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Even though the medical team told her to get her affairs in order, Mary Simmons went for a second opinion at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Inside an exam room at the VCU Health Adult Outpatient Pavillion, two friends casually laugh and share stories after a long journey together. Not the typical place for two friends to catch up, but Mary Simmons and Keri Maher, D.O., are not your typical friends.

In 2022, Simmons was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Doctors initially gave her less than two weeks to live. Even though the medical team told her to get her affairs in order, Mary Simmons went for a second opinion at VCU Massey. In a dark hour, that’s when Simmons met Maher and, congruently, a new family.

“They were a family when I first was diagnosed, from the beginning to the end and after treatment, the team rallies around you, ” Simmons said of her experience at VCU Massey. “They're your family outside of your home life. They're in that position to help you, and they're there to support, to make sure you're on a winning team. ”

The two immediately bonded over the fact they share a birthday and a life-changing connection was made.

“My patients aren't patients, they're people, ” Maher said. “I'm just a person. So it's just two people trying to get there and I feel that with a lot of my patients, although there's always some that you're going to connect with even stronger. ”

Now just three years after facing a terminal diagnosis, Simmons is in remission, which she attributes to Maher and the VCU Massey team, a clinical trial and her own personal advocacy.

“My life has changed, ” Simmons said. “It feels like I have been rebirthed. I have my body back. ”

“Let's do it, let's get it done. ”

Simmons would describe herself as a Richmond native for life. She worked at Virginia Commonwealth University for 29 years and is a deacon at St. Paul’s Baptist Church.

But she was stopped in her tracks three years ago in April 2022 when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Simmons described the cancer as very aggressive, lymph nodes throughout her body and low hemoglobin. Hearing doctors say she had less than two weeks to live left her in a state of disbelief.

“It was an iconic moment when the doctor was like, we don't have time to live, take care of my affairs, ” Simmons remembered. “I refused to believe it. I wanted a second opinion. ”

Simmons found a second opinion at VCU Massey where a team of physicians gave her the same diagnosis, but with hope for a future through clinical trials. Maher, director of the center’s Acute Leukemia and Myeloid Malignancies Program and medical director of its Clinical Trials Office, offered a new perspective for Simmons.

“Mary is my superstar patient, ” Maher said. “She had come here from an outside hospital, where she had been given a very poor prognosis without a lot of treatment options. So she came here, of course, scared and upset, but also motivated, without an ounce of giving up or giving in. ”

This was the first time Simmons had been made aware of the impact a clinical trial could have on her health, and her life. Simmons said Maher walked her through the entire process that would unfold over the next few years, including chemotherapy and different procedures. Simmons said she found Maher’s process refreshing because the focus was on a treatment plan, while still being compassionate about the journey ahead.

“We talked about how from day one it would be quite the journey, ” Maher said. “With acute leukemia, you go through, at minimum, eight cycles of really intensive chemotherapy, for her type.

“And, after that, a couple of years of maintenance chemotherapy. It involves a lot of procedures, including bone marrow biopsies, lumbar punctures and injecting chemotherapy into the spinal column. ”

After Maher explained the process of the clinical trial, she asked if Simmons would be willing to try, to which Mary responded with a resounding “let's do it, let's get it done.”

“I said yes because at that point I was at ground zero with everything, ” Simmons said. “So this was my life turning point for me, getting on the clinical trial. ”

The impact of clinical trials

Clinical trials are one of the reasons Maher is at VCU Massey. As one of 250 clinical investigators from across the country who has received a Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Career Development Award, part of the broader Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Program, Maher was drawn to working toward making clinical trials accessible to all after growing up in a rural California community.

“One of my biggest passions and one of the reasons why I'm so happy working under Dr. Winn in particular, is that I've always cared about health care disparities. I cared about that before I realized there was a word for it, ” Maher said. “Because if we can't move the needle for everyone, we're not moving the needle for anyone.”

Through her years working with clinical trials, Maher has seen some hesitance from patients, often with questions about being part of the testing process. But Maher says she works every day to eliminate those fears for her patients and dispel misinformation by laying everything on the table.“

I go in there and say, these are your options. Here are the upsides and downsides, ” Maher said. “And I just am very, very honest. I sit with them, and I talk and I spend the time. It takes a lot more time to talk to a person than at a person, but it's worth it. And that's the joy of my job, so the people aren't numbers.”

Maher says clinical trials, especially for cancer patients, have become "indispensable" because many cancers still have bad outcomes, including . One of those cancers is acute leukemia, which has an overall survival rate of only 14 months for adults 65 and older.

“And the only reason it's that good is because clinical trials have brought us to that, ” Maher said.

One of the many reasons Maher says for why Simmons did so well in her clinical trial is because of how she always advocated for herself.

“One thing about Mary is she was always her own advocate, ” Maher said. “You shouldn't have to be, but you do. Unfortunately, that's how the system is. If you're not advocating for yourself or you don't have someone to advocate for you, things can go awry. And she always did. ”

After going through this journey, Simmons is encouraging other patients who are going through cancer treatment to ask questions and gather as much information as possible, including about clinical trials.

“Get all your facts together, get everything about your disease, understand it, and ask for options. Ask ‘do I qualify for any clinical trials?’” Simmons said. “Based on that, have that discussion with your doctor. Then also make sure that you communicate with your family because it's a journey. You need your support system, your family, your friends, and even your hospital staff. ”

One Team, One Fight

The nature of their visits together are more about laughs and catching up now that Simmons is in remission. Maher and Simmons meet for long-term follow ups to monitor and make sure the cancer never comes back. The two even stay connected through emails, which Simmons makes sure to send regularly about the work she is able to do now as an advocate for cancer care.

“Now I feel like we truly get to be friends, ” Maher said. “Which is even better than just a person meeting a person. She gets to tell me about all the wonderful things she's doing. I love all the advocacy work she's doing. ”

Since battling her own fight, Simmons became a Massey Cancer Champion, a group of survivors who partner with patients to be their advocates on their treatment journeys.

Recently, Simmons joined cancer center director Robert A. Winn, M.D., as well as leaders from the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., telling her story to lawmakers and advocating for funding for cancer research and clinical trials.

“Letting people know about clinical trials, that they work, it’s a lifesaver, ” Simmons said. “Understand it and have discussions with your doctors about the treatment plans.”

Simmons has taken the darkest moment of her life and turned it into an opportunity to advocate and help others. She is sharing her story with everyone who will listen to help raise awareness and improve outcomes for other patients like her.

“She's just an amazing human in all senses of the word, ” Maher said. lucky to have met me. I say the other way around. ”

“I feel she says that she's Simmons is always quick to remember and thank her support community as she reflects on this journey from her family and friends, to her church community, but especially her Massey family.

“When I was diagnosed with cancer, I thought that there was no way out until I went to Massey, ” Simmons said. “They helped me change my whole outlook about life.”

Written by: Preston Willett