Cancer’s no match for the home team

“I guess you could say Geisinger is like home,” says Deb Alimenti, a 55-year old wife and mom from Jessup. She feels particularly close to Geisinger Community Medical Center because it’s where she had her two children, but also because she’s spent a lifetime in the hospital’s backyard. “I grew up in the hill section of Scranton,” she says. “Nay Aug Park, this hospital — we’re family.”
 
Now, almost 30 years after walking out a new mom, Deb is walking out again, but this time as a breast cancer survivor.
 
Diagnosed in early 2017, Deb says there were days she wanted to give up, but her family at GCMC wouldn’t let her. Her general surgeon, Timothy Farrell, MD, and her hematologist Namita Sharma, MD, as well as the dedicated team of nurses and pharmacists, made her smile even on her toughest days.
 
“I never thought I’d say I missed going to the hospital!” she says.
 
Now feeling better than ever, Deb hopes to be an inspiration for other women struggling with breast cancer diagnoses. “The biggest thing I’ve learned: You don’t always have to roar. Sometimes it’s OK to just try again tomorrow.”
 
Timothy Farrell, MD, and Namita Sharma, MD, see patients at Geisinger Community Medical Center. For a referral to Dr. Farrell, Dr. Sharma or another Geisinger provider, call 570-808-7500.