Skates, Strength and Second Chances
Melissa Nicholas’s cancer journey began quietly with a small lump she discovered in her breast. She had no other symptoms and no reason to suspect that life was about to change. It was a week before her 44th birthday in 2010 when she heard the words no one ever expects: stage 2/3 HER2-positive breast cancer.
“After my initial diagnosis, I was treated with traditional therapies, including 17 injections of Herceptin, a targeted therapy, which was the standard of care at the time,” Nicholas said. “After that treatment, however, I was still highly susceptible to recurrence of my breast cancer.”
After completing treatment, Nicholas learned a dendritic cell vaccine clinical trial at Moffitt Cancer Center lead by Brian Czerniecki, MD, PhD, could help reduce her risk of recurrence. Dendritic cells are a type of immune cell that boosts immune response by highlighting breast cancer cells for the system to attack. They are taken from a patient’s blood, combined with HER-2 positive proteins in the lab and injected directly into a patient’s primary breast tumor.
For Nicholas, this innovative approach represented more than a treatment. It represented the possibility of time. Time to keep being “Mom.”
The Ice Family of Florida
Nicholas’s family is what she lovingly calls a Florida-native hockey family — a group of people who swapped the heat of the soccer fields for the chill of the rink and fell in love with the sport together. Her husband captained his men’s league team, she skated into women’s hockey and their kids grew up on the ice. Her son became a defenseman on the club hockey team at the University of Connecticut, while her daughter played as a Division I goalie there.
After countless practices and hours in cold arenas, Nicholas reached a personal milestone in 2023. Thirteen years after her diagnosis, she won a Florida Women’s Hockey League State Championship at the novice level. It was a personal triumph and a symbol of everything she had fought for.
Melissa Nicholas was honored at the annual Hockey FIghts Cancer game at Benchmark International Arena.
On Nov. 24, the Tampa Bay Lightning honored Nicholas, alongside hundreds of other cancer patients and survivors during their annual Hockey Fights Cancer game at Benchmark International Arena. Nicholas and her family got the opportunity to climb onto the Fan Zam, riding proudly before thousands of hockey fans, survivors and families who came together to honor those impacted by cancer. Under the arena lights, surrounded by strength and community, Nicholas felt the full weight of how far she had come and how deeply connected her story was to the people fighting beside her.
“While I have been in many, many rinks over the years, it was a beautiful moment. I will always remember having the opportunity to ride on the FanZam with my family. Bucket list item checked. Thank you Moffitt Cancer Center!”
Her journey, on and off the ice, is a testament to her resilience and the profound impact of compassionate innovation.
