“I encourage every cancer patient I encounter or who reaches out via Instagram to seek a facility that specializes in their cancer.”
— Donna McNutt
A cluster of serious and extremely painful symptoms — including brittle bones and kidney problems — sent Donna McNutt to the hospital near her Orange County home in 2015. The diagnosis was a shock for her and her family: a rare blood cancer called multiple myeloma.
A cancer doctor at that hospital offered a grim outlook. With treatment, she might live five more years.
However, Donna and her family weren’t satisfied accepting an expiration date for her life. She connected with Amrita Krishnan, M.D., a top specialist at City of Hope, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center.
Krishnan gave Donna a sense of renewed hope. There was a chance to push myeloma into remission with a transplant of blood stem cells — a treatment for which City of Hope is a national leader.
That expertise mattered. The transplant did drive out Donna’s cancer, and when it returned in 2018, Krishnan helped keep the disease under control. With access to the best options possible for her particular disease, Donna survives today — and does so in style, inspiring other survivors as @thecancerfashionista on Instagram.
