Cancer diagnosis leads Struthers woman to advocacy for medical marijuana

STRUTHERS

When Terrie Mamounis found out she had cancer, she kept the news to herself at first.

“That’s not the moment when you want to talk to anybody,” she said. “All night long, I didn’t talk to anybody.”

Her doctor advised aggressive treatment and she initially balked at the prospect of chemotherapy. But one of her family members told her, if she chose to forgo treatment she should write a letter to her grandson — telling him she wasn’t going to bother to stay alive, Mamounis remembered.

“Does my family fight fair?” Mamounis recalled with an affectionate laugh. “Not at all.”

That was five years ago. The Struthers resident, now 57, has been diagnosed with lymphoma and adult leukemia. Both conditions are in remission.

“We’ve had some scares, but they’ve just been scares,” Mamounis said.

Last month, Mamounis traveled to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia for a ceremony to mark five years of cancer survival.

She is also an ambassador for Cancer Fighters and an advocate for legalizing medical marijuana to manage pain.

Read more about her journey in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.