This Article Full Text (PDF) eLetters: Submit a response to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chabner, B. A. Articles by Murphy, M. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Chabner, B. A. Articles by Murphy, M. J., Jr

Tracey Niederhuber: Filled with Grace...Amazing Grace

Tracey Niederhuber passed away peacefully on December 22, 2001 at her home in Madison, Wisconsin with her family at her side. Madison had been Tracey's home since 1997 when her husband, Dr. John Niederhuber, became the director of the University of Wisconsin's Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Niederhuber is a Founding Editor of The Oncologist and directs, along with Dr. Raphael Pollock, the Journal's Surgical Oncology section.

Tracey and John became the proud parents of Matthew John in August 1988. She was happiest as a devoted wife, mother and daughter and actively supported John in his work that took them to Baltimore, Stanford, and most recently, to Madison.

Tracey, a breast cancer patient, was tireless in the education of women about the risks of breast cancer, and she spent countless hours supporting patients from all parts of the country who were undergoing cancer treatment. Svetlana Lisanti, one of the many women Tracey counseled and supported, remembers well when, "I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I thought I had been given a death sentence. It was Tracey who then became my beacon. She shared with me her experience with breast cancer and gave me hope and courage to go through the grueling experience. She always made you feel as if you were the center of her attention. She had the very rare quality of being able to give of herself so generously and graciously that you just didn't feel guilty taking what she offered."

In spite of her own 20-year battle with cancer, she is remembered by all as a person of tremendous joy, grace, and immense courage. She never let her disease interfere with her ability to reach out to others with what seemed to all who knew her a boundless source of grace...amazing grace.

A memorial service was held for Tracey on December 28, 2001 in Madison, and hundreds of friends from all over the U.S. joined her family in attendance. Many gave testament to their warm friendship with Tracey, an immensely caring and supportive friend to all of us. They spoke of her keen perception and her understanding of our lives and our experiences, which were so easily shared with her.

There are those very special people who course through our lives with the rarity and brilliance of a comet. They inspire and illuminate our own lives by their courage, indefatigable hope, and especially by their grace...their amazing grace. Like a wondrous comet, Tracey was made of star dust that made her magical. We are left with her bright memory from which we continue to be inspired and that we now tenderly cherish.

FOOTNOTES

"The Tracey W. Niederhuber Fund for Breast Cancer Patient Education" has been established at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 1900 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. A. Zerhouni, P. A. Sharp, M. Leavitt, and J. E. Niederhuber Investiture of John E. Niederhuber, M.D., Director of National Cancer Institute Oncologist, February 1, 2007; 12(2): 136 - 141. [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Full Text (PDF) eLetters: Submit a response to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chabner, B. A. Articles by Murphy, M. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Chabner, B. A. Articles by Murphy, M. J., Jr