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Carole Gross is a fighter.

Eight years ago, she battled thyroid cancer.

She won.

But this year, a new fight was chosen for her – this time, the battle would be in her breast.

Within two weeks of her diagnosis of breast cancer following a routine mammogram, Carole had a lumpectomy at Doylestown Hospital, a member of the Penn Cancer Network.

“I’m a ‘get it done’ kind of person,” says Carole. “I just wanted it out so we could move to the next step.”

A mother of two, Carole was also working as a physical therapist with home health care division of Doylestown Hospital. Because of her busy schedule, she knew having follow-up treatment that included radiation therapy close to her home in Doylestown was essential.

She chose Penn Radiation Oncology Doylestown. It was there she met William Rate, MD, PhD, radiation oncologist at Penn Medicine.

“Dr. Rate was amazing,” she says. “He asked me about myself – he put me as a person before my cancer diagnosis. He just made me feel I was important – that I was comfortable with the whole process. And, he presented information to me in a very understanding and reassuring way.”

Dr. Rate explained how her radiation treatment would proceed, and ensured her he would be with her every step of the way.

He was.

When a scan showed something on Carole’s hip, Dr. Rate personally consulted with his colleagues and asked Carole if he could make appointments for her so she could focus on her treatments.

“Within a half hour of Dr. Rate’s phone call, all of my imaging studies and reports were sent to another specialist I could see for my hip,” says Carole. “Everything was seamless, but Dr. Rate made me so comfortable with the process.”

Carole’s treatments spanned her children’s summer break, and she was able to bring her kids with her to her treatments. She jokes that her kids felt comfortable, because they knew her mom was being treated so well.

“What could have been a very negative situation turned out to be positive,” says Carole. “As soon as we walked through the door, we were greeted like we were friends, or part of the family. They valued me as a person; they didn’t just see me as a diagnosis.”

Following her radiation treatment, Carole was diagnosed with chronic leukemia. Dr. Rate was still there for her.

“Dr. Rate continues to look at the ‘whole picture’ and the ways in which each treatment or piece of care I receive fit into my overall care plan,” says Carole. “Even though he was primarily treating my breast cancer, I found it reassuring he was a part of my entire course of care.”

Finally Carole adds: “His staff is amazing also and very personable and professional.

“Penn Radiation Oncology allowed me to have treatment at the Abramson Cancer Center within my own community,” says Carole. “It was a wonderful opportunity.”

“I wouldn’t have wanted my cancer treatment anywhere else.”