Made for More Community at the Diana J. White Cancer Institute

The first time Toni Juhl met Shane Tipton, PA-C, wasn’t when she came to the Diana J. White Cancer Institute for treatment. And it wasn’t when they both worked at Adventist Health Sonora, she as a medical transcriptionist and Shane beginning his career in medical oncology. It was at Sonora Elementary School when Shane was a student and Toni was a registrar.

“He was a prize, even back then,” Toni says, “And he’s a prize now.”

Toni was diagnosed with stage 2B pancreatic cancer during the summer of 2024 and was sent to Stanford for surgery, where her care team recommended that she come home to Sonora for chemotherapy and ongoing follow-up care, overseen by Shane.

Though “petrified” on her first day of treatment, Toni quickly felt reassured walking into a place that felt not only familiar but warm.

“There was always someone I knew in the infusion center, patients, nurses, other staff,” she says.

Patient Access Representative Brandon Reed, who greeted Toni and checked her in for her visits, had been coached in tee ball by Toni’s husband, Jeff. Rhonda Martin, RN in the Infusion Center, had cared for Toni and Jeff’s son during an illness as a child. Countless more familiar faces greeted Toni as she began chemotherapy.

“Their presence made me feel immediately like things were going to be okay, and not as scary and impersonal as I feared. Everyone I met was like that.”

Toni came to look forward to her weekly treatments and getting to see her fellow patients and staff, who had become friends.

“I felt like I was part of a club, a huge club that would always have my back,” she explains. “My last day of therapy was actually kind of melancholy because I was sad to say goodbye.”

While Toni finished her six-month course of chemotherapy this spring, she still carries the sense of community with her.

“I went into this feeling like I didn’t know how my life would change, but with this team, nothing was ever unbearable or impossible. I have come out on the other side of this as a better person because of these people. It’s made me humble, appreciative, and,” she says with a smile, “pretty fearless.”