Thu, Jul 6, 2023 at 09:18 PM

The Marshall Cancer Care Center celebrates ten years of caring for patients close to home

Ten years of healing. A decade of caring. In July of 2013, the Marshall Cancer Care Center opened its doors. It was a community-supported effort to make cancer treatment easily accessible for residents of Marshall County and surrounding areas. In 2023, numbers show it was a decision that has saved lives and made the cancer journey less of a challenge for many.

The timing was right to build a treatment center locally as advances in cancer treatment have revolutionized care. With targeted therapies, new approaches and technologies, and improvements in conventional treatments like chemotherapy, research is moving forward in ways that are bringing hope to families and ensuring a better quality of life for more patients touched by cancer.

The numbers tell the story. Since the “Close to Home” campaign raised $3 million and broke ground on the 2-story, 22,000 square-foot facility with its tall glass atrium and the latest technology built in, the Marshall Cancer Care Center has treated more than 126,000 patients, administered more than 100,000 infusion medicines and delivered more than 44,000 radiation treatments. The number of employees has doubled in a decade and physicians have increased from three to five.

Marshall Medical Centers is very proud of the oncology staff and nurses who have done all the healing, supporting, encouraging and counseling of cancer sufferers during the past 10 years. Nothing, however, resounds as loudly as the patients’ own words when they share their experience. Read testimonials from one patient for each year that cancer-fighting treatments have been available close to home.

2013 – One of the first survivors

In 2013, Kelley Fountaine was shocked to find out she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, triple-negative breast cancer represents 10% of breast cancers overall. Triple-negative breast cancer is usually more aggressive, harder to treat, and more likely to come back within the first five years after treatment.

“I went through Adriamycin and Taxol as forms of chemotherapy medication,” Fountaine said. “I can tell you I did not like either one of them, but here I am cancer free 10 years later.”

Prior to Kelley’s cancer diagnosis, her husband went through his own health complications that resulted in need of a heart transplant.

“Normally I would have said let’s go to Birmingham,” Fountaine said, “but after my husband’s health issues I was very familiar with having to be in Birmingham with family here and having to drive back and forth. Once I was diagnosed I knew I wanted to stay here for treatment, and I had heard nothing but good things about the Marshall Cancer Care Center.”

Fountaine recalls the Marshall Cancer Care Center was previously housed on the ground floor of Marshall Medical South before the beautiful structure was erected in 2013.

“I have a paver with my name on it right out front that we got when the cancer center first opened,” Fountaine said.

Fountaine went through 16 chemotherapy treatments.

“The key to get you through all the treatments is to always keep a positive attitude,” she said.

That positive attitude, no pun intended, radiated through all of the staff at the Marshall Cancer Care Center.

“The Marshall Cancer Care Center is phenomenal,” Fountaine said. “Everyone is so upbeat, kind and sweet, and the doctors are so knowledgeable.”

The last couple of years, Kelley has grown fond of a particular oncology nurse at the Marshall Cancer Care Center she now calls her daughter-in-law.

“The doctors and nurses at the cancer center are not just here as staff,” Fountaine said. “They are here to care for you and give 100% of themselves to ensure you feel better.”

2014 – She survived more than just cancer

In January of 2014, 78-year old Wanda Maltbie received her mammogram results showing she had breast cancer. In February, she was scheduled for surgery to remove the small tumor. Fast forward to April of 2014 when her radiation treatments began. During the month of June, Maltbie fell and broke her pelvis. October of the same year, Maltbie’s colonoscopy showed she had early signs of colon cancer.

“I was the first person in my family, that I’m aware of, to be diagnosed with cancer,” Maltbie said.

Hearing the news of cancer, Maltbie had no doubt where she would receive her treatment.

“My granddaughter, Abby (Whitehead), I believe had just started working at the cancer care center before getting her nursing degree around the time of my diagnosis.”

Even before Maltbie’s diagnosis, granddaughter Abby always talked about the outstanding care patients receive at the Marshall Cancer Care Center when she saw her mother go through her own cancer journey. That outstanding care started a ripple effect in Maltbie.

