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Janette Platter is the community chaplain at Saint Luke’s Bishop Spencer Place, a vibrant senior living community just steps from the Country Club Plaza. But in early 2025, she was just another mom seeking the very best care for her child. Fortunately, she knew it wasn’t too far away.

Kirsti Millar, a 35-year-old of Kansas City, was 23 weeks pregnant with her second child in early 2023 when her water suddenly broke. What should have been a season of joy and anticipation became a medical emergency.

While the CPAP machine is the most effective way to treat sleep apnea, some patients, like veteran David Cotter, can’t tolerate the mask that users have to wear at night.

While chemotherapy, radiation, and surgeries are common for most cancer treatments, immunotherapy is continuing to allow some patients to forgo these often harsh and invasive methods altogether.

More than 10 years after his diagnosis, he’s helping other people with the same rare cancer to hold on to hope.