Your Stories: Conquering Cancer

Athlete, professional climber, reality show participant, competitor, physician, and cancer survivor: Favia Dubyk embodies the definition of conqueror. But facing advanced-stage lymphoma during her second year of medical school caused a major setback in Favia’s athletic life. Surgical treatment and chemotherapy had devastating effects on her identity as an expert rock climber: She had gone from ascending boulders to struggling just to open her fridge. It took Favia years of dedicated training to reach and surpass her baseline level of fitness. Even today, as an alum of extreme sports competition shows like NBC's American Ninja Warrior and USA's Race to Survive Alaska, Favia continues to feel the effects of conquering late-stage lymphoma and grueling cancer treatments. In this episode of Your Stories, Favia tells Dr. Mark Lewis – who also received a cancer diagnosis while in medical training – about the experience of surviving cancer as a professional athlete. She encourages oncology providers to better unde