2022-100-Faces-Book - Flipbook - Page 50
Savanna
Lecturer. Survivor. Physicist.
Savanna was 17 years old when she was diagnosed
with cancer.
She had her thyroid removed, earned her bachelor’s
degree and felt perfectly fine for several years.
Then in 2016, Savanna was accepted into Vanderbilt’s
Physics and Astronomy Ph.D. program. Two weeks
before she was scheduled to move to Nashville from
her home in Pittsburgh, doctors found metastases in
both her lungs.
“It was a major decision to separate geographically
from my family, especially once the recurrence was
on the table,” she says. “Moving here was kind of a big
question mark. Do I do it? Do I not? But I did. In a lot
of ways, I think that was definitely the best decision
because it brought me to people like the folks
at Gilda’s.”
Gilda’s Club, a United Way partner agency, provides
support to anyone who has been impacted by cancer—
at no cost.
Gilda’s is less than a mile from Vanderbilt and provided
Savanna some much-needed respite as she battled
cancer while earning her Ph.D. But she started off with
Gilda’s just thinking she’d volunteer.
“Mostly that was just because I didn’t want to tell other
people that I needed the services myself … for being
a patient. I wasn’t super used to saying out loud that I
needed it as a person with cancer myself but after the
first meeting there, I just knew I needed to connect with
those people and form meaningful connections with
them,” she says. “Gilda’s is beautiful in a lot of ways
because if you’re a caregiver, a friend, an acquaintance,
if you’re affected by cancer in some way, shape or
form, you can go to Gilda’s.”
She goes to a general cancer support group every
Monday and even met someone else—for the first time
in her life—who is also fighting thyroid cancer.
“It’s not a very normal life in a lot of ways,” she says.
“But it’s not one that I would necessarily change either.”
Savanna felt so connected to the organization, she
wanted to give back even more and started teaching
yoga and meditation twice a week.
“If I’m having a crap day and want someone else on
the other end of the phone who understands, I know
I can text any of these people in group and we’re that
close that a conversation transpires that all the sudden
makes everything OK. These folks have grown to be a
major part of my life because I let them into my world.
They celebrated big time with me when I graduated.”
Now, a senior lecturer in Vanderbilt’s Physics and
Astronomy department, Savanna never misses a
meeting with her group.
“They are the people who if something goes sideways,
if an appointment is not enjoyable—if you just need
someone to commiserate with—they are amazing and
always there. I can’t say enough good things about
what that does for the day-to-day life.”
Gilda’s Club
