MANSFIELD — OhioHealth nurse manager Suzanne Temple on Wednesday offered a reminder to 150 cancer survivors.
“No matter the diagnosis, keep making plans,” Temple said. “(Plans) remind us there is still life left to give.”
OhioHealth partnered with Shelby Oncology to host 150 cancer survivors on Wednesday afternoon at Fairhaven Hall at the Richland County Fairgrounds, an event to remind every survivor to keep making plans.
The event, back for its second consecutive year after a COVID-19-induced hiatus, doubles as a celebration of the proximity to treatment.
OhioHealth’s locations in Mansfield and Shelby feature oncology and hematology, meaning north central Ohio residents don’t have to travel an hour or further to Columbus for necessary care.
The event is a unique moment, allowing cancer survivors from all walks of life, based in and around Richland, to meet one another and share their unique stories.
One such story is that of Jim and Tammy Canfield.
Jim Canfield was diagnosed with brain cancer 15 years ago, causing his and his wife’s lives to spin in a whole new direction.
Tammy Canfield was in school to work in intensive care at the time of diagnosis, a plan she had held for 30 years. However, she switched paths when her husband received the news, and now works as a nurse practitioner in her local oncology practice.
“It changed everything,” Tammy Canfield said. “I completely shifted. I’d never done oncology, but I shifted to oncology then … the support for your patients is not the same as intensive care. Everything’s adrenaline, because now it’s supporting them through the hardest time in their life.”
The adjustment was difficult for both. Her husband had to adjust to a new schedule of doctor’s visits, constant changes in his mind and body, and a difficult care regimen. She had to learn a new practice and add “patient” to one of her descriptors for her husband.
Tammy Canfield said it made her better at her job.
“It’s two-fold for me,” Tammy said. “I get to support Jim, and have been through this journey. Which, honestly, makes me a better practitioner to care for my patients. I know what they’re really going through.”
For Jim Canfield, having his wife around to help him through the hardest part of his life “meant the world” to him.
“We’ve had some ups and downs, but I’m still surviving,” Jim Canfield said. “It’s been a battle, it really has, but I’m a survivor.”
“(Proximity to care) means a lot to me,” Canfield said.”I don’t like to travel all the way down to Columbus, or up to Cleveland.”
OhioHealth hopes to continue organizing these events annually, to celebrate survival and share the stories of those like Jim and Tammy Canfield, reminding survivors to keep making plans.
“(The event) is just another way to celebrate survivorship,” said OhioHealth project manager for oncology services Elisa Bryant.
“Survivorship at OhioHealth starts from the day of diagnosis through the continuum of care. We are all excited to celebrate all of those little milestones with our patients and their loved ones.”
