It’s a Bingo for Patricia Salak Who Beat Stage 3 Cervical Cancer

There’s no stopping Patricia Salak, 74, a resident of Waymart in northeastern Pennsylvania. She plays bingo. She bowls. She drives a school van five days a week. And she takes off on excursions. In fact, she was on her way to the Bloomsburg Fair with her girlfriend in 2021 when she began hemorrhaging. She went immediately to her doctor in her hometown.

At first, Salak’s doctor believed she had a bladder issue. From there, she was sent to an oncologist in Scranton, who did a biopsy and found the cancer. Encouraged by her daughter, Kimberly Smith, who is a nurse, Salak pursued second and third opinions at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York City and a hospital in Baltimore. The specialists recommended radiation and chemotherapy. Salak’s dilemma was how to get there for the treatments.

“The times I went to MSK, it took 2 1/2 hours and cost $60 to park. It just wasn’t feasible,” she says.

Salak’s doctor at MSK recommended she go to Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), a member of the MSK Cancer Alliance. She would receive the same standard of care, and it would be closer to where she lived. Fortunately, Salak was able to get the treatment she needed at Dale and Frances Hughes Cancer Center at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Pocono in East Stroudsburg, part of LVHN. “Going to LVHN was the best decision I ever made,” she says.

Under the care of gynecologic oncologist Christine Kim, MD, and radiation oncologist Sean Quinlan-Davidson, MD, both with Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute, Salak started out with standard treatment for advanced cervical cancer. It included six weeks of external beam radiation therapy and one day of chemotherapy each week.

The cancer had spread to surrounding tissue, so Dr. Kim performed a unique surgical procedure to help precisely target the radiation treatment and increase Salak’s chance for cure. “We needed to bring the radiation source closer to the cervix so it could be more precisely targeted,” Dr. Kim says. For the last four days of treatment, Salak underwent high-dose rate brachytherapy, where radiation is delivered internally.

“In addition to external beam radiation therapy, brachytherapy is a critical component of treatment that allows increased precision of radiation delivery from within the tumor,” Dr. Quinlan-Davidson says. “This minimizes the dose to surrounding normal anatomy. It does require a short hospital stay, but the benefits are significant.”

“The last four days were a little tough, since I had to stay perfectly still for the treatment,” Salak says. “Luckily, the technicians and I joked around a lot and that made a big difference. They are like family at the cancer center. When I cried, they cried too.” 

Cancer-free three years as of March 2025, Salak is back to living her life and enjoying her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The latter includes five boys ranging in age from 13 to 2. Salak’s granddaughter was pregnant with the youngest when Salak underwent cancer treatment. “I was determined to see Lukas James,” she says. “It’s one of the things that got me through.”

In addition to her family and best friend, MaryAnn, who were key parts of her caring support system, Sister Eileen, a nun who has been part of Salak’s family for 50 years, provided support. Beyond that, Salak knows her sense of humor and determination contributed in a big way to her recovery.

“Even after those four days of internal radiation, I came home and went to bingo,” Salak says. “I kept bowling too. I had to go from a 12-pound ball to 7-pound ball, but I never stopped what I was doing. I decided that cancer was not going to define who I am.”