Lori and Scott Leighty of Michigantown, Indiana have given us permission to share their very touching story.
Lori was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma at the end of November in 2020. Lori started extensive steroid & chemo treatments at the Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis right after her diagnosis.
Due to Covid, Lori’s husband, Scott was unable to attend Lori’s doctor appointments or treatments. Lori would FaceTime Scott through all of her appointments & chemo treatments so Scott would know what was going on. Not long after the treatments started, Lori lost all her hair.
Chemo continued & late in April of 2021, Lori had Stem Cell Replacement. Lori was in the hospital for a week for this treatment. The Stem Cell Replacement compromised Lori’s immune system greatly, so Lori had to be cautious around people, including her family, & especially their Granddaughter. Lori was able to return to work later in the year of 2021, but she continued Chemo treatments & a blood test every week.
In the spring of 2022, Lori’s doctors told her about a new treatment called Cart-T. This procedure extracts the white T cells from your body. The T cells are then altered in a laboratory & then put back into your body to fight off the cancer cells.
Before Lori could have this procedure she would have to endure a week of strong steroids & chemo. This treatment was done the end of May in 2022.
Lori’s T cells were extracted by a biopsy procedure the end of June in 2022. Now it was time for Lori’s body to endure the Cart-T procedure.
Lori was admitted into the Simon Cancer Center late in July of 2022. Her first week in the hospital Lori once again had extensive chemo & steroid treatments. Week two was her big week. The altered T-cells were injected into Lori’s body to start the process of fighting the cancer cells. This was a very hard, difficult week for Lori & her body. By the weekend, Lori was feeling much better. Then on Tuesday of week three Lori started experiencing severe abdominal pain, that was diagnosed as C-diff. Another set back for Lori & her immune system. Lori battled C-diff for days & days after this diagnosis.
Lori is a walking miracle, because all this almost took her life. C-diff was very difficult for Lori to recover from because of her weak, compromised immune system. Finally on September 2, 2022, Lori tested negative for C-diff. The healing process began & after 45 days in the hospital, Lori was dismissed from the hospital.
At her dismissal from the hospital, Lori rang the bell surrounded by her husband, son, daughter-in-law, Granddaughter, doctors & nurses cheering her on!!!
Scott & Lori then headed back home to Michigantown with a police escort & a very warm welcome from community supporters, Church family, friends, classmates from her hometown of Rossville, & of course her loving family.
Through all of this Lori always made sure her family was taken care of, including caring for her Dad in his final days, caring for her Mom when she was sick & in the hospital, & various other things for her family.
Also, while Lori was in the hospital, Lori & Scott’s oldest son & daughter-in-law had a baby boy. Lori still is waiting to see this baby in person & hold him.
To this day, Lori has had a very positive attitude. You will never see Lori without a smile on her face. She has never complained about being sick, or asked why me? Lori’s faith in the Lord will move mountains. All of this is a reflection of Our Lori, the person we all know & love.
Story contributors: Debbie Avery and Melea Fields Kercheval
Photographs by Patty Keaton Parks can be seen in links below.
