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Sue Chase
Written By: Julia Brabant, June 2025Beating the Odds & Helping Others Do the Same: How Sue Chase Went From a Patient to a Partner in the Fight
A year before Sue Chase received a diagnosis of Stage 4 gallbladder cancer, her daughter, Nicole Rechter, made a decision that would come full circle and ultimately save Sue’s life. Nicole, an event planner in the bedding industry, had offered up her professional services to Roger Magowitz, the founder of the Seena Magowitz Foundation for pancreatic cancer research, pro bono, believing that a day might come when she’d need Roger’s help in return. That day came sooner than anyone expected, and while the nonprofit Roger led focused on pancreatic, rather than gallbladder, cancer, he quickly returned Nicole’s favor, connecting Sue with the care team and clinical trial that gave her a fighting chance at a long, fulfilling life. In return, Sue, like her daughter, became a serious champion for the cause near and dear to Roger’s heart, lending her time, talents and voice to raising funds, increasing awareness and otherwise amplifying hope for others seeking their own second chance.
I truthfully don’t think that I processed it, I think I went into a state of shock. I was very healthy; I exercised, I ate healthy and I don’t drink or smoke
Sue’s symptoms started out mildly enough. She began experiencing stomach pain during the summer of 2019, and while she didn’t think much of it at first, she decided to visit her local urgent care after her symptoms persisted for several days. There, she underwent a series of tests, and the tests revealed two masses, leading to the Stage 4 gallbladder cancer diagnosis.
“I truthfully don’t think that I processed it,” Sue said, noting that her doctor initially suspected she was experiencing appendicitis. “I think I went into a state of shock. I was very healthy; I exercised, I ate healthy and I don’t drink or smoke.”
Once her diagnosis sunk in, Sue began seeking opinions from multiple providers, many of whom had similarly sobering responses. The first doctor she saw gave her six months to live, noting that she was incurable, but that undergoing several chemo treatments would likely extend what was left of her life.
The second specialist had a similar response, recommending two chemo treatments while rejecting a potential third because they didn’t think Sue’s body could handle it. Sue then spoke with a third physician, but he was unable to access the drug Sue needed and encouraged her to go to Arizona for her best shot at finding a path forward.
Finding Hope in Science
While Sue was unable to sign on for a formal clinical trial after making her way to Arizona, her daughter’s connection to Roger Magowitz opened a critical door. Roger had long worked closely with Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, the physician-in-chief at the Translational Genomics Research Institute and one of the world’s leading pancreatic cancer researchers. Dr. Von Hoff and his team played an instrumental part in creating the “TGEN Triple,” a combination of several cancer drugs that showed great promise in patients with pancreatic cancer, and Dr. Von Hoff directed Sue to Dr. Rachna T. Shroff, who was running the trial involving the drug combination.
Dr. Shroff then granted Sue access to the treatment, not as a clinical trial participant, but rather, as a private patient.
“I had no hesitations,” Sue said, when Dr. Shroff told her they’d begin the new treatment the following day. “I think I was already numb.”
While Sue was able to postpone the start of the new treatment for an extra day in order to allow herself to mentally prepare, she recognized that time was of the essence and began taking the drug trio without further delay.
The regimen worked well, and afterward, Sue underwent a grueling, 11-hour operation that ended with doctors performing a Whipple procedure, an uncommon option for patients with gallbladder cancer, but one her team believed would give Sue a solid shot at long-term survival. She remained cancer-free and continued undergoing regular monitoring until February of 2023, when a test of one of her lymph nodes revealed that Sue had developed thyroid cancer.
Sue’s care team tried to remove the lymph node, but it had wrapped around Sue’s carotid artery, complicating matters. She underwent 35 radiation treatments as a result and followed it up with a low dose of chemotherapy until she developed an allergy to the medicine, forcing her to stop taking it. Subsequent scans showed that the drugs had done their job, though, and while Sue continues to have scans every three months, she has remained cancer-free in the time since.
Giving Back From a Place of Gratitude
While Sue’s physical condition has remained stable since early 2023, her passion for advocacy has only intensified. Grateful for the second chance she got and well aware that not everyone was so lucky, so decided to take a page from her daughter’s book and give back by helping others in any way she could.
Sue regularly fields calls from patients facing serious, potentially life-threatening illnesses, and while she offers them strength and support, she often takes things several steps further, putting them in touch with Roger and the rest of the Seena Magowitz team for help finding doctors, treatments and clinical trials that could potentially help them. She has also become a regular fixture at Seena Magowitz Foundation events and fundraisers, attending the annual “Power of Us” event each year alongside her daughter, who continues to offer her event-planning services free of charge to this day.
Sue also encourages her loved ones to make donations to the Seena Magowitz Foundation in lieu of getting her birthday gifts, and she also donates her own money to the foundation as well to several of the causes and organizations she knows her own doctors hold dear.
“I try to support all of the people who’ve tried to help me,” she said.
Pushing for More Progress
Sue also hopes to live long enough to see some impactful changes taking place within the medical community, and particularly with regard to cancer. She notes that there are new and emerging treatments and detection methods that could change the game for patients, but notes that progress would likely come faster if doctors and researchers pooled their resources and shared information more freely.
“I’ve been to four cancer centers for different reasons, and every chair is filled with people getting chemo,” Sue said. “One day, I’d like to walk in there and see them have no business.”
That hope, and the chance to instill hope in others, keeps Sue going, but she’s also the first to admit that she likely wouldn’t be here to advocate for the cancer community had it not been for her daughter’s own altruism. She often reflects on the selfless decision Nicole made long before either of them knew Sue needed help, and she also credits the wisdom and straight talk of the physicians she met along the way who encouraged her to seek second opinions when answers were unclear or options were limited.
Sue also shares her care team’s advice about the importance of seeking care and second opinions at NCI-designated cancer centers, where doctors are more likely to have access to advanced research and cutting-edge treatment options, rather than those that practice general oncology. Even if a patient starts out at one of these medical institutions, it’s wise to get a second opinion from another NCI-designated center to either confirm the original treatment plan or explore a potential new one.
As Sue continues to share knowledge and insights from her own experiences, she’s also quick to circle back to how proud she is of her own daughter’s efforts to enhance the lives of others through advocacy, both within the pancreatic cancer community and beyond.
“I’m so proud of her – she doesn’t only do this for the Seena Magowitz Foundation,” Sue said, noting that Nicole also supports an assortment of other causes and initiatives through her professional endeavors, including those that feed the homeless, support victims of the Los Angeles fires, help individuals with hearing impairments gain access to cochlear implants and finance cancer treatments for children, among other selfless efforts.
“I’m alive, truly, because of her.”
Sue has shown no evidence of disease since February 2023.
