43
Support system helps Canfield woman tackle cancer
Photo
SURVIVOR: Lori Marsh of Canfield, who was diagnosed with Leukemia last July, is in remission and plans to return to work this week.
By ELISE FRANCO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD — More than a year after her initial diagnosis of acute myleogenous leukemia, Lori Marsh said she is ready and able to live an active, healthy life.
After a bone marrow transplant that didn’t take and a stem cell transplant, the 47-year-old Canfield woman has been given a clean bill of health from Robert Dean, her Cleveland Clinic physician.
“I’m in 100 percent remission right now,” Marsh said. “My doctor won’t use the word ‘cured’ yet, though.”
She said her donor for the stem cell transplant was a 27-year-old man, whom she calls Ben.
“When she’s driving down the road and starts yelling at someone, she’ll blame it on him,” said Marsh’s mother, Jan Grisdale of Canfield. “She makes it a joke. She’s gotten through it by making it a fun thing in a lot of ways.”
Now, five months since her transplant, Marsh said she is ready to get back to her normal life.
The only real restriction is that she has to limit the time she spends in the sun because prolonged exposure could result in the disease returning and becoming a chronic condition.
“I pretty much do what I want, I just have to stay out of the sun and covered up,” she said. “You don’t have to live in a bubble. Some people do, but every case is different. I didn’t.”
Because of the severity of Marsh’s illness, she had to have a full-time caretaker. Grisdale was that person.
“She first told the doctor to just let her go — she didn’t want treatment,” her mother said. “I promised her if she would go through treatments I would stay there and be there every minute of the way, and so far I have. And so far she’s doing well.”
Marsh said having her mother with her throughout the treatment process is one thing that kept her so strong.
“We spent a total of 160 days up in Cleveland,” she said. “There was not a day [my mom] wasn’t there.”
When Marsh was diagnosed in July 2007, Grisdale said it was a shock — even more so because her other daughter, who was 45 at the time, had just died of ovarian cancer.
“I don’t think we even believed it could happen,” Grisdale said. “We hadn’t had a chance to get over mourning [Lori’s] sister when we found out.”
She said it was difficult watching her daughter battle leukemia, but she said from the moment Marsh made the decision to fight, she was always optimistic.
“Her doctor told her, ‘There’s no way you’re quitting. If we work hard together we can save you,’” Grisdale said. “The way she had to fight for this, the way she worked so hard to get through this, the prayer of family and friends — there’s just so many people behind all the things that happened for her, and it made it so she didn’t want to give up.”
Marsh agreed with her mother, saying she had no idea she’d get so much support from people in the community.
Because she didn’t have the medical insurance required to cover hospital costs, a spaghetti dinner and a haircut-a-thon were put together by friends and co-workers to raise the money.
“I have such a strong faith, and it was made stronger,” Marsh said. “I didn’t realize how many people would come forward and show me support. I feel like a miracle.”
On Tuesday, Marsh will return to her job as a hairstylist at Panache Hair Salon in Boardman, where she has worked for 25 years. She said she will start off slow, working two days a week to see how she adjusts, and eventually build back up to her full-time schedule.
To keep busy during the day, Marsh said she goes to lunch with her friends and exercise. Although she can’t work out as vigorously as she used to, she is grateful to be able to do what she can.
“I’m not really allowed to do a lot yet,” she said. “I walk and do low weights. I used to run, and I don’t know if I’ll do that anymore, but maybe.”
efranco@vindy.com