Dr. Steve Lemon ran a three-physician oncology practice with four locations across Nebraska — a main campus in Omaha and three satellite clinics serving small towns hours away. He wasn’t looking for a standard medical website. He wanted to give his patients a voice. Specifically, the ones out in the remote clinics, the ones most people never saw or heard from. He wanted their stories told.
Everything. We built and maintained the website — content, mobile, integrations, everything. But the real work was creative. A long-running video series called Cancer Survivor Stories: real patients, real conversations, no script. One of the most empathy-driven content campaigns we’ve been part of.
Then Dr. Lemon told us he wanted to make music videos with his patients and staff. We said yes immediately. We rewrote songs together — Macklemore’s Thrift Shop became Chemo Shop, a three-minute campy celebration of chemotherapy and surviving. Carpool karaoke. Things that had no business existing in oncology marketing — and worked because they were completely, joyfully real.
Together, we built their YouTube Channel, one of the largest libraries of cancer-related video content on the platform. No filler. All of it earned.
Eventually, we built an offshoot online brand called the Lighter Side of Cancer
We flew to Holrege, Nebraska — one of the remote satellite clinics — with a three-man crew. First-day pilot. Cessna. Cornfield horizon in every direction. The footage going out was beautiful: survivor interviews, the quiet dignity of a small cancer center in a small Nebraska town.
On the way back, a storm rolled in. High winds, thunder, and lightning. Then an engine went out. Our knees were touching in the tiny cabin. The nurse across from us was in tears. Our cinematographer Bill — who had shot on every continent, in every type of vessel imaginable — was sitting up front, headphones on, GoPro in hand, looking like he was on a Sunday afternoon drive. He calmed everybody down without saying a word.
Emergency landing on an airstrip in the middle of a cornfield. Hours waiting for a taxi back to Omaha, where we were greeted by the Doc, who was happy we had an adventurous experience and fed us very well that night.
Dr. Lemon understood something most clients never quite get: that being human — funny, vulnerable, a little unexpected — is not a liability in healthcare marketing. It’s the whole thing. He trusted us completely and participated fully. He wasn’t approving content remotely. He was in it.
That is the kind of client that makes the work good.
CancerIs was a patient-focused campaign that featured a personal cancer journey ap and sponsor of charitable organizations across the U.S
One of the most beautiful interviews we conducted for OA Cancer. Inspirational and profound Keisha’s words have reached thousands across online platforms.