“After 25 radiation treatments, I became cancer free in 2015,” Maltbie said, “and I wanted to make sure the kindness continued at the cancer center.”

Maltbie became a part of the Marshall Medical Volunteer Auxiliary in 2015 and was stationed as a volunteer at the Marshall Cancer Care Center.

“I’m here every Thursday,” Maltbie said, “and I love making people smile. I love meeting their needs whether it’s to hold their hand, give them a blanket or telling them a joke.”

Maltbie has 4 grandchildren including oncology nurse Abby, and 2 great-grandchildren.

“At 88, I’m so blessed my life has been as good as it has,” Maltbie said. “I’m so grateful for the cancer care center.”

2015 – Cancer did not number her days on Earth

After her test results were read, Lola Castleberry was told she had three to six months to live. Well, that was back in 2015. She is now defining odds and thriving.

Castleberry had a severe pain in her neck and made an appointment with her primary care physician, who ordered an MRI be done.

“The MRI showed I had a large lump in my right lung,” Castleberry said, “and Dr. Ewing told me it was stage 4 lung cancer.”

It has been a long battle for Castleberry that she is still fighting today.

“It was August 2021 since I’ve had my last treatment,” Castleberry said. “They won’t say I am cancer free because the lump is still there, but it is not currently cancerous. I have a screening done every four months to make sure it stays that way.”

Castleberry went through approximately 15 rounds of radiation and five different types of chemotherapy and nothing seem to be touching the large tumor on her lung.

“I want you to know, chemo is hell on earth,” Castleberry said. “I was miserable. I had all of the side effects and nothing was working.”

December of 2015 her doctors discovered a new prescription medicine of chemotherapy that was approved for treatment of adults with a type of advanced stage lung cancer. The medicine is called Opdivo and is an immunotherapy drug. Castleberry credits the medication and the doctors for studying and staying up to date on all the latest medicine and research for her breaking the barriers placed on her in the beginning.

The difficult treatments made Castleberry very thankful the Marshall Cancer Care Center was close to home.

“When you can barely hold your head up and having every side effect imaginable, the thought of going to Huntsville or Birmingham and having to navigate a huge hospital and the parking decks is just added stress you don’t need when you can receive the same care right here,” Castleberry said.

Looking back on her 6-year-and-counting cancer journey, Castleberry calls herself a, ‘Walking Miracle.’

“I never really believed I had six months to live,” Castleberry said. “Even though I did make all my funeral arrangements and got everything in order, I knew God had my days numbered, not cancer. I don’t give up easily.”

2016 – Care and kindness received at Cancer Care Center was lifesaving

The tiny mole sitting on Kathy Thrash’s forehead near her hairline never bothered her at all. It was a part of her face for as long as she could remember. Then one day she noticed blemishes had formed around it. She had it checked by her doctor, who performed a biopsy. Nothing could have prepared her to hear the results– Stage 4 Melanoma.

Her treatment included three surgeries to remove sections of her scalp back to the crown covered with skin grafts from both legs. After those repeated attempts to remove all the cancer, in 2016 Kathy started chemotherapy at the Marshall Cancer Care Center. She was prescribed a then-new immunotherapy drug called Opdivo. The combination put her on the path to healing, although she still covers her head with scarves, little caps and big hats.

“When I walked into the Cancer Center, it was like a wonderful, peaceful serenity came over me that I was where I needed to be,” she said.

The support of friends and family kept Thrash going during her battle with melanoma. She is convinced the care she got from the doctors and staff at the Marshall Cancer Care Center, along with her faith in God, saved her life.

“I highly recommend it,” she said. “I’m a firm believer in people using the Cancer Care facility.”

2017 – The closest place was the right place for cancer treatments

Ten years ago Gregory Young was diagnosed with melanoma on his upper chest. When it was removed, his doctor told him if he tested clear for five years, he would be fine. He made it four years.

In 2017, spots showed up on his lungs. Young’s lung specialist broke down when she told him they were malignant.

