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Gunner’s Mate, Petty Officer Second Class Jay Pena landed in Southern California exhausted but determined, grateful he’d made it home the night before his mother’s surgery. Ana Radjevic had been diagnosed in 2023 with Stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive bile duct cancer, and doctors warned her that her chances of living beyond five years were slim. So Pena quickly secured emergency leave from his deployment in Djibouti, intent on making sure his mother wouldn’t face the fight of her life alone. What neither of them could have imagined was that just 54 days later, Pena would be sitting in a doctor’s office himself, hearing devastating news of his own.

Richard Mendelsohn and his wife, Barbara, built a life rooted in love, adventure, and community. That life changed dramatically when Barbara was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and Richard became her full-time caregiver. Through caregiver support groups at Sutter Health’s Ray Dolby Brain Health Center in San Francisco, Richard found connection and understanding during an isolating journey. Today, he is paying that support forward by helping expand the caregiver group in the Sacramento area — so no one has to face Alzheimer’s alone. 

Elisabeth Lucien’s diagnosis with Hodgkin’s lymphoma led to a lifesaving bone marrow transplant at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center — one made possible by her sister, Rebekah Fenton. Her sister’s generosity not only helped bring Lucien into remission, but also inspired Fenton’s career in adolescent medicine at UC Davis Health.