Len Sierra of Answer Cancer Foundation: I Survived Cancer and Here Is How I Did It

An Interview With Savio P. Clemente

Never give up hope. Research is amazing in this field, and so many new drugs have been approved in the last five to 10 years so you never know when a treatment may come along that’s a fit for your specific cancer.

Cancer is a horrible and terrifying disease. Yet millions of people have beaten the odds and beat cancer. Authority Magazine started a new series called “I Survived Cancer and Here Is How I Did It”. In this interview series, we are talking to cancer survivors to share their stories, in order to offer hope and provide strength to people who are being impacted by cancer today. As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Len Sierra.

Len Sierra was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2014 after starting a new job that provided a routine healthcare screening for new employees. He became involved with the Answer Cancer Foundation (AnCan) soon after his diagnosis, where he now serves as a member of the board. Len is retired and spends part of the year in Venice, Florida, and the other part in Danbury, Connecticut. He has three adult children and enjoys tennis and hiking.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! We really appreciate the courage it takes to publicly share your story. Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your background and your childhood backstory?

I’m one of three children, born in Astoria/Queens, NY, where my father was a New York City cop. We moved out to Nassau County, Long Island when I was school aged, so I grew up in that area about 10 minutes from Jones Beach, where we enjoyed many great summers.

I attended Northeastern University in Boston where I graduated with an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and medical technology. I returned to Queens after college, working as a hospital lab supervisor at Flushing Hospital by day while attending grad school by night. I went on to earn a master’s degree in pharmacology and began working for a company called Lederle Laboratories, which was the medical research division of a large chemicals company in New Jersey. They were later acquired by Pfizer and would go on to produce the mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, though I only stayed for five years before moving again to Ridgefield, CT to work for a German pharmaceutical company called Boehringer Ingelheim. There, I headed up a group that worked in intellectual property protection for chemical and biological patent searching.

I stayed with BI in Ridgefield up until I was about 63. Knowing I wanted to take it easy until my 65th birthday, I transferred to another company where I received a PSA test as part of my onboarding that would really begin my whole cancer journey.

Today, I am 72 years old and retired. I spend part of the year in Venice, Florida, and the other part of the year in Danbury, Connecticut. I like to play tennis and go hiking, mostly in Connecticut where there are some mountains nearby. I have three adult children who live between Danbury and the New York City metro area. We were able to see each other outdoors this past summer in the midst of Covid.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I occasionally write a blog for The Answer Cancer Foundation (AnCan), which provides easily accessible, virtual peer support for people navigating cancer treatment. Not too long ago, I gave them a quote from Lord of the Rings. If you’re not familiar, Frodo the hobbit must transport the ring and destroy it to save humanity. It’s a tremendous burden he has to bear. And he says to the wizard, Gandalf, “I wish this need not have happened in my time.” Gandalf says, “So do I, and so do all men who live through such times. But that is not for them to decide. All that is left to decide is what to do with the time they do have.”

What I was trying to convey is that we can’t determine what happens in our lives, we don’t have that kind of control, but we can decide what happens with the time we have left.

Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about surviving cancer. Do you feel comfortable sharing with us the story surrounding how you found out that you had cancer?

As I mentioned before, after leaving BI, I started working at a new company which, because of my age, required a PSA test as part of their health screenings. A PSA or prostate-specific antigen test measures the level of PSA in a man’s blood. My PSA level came back at 48, which I knew was very high. Even though I didn’t know much about prostate cancer at the time, I knew this was abnormal and that I probably had prostate cancer. I then went to Sloan Kettering in Manhattan where I was officially diagnosed in May 2014 with aggressive stage 4 prostate cancer. They took six biopsies which were all positive, and scans later found that the cancer had spread beyond the prostate to the pelvic lymph nodes.

What was the scariest part of that event? What did you think was the worst thing that could happen to you?

At that point, I didn’t know a lot about prostate cancer, but I knew the PSA was much higher than the normal range. I was worried it had probably spread to my bones and that I didn’t have much longer. To me, stage 4 cancer sounded like I had one to two years left. The good news, if there was any, was that it had not yet spread to my bones.

How did you react in the short term?

Oddly enough, at the time I was relieved that my diagnosis wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. In my case it was definitely helpful to have a background in science and pharmacology to draw upon. I spent my entire career reading scientific journals, so that knowledge base gave me the confidence to educate myself. What I didn’t know was anyone who had actually experienced prostate cancer themselves, so I didn’t really know what to expect.

After the dust settled, what coping mechanisms did you use? What did you do to cope physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?

I found peace in meditation and mindfulness practices. I read a book years ago, The Road Less Traveled, and one of the lines was “You should always be carrying on a romance with death.” Sounds macabre, but it struck a chord with me, knowing all things are transient, some come and some go. I think that’s just my philosophy of life. None of us gets out alive and we try to live the best life when we’re here. Not to say that from time to time you don’t wonder what life would be like without the diagnosis, but those thoughts are pretty fleeting.