“That started the journey,” Young recalled.

When he asked for referrals for the treatment he would need, Young was told the Marshall Cancer Care Center could provide it. He thought about it and decided the local option was the one he wanted.

Young faced four years of treatment. Every two weeks and then monthly until 2021 he went to the Cancer Care Center for infusions of an immunotherapy drug that helps the immune system launch a response that fights cancer. To Young’s great relief, a PET scan showed him to be in remission. Two years later, he still gets regular scans and remains cancer free. That is not exactly the outcome he expected early in his cancer battle. He is thankful to have lived to see his first grandchild born three months ago.

“I’m here today,” he said gratefully. “Everything has worked out.”

He also is thankful that he chose the Marshall Cancer Care Center for his treatments. In his experience, Young said all the staff members were nice and they performed their jobs efficiently and professionally.

“The Cancer Center is awesome,” he said. “I don’t know if you could find anything better anywhere.”

2018 – Giving up was not an option

In 2018, Irby Camp was in Kentucky when he received a phone call from his doctor’s office asking him to come in the office for a quick conversation about test results that were conducted on his throat.

“After I received the call, I let them know I could not come in because I was out of town preaching at a revival,” Camp said. “I told them to just tell me over the phone, which they really did not want to do.”

Camp was told it was an aggressive form of throat cancer. More tests and treatments needed to begin right away. He was urged to come home from Kentucky immediately.

“I told them, I’m staying right here to preach this revival, and that’s what I did,” Camp said.

Once Camp returned home, he decided to visit a cancer center in Huntsville to see what the best plan of care was for his diagnosis.

“We loved Huntsville,” Camp said, “but my wife and I talked about how far it was to go back and forth for treatments.”

Camp decided to reach out to the Marshall Cancer Care Center and was overwhelmed by the love and support of the staff.

“I think this is the best cancer center around,” Camp said. “I was uneasy at first, if I’m being honest. This is a small town, but Marshall Medical has grown and things have improved so much. This cancer center is a true blessing to this area. I recommend to anyone I know who is diagnosed with cancer not to drive to Huntsville or Birmingham. Just stay here.”

The cancer journey for Camp was not an easy one. He was going through radiation and chemotherapy. He became unable to swallow and had to be placed on a feeding tube.

“I was just ready to give up and go home to the Lord,” Camp said, “but one day the Lord spoke to me and my whole attitude changed. He is the ultimate healer.”

Camp has now been cancer free since 2020. He visits the doctor once a year to get his throat stretched.

“I mean it when I say this cancer center is a blessing” Camp said. “They prayed with me and for me every day. I made some good friends on this journey.”

2019 - Years of frequent treatments was easier at local facility

Jeanne Stiefel’s first bout with cancer left her exhausted from driving to Birmingham for surgery, chemotherapy and two hospitalizations from complications. To make it easier on herself, Jeanne decided to take her 35 treatments of radiation at the Marshall Cancer Care Center.

“I needed something closer to home,” said Stiefel, who lives in Fyffe.

It was a good experience, she recalled with nothing but praise for the staff, nurses and doctors. Unfortunately, Jeanne would get to know them a lot better.

In 2019, she developed a bad cough. Tests determined she now had Stage 4 breast cancer that had spread to her liver and lung. Initially she refused to have chemotherapy because of the severe sickness she suffered with it the first round. Oncologists Dr. Jonathan Storey and Dr. Thomas Payne convinced her it was critical to her survival. She now says she had wonderful results. The cancer is not gone but it looks much better than it did when she started taking treatments every 21 days four years ago. So much better, in fact, she has been given time off this summer.

“I’m doing great,” she said. “I’m so thankful we’ve got these doctors this close to home.”

Stiefel, a retired bank accountant, is so grateful she took the advice to seek treatment at the Marshall Cancer Care Center. It’s so difficult for sick people and especially older ones to travel for care. She now is convinced she couldn’t have found better physicians anywhere.

