{"id":38803,"date":"2011-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-26T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/"},"modified":"2022-09-02T20:35:19","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T01:35:19","slug":"cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer can’t stop med school dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarah Synovec should have been elated as she stood atop the Eiffel Tower. <\/p>\n

But after she climbed hundreds of stairs on that trip with her family, Synovec — now a first-year medical student at UNMC — found herself acutely aware that something was wrong. <\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n

\n\"picture
\n<\/TD>
\n<\/TR>
\n

\nSarah Synovec (Kim Hachiya, UNL Communications)<\/span>
\n<\/TD>
\n<\/TR>
\n<\/TABLE>“I was so exhausted. I could barely stand up and look out,” she said of the trip she took before her sophomore year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “It was very upsetting to me because I didn’t realize why I was so tired all of the time.”<\/p>\n

Bad news upon return<\/B><\/p>\n

Soon after she returned home, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.<\/p>\n

Synovec — a biological sciences major who long dreamed of a career in emergency medicine and trauma surgery — was crushed.<\/p>\n

“I really honestly thought that it was all over,” she said. <\/p>\n

Attitudinal shift<\/B><\/p>\n

But after the initial shock, she vowed to remain positive.<\/p>\n

She underwent six months of chemotherapy while she forged ahead with her sophomore year. She found support in family, friends and her other family — the UNL community. <\/p>\n

Adviser goes extra mile<\/B><\/p>\n

Among those who helped keep her dreams on track was her academic adviser, Wendy O’Connor. Synovec called O’Connor a “godsend.”<\/p>\n

O’Connor was particularly helpful when Synovec moved from her sorority house to an off-campus apartment. Synovec had to live alone while she underwent treatment to protect her fragile immune system.<\/p>\n

O’Connor recommended her own apartment complex, so she could be close if Synovec needed a ride to a doctor’s appointment or other help.<\/p>\n

“She was just willing to do anything for me,” Synovec said. “She’s just wonderful.”<\/p>\n

Dream realized<\/B><\/p>\n

Synovec has been in remission since December 2008. She graduated from UNL earlier this month and started this week at UNMC, where she was treated. She intends to specialize in oncology. <\/p>\n

Her experience with her illness and treatment proved inspirational, Synovec said. <\/p>\n

“I could bring so much to medicine because I had that personal experience,” Synovec said.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarah Synovec should have been elated as she stood atop the Eiffel Tower. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":38802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-education","department-unmc-front-page","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines","author_override-jean-ortiz-jones-university-of-nebraska-lincoln"],"yoast_head":"\nCancer can't stop med school dream<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sarah Synovec should have been elated as she stood atop the Eiffel Tower.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cancer can't stop med school dream\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sarah Synovec should have been elated as she stood atop the Eiffel Tower.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-26T05:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-03T01:35:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Synovek811.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"202\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chuck Brown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chuck Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chuck Brown\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f99efde0b91c6c20a256357d501c35d3\"},\"headline\":\"Cancer can’t stop med school dream\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-26T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-03T01:35:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":348,\"commentCount\":10,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Synovek811.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cancer can't stop med school dream\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Synovek811.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-26T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-03T01:35:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sarah Synovec should have been elated as she stood atop the Eiffel Tower.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Synovek811.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Synovek811.jpg\",\"width\":350,\"height\":202},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2011\\\/08\\\/26\\\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cancer can’t stop med school dream\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/overview-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/overview-1.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/unmcedu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/unmc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/iamunmc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/UNMCEDU\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f99efde0b91c6c20a256357d501c35d3\",\"name\":\"Chuck Brown\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/author\\\/f4b9ec30ad9f68f89b29639786cb62ef\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cancer can't stop med school dream","description":"Sarah Synovec should have been elated as she stood atop the Eiffel Tower.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cancer can't stop med school dream","og_description":"Sarah Synovec should have been elated as she stood atop the Eiffel Tower.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","article_published_time":"2011-08-26T05:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-03T01:35:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":350,"height":202,"url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Synovek811.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chuck Brown","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@unmc","twitter_site":"@unmc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chuck Brown","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/"},"author":{"name":"Chuck Brown","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/f99efde0b91c6c20a256357d501c35d3"},"headline":"Cancer can’t stop med school dream","datePublished":"2011-08-26T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-03T01:35:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/"},"wordCount":348,"commentCount":10,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Synovek811.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/","name":"Cancer can't stop med school dream","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Synovek811.jpg","datePublished":"2011-08-26T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-03T01:35:19+00:00","description":"Sarah Synovec should have been elated as she stood atop the Eiffel Tower.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Synovek811.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Synovek811.jpg","width":350,"height":202},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/08\/26\/cancer-cant-stop-med-school-dream\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cancer can’t stop med school dream"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization","name":"University of Nebraska Medical Center","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","width":500,"height":153,"caption":"University of Nebraska Medical Center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","https:\/\/x.com\/unmc","https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/f99efde0b91c6c20a256357d501c35d3","name":"Chuck Brown","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/f4b9ec30ad9f68f89b29639786cb62ef\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88468,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38803\/revisions\/88468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}