Haley first underwent a difficult five-month course of chemotherapy that resulted in the loss of all of her hair.
“I could have been really sad about that,” she said. “But instead, my motto was, ‘let’s make this fashionable.’ As it turned out, I was very comfortable being bald, rocking crazy sunglasses and earrings.”
After undergoing a mastectomy, Haley found herself facing the prospect of traditional photon radiation. But she was deeply worried about its possible side effects, most troublesome to her—given that she was only 32—the potential for cardiac complications later in life.
Fortunately, a radiation oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center instead referred her to the New York Proton Center (NYPC).
“When I learned about proton therapy, it sounded really amazing,” Haley said. “It’s better, it’s safer, it works. And I wanted to be part of it, not only to benefit myself but also to help establish protons as the new standard of care.”
“It’s all about the future,” she said.