For Clinical Trials Day, A Celebration of Patient Stories

At Antidote, we share a variety of patient stories, spanning many conditions and individual backgrounds, but one common thread runs throughout — the defining power of the story to help patients and caregivers cope emotionally with an illness. Click here to read, watch, or listen to the stories of the following:

• Nina Beaty is an artist, art therapist, and cancer survivor who owes her life to an immunotherapy trial. Throughout her experience with cancer, Nina turned to her love of painting and illustration to express her emotions when words failed.

• Regina Holliday is a patient advocate who, fueled by her struggles to obtain proper care for her ailing husband, created the Walking Gallery of Healthcare, a “loose confederation of like-minded people trying to change the world.”

• Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) is a hospital system that has worked to hear and share the patient's voice through a partnership with StoryCorps, among other initiatives.

• Ed Gavagan was a victim of gang violence and has coped with PTSD by sharing his story in public forums. He offers advice for other patients interested in doing the same.

• Shanelle Gabriel lives with lupus but doesn’t let it stop her from sharing her incredible voice, maintaining a fit lifestyle, and advocating for minority health.

• Ira and Sandy Asherman have been married for 40 years, and since Sandy’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Ira has stepped into the critical role of caregiver.

• Turning Point is a documentary that shares the story of hope and disappointment in the effort to develop a drug that works for Alzheimer’s, created in conjunction with BrightFocus. 

Won’t you help us spread the word about research by sharing one of these stories on social media for Clinical Trials Day? Please use #researchstories — we’ll be sure to retweet! If you’d like to share your story with us, please do so using the link below. We’ll be sharing the most compelling stories we receive in the coming months.