The Reid R Sacco Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer
Program & Clinic at Boston's Tufts Medical Center
About the Program
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Cancer is complicated. Your care doesn't have to be.
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The Reid R. Sacco Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Program, part of Tufts Cancer Center, is dedicated to providing survivorship care to individuals between the ages of 18 and 39 who have ever been diagnosed with cancer.
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Dealing with cancer is tough for anyone, but it can be especially difficult for adolescents and young adults. Cancer affects your life in many ways, even after treatment has ended. We believe our patients deserve holistic follow-up care, in a designated physical space, provided by a Care Team who caters to the unique challenges you are facing.
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The specialized care model:
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Addresses your current medical needs, based on your treatment history
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Provides you with tools that empower you to be a better healthcare self-advocate
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Supports your individual transitional needs
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Integrates coordination of care with other specialists within (and outside) of Tufts Medical Center
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Connects you with the AYA Cancer Community
A Free-Spirited Childhood on a Dairy Farm, Where Books and Science Experiments Were Encouraged
Susan K. Parsons, MD, MRP, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine and Founding Director of the Reid R. Sacco Adolescent and Young Adult Program for Cancer and Hereditary Blood Disorders at Tufts Medical Center, grew up on a working dairy farm in Sharon Springs, a small town in Upstate New York. “I was the third of five siblings, and my family was the center of my life. We had a large farm that included two homesteads—our house on one side of the road and my grandparents’ house on the other side of the road. The edge of the farm was demarcated by a road called Parsons Road, of course!!” she said. “Seemingly every one of my relatives lived on Parsons Road.”
By Robert Piana
