Mikel Nalley - Portrait of a Cancer Survivor

Cancer Survivors

Tura Jenkins

Tura Jenkins was already emotionally shaken from a family death when she was diagnosed with Stage III endometrial cancer. Treatment was aggressive and included chemotherapy, external and internal radiation treatments, and blood transfusions. Read more

Anne Elbrecht

Anne Elbrecht was on vacation, on her way to Syria, when the gynecologic problems that she had been experiencing worsened. She made a medical pit stop in Istanbul, where doctors diagnosed Fallopian tube cancer. Elbrecht returned home immediately. Read more

Mikel Nalley

Mikel Nalley, a self-employed artist and actor, first found a softball-sized lump under his right arm, which he nicknamed "Charlie." Nalley recalls with amusement that the nurse who first saw his lump at his primary-care clinic said, "that’s impressive!" She sent him to the emergency department at UC Davis Medical Center for diagnosis and treatment. Read more

Parmina Valentine

Pauline Marie considers the H1N1 flu to be a blessing. It hampered the breathing ability of her granddaughter Parmina so much that she needed a chest X-ray. If not for that, the mediastinal embryonal germ cell tumor attached to Parmina’s thymus wouldn’t have been discovered before advancing to Stage IV cancer. Read more

SaEeda Sharon King

Having endured cystic breasts for years, SaEeda King was tired of having them so frequently aspirated – so she stopped going to the doctor. Read more

Numerous biopsies later, UC Davis Cancer Center oncologist Mrinal Dutia confirmed that the lump was plasmablastic non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Under Dutia’s care, Nalley began a regimen of chemotherapy with radiation.

The treatment was made easier under Dutia’s care, Nalley says. He regards her 1950s, house-calling-doctor demeanor – for example, calling him at night to check up – as a blessing.

"She’s got that great gene for compassion and concern that you’ve got to have in this field," he says. "You don’t want to see anyone go through pain so you do everything you can to work out a plan, a procedure, a treatment." When Nalley said he was experiencing a little bit of nausea after his first bouts of chemotherapy, Dutia said firmly, "No – we don’t want any nausea!" She found the right medication to ease his discomfort.

First-class treatment extended from all corners of the cancer center, from the stem cell transplant team – whom he calls "brilliant" – to the cheerful and upbeat day staff he encountered during his stay.

Nalley says "Charlie" began disappearing immediately – and he means immediately – after treatment began.

"I could literally feel it going down as I walked out of my first session," Nalley says.

Six months later, smaller tumors began to appear on his other side. This time, treatment included a bone marrow transplant. Dutia moved aggressively to get Nalley approved for the procedure he needed. Nalley was the first patient with HIV to have high-dose chemotherapy with an autologous stem cell transplant at UC Davis Medical Center.

Nalley’s partner, Avi Sharma, was so inspired by Nalley’s interactions with UC Davis health-care staff members that he is now pursuing his medical assistant degree.

"Some good things do come out of this whole mess," Nalley says cheerfully. In the meantime, his numbers are good, as is his health. "They say I’m at 80 percent, but I feel like 100 percent!"