(cheerful music)
- My name is Denise Baptist.
I was in the United States Air Force.
I came in the military in 1979.
I grew in the military, so it helped me to grow.
So I loved it. I enjoyed it.
I got out in 1987, I was diagnosed in 2017.
I was in a lot of pain.
I was in excruciating pain and the doctors decided, he said,
let's do a CAT scan.
And then he came back and told me, so you got cancer.
I was like, wow.
So, and then I said, well, okay,
I have prayed about it because I knew, I'm going live, okay.
- First of all,
whenever we think about treatments for cancer patients,
we should be thinking about clinical trials.
It's part of the standard guidelines
for thinking about treatment options.
Every standard treatment that we have right now
is here because somebody volunteered to try it out.
I know Ms. Baptist for many years,
she actually participated in a research study that we had
here at the Durham VA.
The treatment that she got is now considered
to be one of the standard treatments for her cancer.
It really was like a leap of faith
because it was her first treatment.
And she put a lot of trust in us.
- I knew I had to do it.
I said, God is my champion, and the VA is my hero.
- It spoke to her and she wanted to give something back.
- By participating in a clinical trial,
a veteran has the potential to impact the care
of veterans to come in the future.
The treatments that are offered,
through these clinical trials are the most cutting edge.
And there's also a real priority in the VA
to focus on precision oncology.
- We really try to individualize
when a clinical trial may come into play
and when it would be the best treatment option.
Patients become like family
because you're with them so frequently.
And you're really helping them
through a very difficult time.
- I truly believe that veterans are getting the most
scientifically advanced and innovative trials
in the VA system.
Veterans are inherently altruistic people.
You know, I've learned that many veterans,
they really are excited about the opportunity
to help further our understanding
and help improve the care of others.
- My name is Karen Anne Muth,
and I was in the army during the Vietnam era conflict,
from 1967 through 1969.
When I was probably about 55 years old,
realized that I have gender dysphoria.
And I spent about two years in therapy
to get me ready for the actual transition.
I noticed I had some lumps in my neck.
So I went to a ear nose, throat doctor,
and he did a biopsy,
and then he discovered it was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
which was, as you might expect,
it was devastating to me, being hospitalized
and being treated over and over and over.
I mean, that's all I did pretty much
for most of the 15 years I have had the disease.
- For Ms. Muth's perspective,
she'd been through a lot of treatment before.
And so we kind of had a heart to heart
about what the expectations of treatment were.
So that's how we came to find a research study at NIH
that was appropriate for her.
And that I thought was a good fit.
- There was some hope that made finally, this, this is,
was a potential cure.
- She put a lot of trust in us that, you know,
yes, I'm going to do something
that's part of a research study
instead of doing a standard treatment.
- I think it goes about two or three weeks later.
And then they discovered there was no cancer
period, anywhere.
It was all gone.
So I was screaming happy about that, so were they,
so having gone through the clinical trial,
I think it was extremely important to get people enrolled
in clinical trials because it provides you with possible
new avenues for treatment.
- I think she gets a lot of pride
from kind of having participated in that.
- When you find out you're in remission,
no matter when it is,
it's totally elation.
It's just relief. You did it.
- I'm just thankful right now that I went in the military,
cause it saved my life.
That's why I'm so glad to do this
because I want to be able to help other people get through.
And whatever we go through, it's not for us.
It's for us to be able to help someone else.
(cheerful music)