically, he made the biggest impact on her by drawing pictures. “Dr. Hsueh won me over by drawing chemical structures of drugs as we discussed treatment plans,” she recalls. The drawings may not have meant so much to other patients, but Mrs. Moynihan knew her physician was going out of his way to speak her language and make her a partner in her own recovery by talking researcher to researcher with her. She found the experience both familiar and comforting. “I can’t say enough about him,” she beams. “His approach is always very patient-focused, person-focused. Because of him, I have a very high quality of life. He’s the best!” Mrs. Moynihan also appreciated Dr. Hsueh’s patience. “I had a whopping 110 cycles of chemo,” she informs, “many of them as maintenance therapy at my specific request. I’m pretty sure that’s some kind of record.” Six months ago, she decided to stop chemotherapy. “I had been on it for six years,” she explains, “partly because I didn’t want to take any chances.” But at the age of 46 and with the full support of Dr. Hsueh, it just seemed like the right thing to do, especially in light of an earlier decision she had made not to treat her vastly improved condition as a permanent cure. “In light of my particular diagnosis and prognosis, I made up my mind to treat cancer like a chronic disease,” Mrs. Moynihan shares. “I’m still viewing it that way. I see myself as a person with metastatic cancer who currently has no detectable sign of the disease. As a researcher, I don’t consider myself to be in remission—I’m in a controlled state with the disease.” Although she dropped out of her career after learning she had cancer, Mrs. Moynihan refused to give up her two most important responsibilities. “I have a husband and three kids,” she points out, “and I am interested in having as much quality of life as I could.” Which meant, of course, that she was very eager to help her children—a 13-year old named Johannah and 11-year-old twins Katie and Sami—cope with the fact that their Mom has cancer. “Whatever I was feeling emotionally, my primary concern was that my children get through this journey as well as they could,” she shares. She credits Talolo Lepale, a social worker at the Cancer Center, with helping her do that. “He helped us put support systems in place to give our children age-appropriate information and bring our family through this whole experience,” she says. “He was invaluable in that!” At this stage in life, Karen Moynihan believes she is right where God wants her to be. “I made a deal with God,” she discloses. “I told Him, ‘You’ve put this in front of me and I accept that as part of the gift of time that I’ve been given.’ I don’t think I’ll ever be one of those people who say cancer was a present, but I try to learn from what’s put in front of me. “It has certainly forced a shift in my priorities,” she continues. “I loved my job, I thought I was doing something important. But being available for my family 100 percent of the time, being involved with our community, our schools, volunteering to teach kids about science; I think this is really where I’m supposed to be. “The unbelievably generous gift of the San Manuel Band has enabled Loma Linda to provide excellence in cancer care,” she concludes. “When I was originally diagnosed, I went to one of the other premier cancer centers for a second opinion, but I chose to come to Loma Linda for treatment. Excellence in treatment, whole-person care—it’s really true. I didn’t feel that at all at the other place. I felt like a statistic, a case number, like I wasn’t even a person. But at Loma Linda, I felt like they were focused completely on me as a person and on the priorities of my life. It’s a great place. I’m a huge fan!”