David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation Patient Support Fund

From left to right: Lora Rhodes, LCSW, Michelle Phillip, Adam Luginbuhl, MD, David Caldarella, David Cognetti, MD, and Danielle Corso

November 11, 2010, I heard the words every patient diagnosed with cancer wants to hear: “There’s No Evidence of Disease!” Those amazing words were uttered by the same surgeon who had to inform me I had Stage IV Head and Neck cancer in April 2010. Dr. David Cognetti and I have been able to share many milestones together along the way since 2010 including our joint service for the National Institute of Health’s Head and Neck Steering Committee, a Haiti Mission Trip, the 2020 Head and Neck Cancer Symposium and Dr. Cognetti’s recent promotion to Chairperson of the Department of Otolaryngology, but most importantly family outings to the annual Villanova University/Georgetown University basketball game in Philadelphia. A lifelong friendship was born out of a horrible cancer diagnosis. I am beyond grateful to share that same bond with many members of the Jefferson Health Department of Otolaryngology, Medical Oncology and Infusion Center & Jefferson Radiation Oncology at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

Dr. Cognetti and the entire team have also played a critical role in supporting David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation over the past 10 years. We share something else incredibly special beyond our friendships. It is a shared vision and commitment to improve the lives of patients and their families from the moment of a cancer diagnosis. Our Foundation recently gifted a financial contribution to the Department of Otolaryngology at Jefferson to establish the David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation Patient Support Fund. The goal of the fund is to provide a life preserver to patients facing overwhelming financial burdens. We are grateful for this partnership and that the mission of DDBCF has been adopted for this fund.

It has always been about patients and their families, and this partnership will allow us to continue to serve New Jersey residents as they receive cancer care in Pennsylvania.

David Caldarella
Stage IV Head and Neck Cancer Survivor
DDBCF Co-Founder/CEO

Haiti Mission Trip

Haiti Mission Trip

On November 15, 2016, I attended a presentation at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH), where my surgeon Dr. David Cognetti and his colleagues Dr. Joseph Curry and Dr. Adam Luginbuhl spoke about several topics including the Complex Head and Neck Care and Education (CHANCE) mission trip to Haiti. Jefferson has one of the top ranked Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) programs in the United States, and they believe this care should not be limited to those who can travel to Philadelphia. Through the CHANCE mission trip to Haiti, they’re able to expand their impact and give individuals suffering from a complex thyroid disease or head injury a better chance of surviving. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and were still digging out from the earthquake of 2010 that killed at least 200,000 when Hurricane Matthew hit in October 2016 killing an additional 600+. Still today, nearly a million people are looking for food and drinkable water every day.

Jefferson team members have partnered with skilled Haitian doctors for the past two years to provide 150 Haitians with care, hope and a chance at Hospital Lumiere in Bonne Finne and St. Luke’s Hospital in Port-Au-Prince.  The Jefferson team members also connect with Haitian people locally, attending mass and seeing how their spirits are lifted through songs and prayer. Dr. David M. Cognetti, M.D., FACS, Co-Director, Jefferson Center for Head and Neck Surgery, and Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology- Head & Neck Surgery at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University; offered the following comments in a recent interview about the upcoming trip. “Jefferson’s CHANCE foundation is not only about bringing medical care to Haiti, but also about educating the local medical professionals on how to continue the care after our visits.  When Jefferson was looking for a volunteer to provide a patient’s perspective, David Caldarella immediately came to mind. Not only has he experienced head and neck surgery firsthand, but, as a lifelong resident of Long Beach Island, he has also witnessed the devastating effects a Hurricane can have on a community.”  

I’m blessed to be a dear friend and former patient of Dr. Cognetti’s and now a volunteer at TJUH. The invitation to accompany Jefferson’s amazing team on a 4-day mission trip to Haiti leaving Sunday January 22nd, is an opportunity of a lifetime. I will serve in a support role for the team and interact as a patient advocate to the families of patients through local interpreters. Overall Patient Support is of utmost importance to all of us at David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation and being able to watch and learn directly from the care providers at Jefferson and staff in Haiti will afford me the opportunity to bring those valuable techniques home to current and future patients of DDBCF. My friend of 25 years and respected photographer Michael John Murphy has also been invited to join us on the mission to visually capture many impactful moments. It is truly an honor to have been invited by the Jefferson team to join this Haiti mission trip and to share a common goal in serving as “A Beacon of Hope” that shines beyond our borders and out into the global community!

Hospital Lumiere_Dr. David Cognetti
TJUH_CHANCE_Haiti Mission Trip