Laura Demarest is a fighter.
“My story started in 2016 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” she said. “And it continues to this day.”
The team at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital has been helping her battle cancer for nine years.
She was 57 when it started. Now she’s 66.
“Dr. Srividya Viswanathan is the reason I became a senior citizen,” Demarest said.
Hope has helped her through the most difficult periods and allowed her to enjoy the best of days.
“There are other things that are even more important than cancer: families, friends, your faith,” Demarest said. “There’s just so much more out there.”
‘What life is going to look like after cancer’
Demarest was one of more than 150 cancer survivors OhioHealth celebrated last week during a dinner at the Richland County Fairgrounds.
The survivors — along with their caregivers and loved ones — enjoyed an evening of food and fellowship.
Seeing so many survivors in one place was encouraging for not only the patients themselves, but for doctors like Michael Siedow.
“I’m a radiation oncologist, so I see the patients come in for daily treatments,” Siedow said. “You don’t get to see them outside of the clinic that much.”
The tone is usually very serious the first time he meets a new patient.
“We have real, serious conversations about what life is going to look like after cancer,” Siedow said.
The journey from the initial meeting to celebrations of survivorship can be filled with emotion.
“It’s amazing how much you learn about yourself and about humans and the strength and resilience they have,” Siedow said. “We have great patients. We have a great team. We’re really lucky.”
‘I was so incredibly blessed’
Demarest herself had a career as a nurse before her cancer diagnosis.
She said “it was hard to get the diagnosis,” especially when it came to telling her son.
“That was the toughest part, I think, is telling family,” Demarest said. “They were obviously shocked. A few tears, but then there was a ‘We can do this’ spirit. I was so incredibly blessed with the close family.”
She visits the infusion center at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital every three weeks for another round of treatments.
The team there, she said, has helped her maintain a normal life throughout her nine years of treatment.
“I’m still doing well, still doing the things I love to do in life: traveling, going places, having hobbies,” Demarest said. “I’m retired now, so life is sweet.”
ztuggle@gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Cancer survivors celebrate life with caregivers and loved ones during OhioHealth dinner
Reporting by Zach Tuggle, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