I also began to educate myself. Through my own research I found an online support community on a website called Inspire which has groups for different serious illnesses. I joined the group for prostate cancer, where I met Rick and Dominic, two guys who quickly became some of my best friends. With my scientific background they saw I had a contribution to make, and they led me to AnCan, where I’ve been able to support other guys as a member of their board, writing blog posts about my experience and speaking on our weekly support group calls.

Is there a particular person you are grateful towards who helped you learn to cope and heal? Can you share a story about that?

My good friend Dominic, who sadly passed away in 2016 from prostate cancer, is a role model of mine. He went through so many treatments, failed so many treatments, but always had a positive attitude and never complained. That example is something that has stuck with me.

Dominic and my other good friend Rick were the ones that convinced me to treat my cancer more aggressively. I was initially on hormone therapy, but they persuaded me to get the primary cancer treated. I met with a radiation oncologist at Sloane Kettering where I received 48 sessions of radiation over a nine-week period, which drove my PSA lower than it had ever been.

In my own cancer struggle, I sometimes used the idea of embodiment to help me cope. Let’s take a minute to look at cancer from an embodiment perspective. If your cancer had a message for you, what do you think it would want or say?

“Wake up and be.”

What did you learn about yourself from this very difficult experience? How has cancer shaped your worldview? What has it taught you that you might never have considered before? Can you please explain with a story or example?

All of my relationships improved following my diagnosis. I was much less focused on my own ego and more focused on being considerate to others — my wife, children, friends, the whole prostate cancer community — it was a wakeup call. It’s going to sound bizarre but I’m almost glad it happened, because it really was an awakening.

How have you used your experience to bring goodness to the world?

Through my involvement with AnCan and as a group leader for the UsTOO International organization I’ve been able to share advice and offer support to other men who are starting their journey with cancer. I’m extremely grateful that I met guys like Rick and Dominic who encouraged me to be my own advocate. That is something I always try to impart on people.

Also, as I mentioned the diagnosis was a real wake-up call for me which allowed me to really focus on the relationships in my life that matter. I like to think that some goodness has come out of the experience in bringing me closer to friends and family.

What are a few of the biggest misconceptions and myths out there about fighting cancer that you would like to dispel?

Cancer is not the dreaded diagnosis it was 20 or 30 years ago. That certainly applies to prostate cancer, where there were fewer options. If you failed hormone therapy you were pretty much out of luck, but now you have so many options. And that’s true of lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and so many others. There’s always hope that research can improve both your quality of life and longevity.

For instance, when I was diagnosed in 2014, my son made me aware of comprehensive genomic testing, which my oncologist hadn’t mentioned to me. In 2019, my PSA started to rise, and a new, highly sensitive scan showed that I had several bone lesions. Having learned the importance of being your own best advocate, I asked them to send one of the bone lesion biopsy samples to Foundation Medicine for genomic testing. The test results showed that my cancer had several mutations, but unfortunately none of the mutations had targeted treatments approved for them. While disappointing, it’s good to know that in case one day they do come up with a drug that connects with those mutations, then I’m in good shape.

Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experiences and knowledge, what advice would you give to others who have recently been diagnosed with cancer? What are your “5 Things You Need To Beat Cancer? Please share a story or example for each.

• Educate yourself
• Be your own best advocate — that’s also AnCan’s motto. This includes doing your own research and staying aware of options like clinical trials and genomic testing.
• Never give up hope. Research is amazing in this field, and so many new drugs have been approved in the last five to 10 years so you never know when a treatment may come along that’s a fit for your specific cancer.
• Exercise and be mindful of nutrition
• Stay positive

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be?

I think my movement, at least for prostate cancer, goes back to my #1 and #2 — educate yourself so you can be your own advocate. You should be aware of all of your options, and the only way to be aware is to have your cancer analyzed for genomic mutations. You may find that there is a new therapy or trial that could extend and improve your life.

Outside of prostate cancer, my movement would be very simple: be kind to each other. Find happiness in service to others.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them. :-)

Professor Mark Muesse. He is a professor who wrote a book and narrated an audiobook called “Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation.” Many people have written books on the subject and I’ve read quite a few of them, but I thought this particular gentleman was so helpful to me, so relatable. He gives very meaningful advice on how to live a good life by practicing mindfulness and meditation. I listen to his audiobook at least once a year. I think everyone should listen to that book.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I would like to point readers toward AnCan.org, where I’ve written several blog posts to help other men with prostate cancer. It’s made a big difference in my life and I’d love to be able to make that connection for someone that is just starting out with their diagnosis.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!