“I’d give them a gold star,” she said. “That’s my two doctors. I’m happy with them.”

2020 - Cancer diagnosis during Covid was difficult journey but excellent care healed

There is no good time to get a cancer diagnosis but during the 2020 Covid lockdown when family members could not be with a patient was especially bad.

Normally a healthy guy, John Penney developed severe abdominal pain in March when Covid was ravaging the healthcare system. His wife Tracy drove him to Marshall Medical South and had to drop him off at the ER because visitors weren’t allowed inside the hospital then. A CT scan revealed a tumor, and Penney was told it needed to be removed right away. With his wife waiting in the car, Penney asked when the surgery would be done. The doctor told him immediately.

The surgeon hoped to be able to remove the mass with a scope but eventually had to make a large incision. The good news was that during the resection doctors found clear margins – meaning healthy tissue – on both sides of the tumor. Nurses stayed in touch with Penney’s wife during his recovery in the hospital and patiently kept her updated.

“They were my family for six days,” he said. “They treated us like family.”

Penney was diagnosed with Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor or GIST, a rare type of cancer that starts in the GI tract. GIST cancer is not usually treated with chemotherapy or radiation. Instead doctors use targeted drugs to attack some of the changes in cancer cells that help them grow. These drugs affect mainly cancer cells and not normal cells in the body. They are often the main treatment for GISTs but they can also be used before or after surgery for some tumors.

The Penneys knew folks who had been treated at the Marshall Cancer Care Center and reported their experience was ‘top notch.” The couple prayed and made the decision to stay close to home. He knows now it was the right move.

“It has been incredible how thorough and caring and loving the staff at the Cancer Center has been,” Penney said.

With how rare GIST cancers are - only affecting 4,000 to 6,000 adults in the U. S. each year - the Penneys were worried they would have to travel to get treatment for it. Instead, in their first appointment with Oncologist Dr. Gideon Ewing, he told them he was familiar with it. After extensive research on the latest drugs, he worked out a treatment plan for Penney.

“I don’t think you could have any more confidence in a cancer center anywhere in the world than right there,” he said. “I just feel confident that Dr. Ewing is right on top of it.”

Penney was prescribed a targeted drug called Gleevec and the side effects were severe. To help with that, the dosage was reduced and a gradual more tolerable build-up was devised. Also, a nurse practitioner at the Cancer Care Center put Penney on a low-FODMAP diet, which made a tremendous difference. He was impressed by the lengths the staff went to in order to make him comfortable, which worked.

Penney has been in remission for three years and says he feels great. He’s been getting four scans a year until last year when he was able to cut that to two.

“As far as I’m concerned, Dr. Ewing is a GIST cancer specialist. I’m here because of God’s grace and the care that was poured into me. The doctor’s care, their knowledge and their great attitudes is number one.”

2021 - Cancer diagnosis at 28

While most 28-year-olds are starting to settle down and checking behind them as year 30 is rapidly approaching, Lauren Cash was challenged with how to manage the news of a cancer diagnosis and the strength needed to beat it in September of 2021.

Cash noticed what appeared to be a knot located under her armpit and thought it would not hurt to have it looked at. It was recommended to have it removed.

“I remember the surgeon saying I’m 99% sure it’s nothing,” Cash said. “But just to make sure, we are going to send it off to be tested.”

The mass Cash found under her armpit was in fact cancerous, and she was diagnosed with stage 4 Melanoma. Immunotherapy treatments started right away at the Marshall Cancer Care Center.

“It means the world to me to have the cancer center this close to home,” Cash said. “No matter what treatment you’re going through, it’s never really easy. You always kind of dread that day, but just knowing you can go get it done and be back home within a decent time and you don’t have to be on the road forever when you’re feeling bad really helps you, in some ways, heal a little faster.”

Cash is a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service in Collinsville. She takes pride in her duties as a letter carrier.

“After my surgery, I had to miss a little bit then I was supposed to be on light duty,” Cash said. “I felt fine and was ready to get back out there, and I never missed another day of work.”

