PLATINUM

SONALITY

Jon Imerman

1111.11.sw;'
-
BY JODI CHARNAS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGIE BAAN

How can you help? Email Jon at
jonimerman@hotmail.com to
put !merman Angels in touch
with cancer survivors looking to
support those fighting cancer
and cancer fighters looking for
the support of a survivor.

1 8

•

SEPTEMBER 2004 •

JN PLATINUM

n October of 2001., at age 26, Jon Imerman was diag-
nosed with testicular cancer. "It was just one of those
things that came totally out of the blue," says
Imerman, a 29-year-old commercial property manager
for Princeton Management.
Imerman, who graduated from the University of
Michigan with a psychology degree, and received his MBA
from Wayne State, hadn't been to a doctor in three years
when unusual pain caused him to rush to the hospital.
Initially, Imerman was misdiagnosed with epididymitis, an
inflammation or infection of the epididymis, a convoluted
duct that lies on the posterior surface of the testicle.
Two weeks later, after seeing a specialist when his pain
persisted, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and went
into surgery the next morning. One week after surgery, he
started chemotherapy.
"I never lost it," says Imerman, a Birmingham resident.
"I thought, 'I have a problem, and these are the steps I
need to fix it.' And I have an unbelievably supportive fami-
ly. My mom was there for every minute and every chemo,
and my best friends were always there to keep me stable."
Shortly after completing his chemotherapy treatment,
Imerman received a call from 23-year-old Christina Dallas,
a sister of a friend, who had just been diagnosed with
Hodgkin's disease. The two began talking every night, as
he was able to answer questions and give support that only
a cancer survivor could provide. He even held her hand
through her first chemotherapy treatment.
This relationship inspired Imerman, in December 2003,
to start his organization called Imerman Angels. His mom,
Jane Ruzumna, is partially responsible for the name. "I
really wanted to be able to give back to the people who
Nvere going through the same thing that I had gone
through, but didn't have the same support that I had. I
remember looking around me in the hospital and most
people were alone through seven or eight hours of chemo."
Imerman Angels is a cancer support group that connects
an individual who is currently fighting cancer with a cancer
survivor, someone who has fought and beaten cancer in the
past. The main purpose of this group is to set up one-on-
one relationships to give a patient the chance to ask per-
sonal questions and receive support and encouragement
from someone who is uniquely familiar with the situation.
"There's a unique bond between two people who'have
both gone through something like cancer," says Imerman.
The organization tries to make the closest match : basedon
. ..-..••
gender, age, treatment plan, etc.
Currently the organization involves 17 eanCersurYiyors - - -
and five people who are fighting cancer. Says Imerman,
"This is something I believe in and love. I feel like this is
my responsibility — a gift I can give to others-who are -
fighting cancer."

