"Growing Season"

Linda Craig: I was diagnosed in 2003 and my husband insisted on me getting Dr. Hicks because he is very well respected out in the community. We all sat down and we talked about the kind of cancer I had, they just broke it down to me where I can understand it in laymen terms because when your diagnosed, your not hearing anything, you just think about this disease being inside of you, and you want to get it out as soon as possible. But I was able to relax and went back home and did a lot of research and one of the things we did talk about was clinical trials.

Dr. William J. Hicks: We had no idea that the type of treatment that she actually got randomized to was going to be more effective than standard care. As it turns out, it was, it doesn't always turn out that way but in Linda’s case that was the benefit.

Linda Craig: I have no regrets at all going to a clinical trial. I had a nurse that I could call twenty four-seven, the whole medical staff is available to you if you have any questions, any concerns, they can get back to you right away, and I felt special. One of the reasons why I did participate is because I have two daughters, and I have two grand daughters. And if there’s something I can do to save them from going through what I was about ready to go through, I wanted to do that.

Dr. William J. Hicks: We don’t make progress in medicine. We don’t make research discoveries in medicine, without clinical trials. You know we get patients from all over the state, and were starting to get patients from all over the nation, and the only way we can really provide top-notch care for them is obviously to be able to house them when they need in-patient work and also to take care of them in an out-patient setting. So its very important that we have larger facilities to allow us to not only to take care of patients, but also do more clinical trials, and therefore improve our ability to gain medical knowledge.

Five years ago, Linda Craig went for a routine annual mammogram that would change her life.

A spot on the mammogram film aroused her doctor's suspicions, and after a needle biopsy, Craig was told that she had Stage II breast cancer.

When Craig and her husband discussed how to proceed with treatment, one thing was certain: that Craig would be treated at the James Cancer Hospital.

"Their reputation is just outstanding," she says.

Craig participated in a clinical trial focused on a type of chemotherapy, and is now in remission.

"It's been five years since I've been diagnosed, and I feel good," she says. "It's a wonderful feeling."

The planned expansion of Ohio State's cancer program is the biggest construction project in the university's history.

U.S. Congressman Pat Tiberi lent a hand by working to ensure that the hospital could expand without losing its current Medicare reimbursement status. Ten cancer hospitals across the nation are allowed to receive higher Medicare reimbursements for treating Medicare beneficiaries, a deviation from the standard Medicare system. Tiberi successfully fought for the James to keep that exemption as it grows.

The new hospital, to be finished in 2014, will include beds for 288 patients, up from 160, and will accommodate twice the current number of patients who come in for treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation. It also includes state-of-the-art research labs.

That means more patients like Craig will be treated.

"We get patients from all over the state and we're starting to get patients from all over the nation," says Dr. Bill Hicks, the oncologist who cared for Craig. "It's very important that we have larger facilities to allow us to not only take care of patients, but also do more clinical trials and therefore improve our ability to gain medical knowledge."