Cash witnessed the same pride in the staff at the Marshall Cancer Care Center.

“I fell in love with all the people there,” Cash said. “I never felt like they were just staff doing a job. Everyone up there genuinely cares for you.”

2022 - Cancer survivor at 87: ‘I do whatever I want to do’

The pandemic shutdown blocked Hazel Dixon from getting her mammogram in 2020. In the fall of 2021, she discovered a lump in her breast. A biopsy revealed the dreaded diagnosis of cancer. After recovering from a mastectomy in early 2022, Dixon decided to have her treatments at the Marshall Cancer Care Center.

“I’ve never been treated so precious,” she recalled. “They were the kindest, most compassionate people I’ve ever dealt with. There were days that I laughed and there were days that I cried. They were always there to laugh with me. They were always there to put their arms around me when I cried. It was just a special time.”

Dixon, the mother of six sons and one daughter, lives in Southside. Her youngest son, Arlo Guthery, is director of the Marshall Imaging Center next door to the Marshall Cancer Center, so he encouraged her to use the facility for treatments.

Dixon said she is doing well now that she has finished chemotherapy and radiation. She doesn’t have the energy she used to have but she blames that on being 87 years old, although jokes that her brain still thinks she 16.

She has progressed to visiting the Cancer Care Center only every six weeks to have her port flushed. Occasionally she “spoils” the staff with cakes. She is able to drive again and she even teaches children’s Sunday school. She was thankful to have her church family and her children by her side during her cancer journey.

“It’s been a joyful hard journey,” she said. “I’m doing great. I’m happy. I just do whatever I want to do.”

2023 - Retired Air Force lt. col. could have gone anywhere…glad he chose Marshall

Richard Reed could never have imagined the road ahead when he discovered a lump on his neck last year. He went to see his family doctor, who treated him with antibiotics for a swollen gland. When that didn’t work, he saw an ENT who scheduled a CT scan. Before the appointment rolled around, the left side of Richard’s face became paralyzed. The scan indicated a tumor.

He was sent to UAB where doctors determined Reed had a rare and aggressive form of salivary gland cancer. During a 14-hour surgery, they removed the left parotid gland, which is the largest of the salivary glands. Located just in front of the ear, that’s where most salivary gland tumors start. Surgeons removed and replaced his left jaw muscle, and removed the lymph nodes on the left side of his face. The cancer had also destroyed the facial nerve which they also removed. After he healed from that, he had reconstruction surgery in order to be able to close his left eye.

Once the surgical portion was complete, Reed faced radiation and chemotherapy. He chose the Marshall Cancer Care Center for that treatment. After 32 rounds of radiation and five of chemotherapy, he isn’t finished. A subsequent scan revealed a spot on his rib. He is now awaiting results of a biopsy and a treatment plan for this new cancer.

“They don’t always get everything at once,” he said. “This type of cancer is too rare to know exactly what works.”

Reed followed his father into a career as an Air Force officer, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. After studying law at the University of Alabama and later earning an advanced law degree from Georgetown University, Reed practiced criminal law, advised combat commanders on the law of armed conflict, and served as a labor and employment law litigator. He retired in 2019. Reed and his wife Kathy have been married for 38 years and have two grown children.

Reed is very thankful he was able to get treatments locally instead of having to drive to Huntsville or Birmingham. Traveling every day to have his face radiated would have been very difficult.

“It was a wonderful experience there,” he said. “If you’ve got to go through this, it’s the place to go. It was great to go to a place where you felt like everybody really did care about how you were doing, how you were progressing and they weren’t just going through the motions. They actually care about you. That’s exactly the way it was. Throughout, it was a pleasure to deal with the folks that work there.”

He also praised the chemo area upstairs in the Cancer Care Center because it’s comfortable and private, unlike other facilities. He enjoyed being in a private room with a TV or just listening to a podcast. Volunteers are frequently visiting and checking on patients.

“The journey is still going on but I’m hopeful we will make it through this and by this time next year I will be healthy again. It’s in God’s hands.”