Penelope Heller, Cancer Survivor and Patient Advocate - a podcast by Eugenie Hsu

Penelope Heller is a 23-year-old young woman from New York City who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her sternum and ribs at 17. When she found the chronic pain in the aftermath of the tumor resection intolerable— she used her research and advocacy skills to find and import a medical device, get it approved by the FDA and the hospital institutional review board, get it covered by insurance, find a surgeon, and get it customized and surgically implanted in her body— this was all accomplished by her own initiative and before she was old enough to buy alcohol in her state! Listen to Penelope describe how she leveraged her desperation to pull off these patient advocacy feats.

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