Those who know her say that Susan Strong lives up to her name. A synopsis of her medical resume proves she’s had her share of adversity: Diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at age 17, her cancer was treated with six months of chemotherapy and six weeks of high dose radiation. Her cure came with a cost: The radiation to her chest caused her heart valve to develop severe aortic stenosis years later. The previous radiation also made it risky to replace the valve via standard open-heart surgery. Because of this increased surgical risk, Susan had transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in 2014 at age 49. Almost three years later, at age 51, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer almost certainly caused by the earlier radiation... (more)
