Marcia and Wilson Marcy, Jr. have traveled life as an unstoppable team, raising five children. The Tonawanda team’s relationship grew deeper and stronger when Marcia was diagnosed in 2004 with acute myelogenous leukemia, a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

But even before Marcia was diagnosed, she knew all was not well, telling her husband one evening that she thought she would have to leave him soon. Not long after, Marcia’s doctor recognized her suspicious symptoms and ordered blood tests that led to the diagnosis of AML. Doctors told Marcia she was not wrong: she was gravely ill when she was diagnosed.

Marcia’s physician recommended that she go to Roswell Park, where she was treated with chemotherapy, which put her cancer in remission – the first time for nine months and then a second time for three months. In August 2006, using her own stem cells, she received a blood and marrow transplant as a potential cure for the disease.

Her recovery was long, but Will was there every step of the way. “He was a hoot,” Marcia says. “He documented every treatment given, every drug prescribed, every step of my recovery. He took wonderful care of me while I was in the hospital and then continued to fuss over me when I returned home.”

As for her care at Roswell Park, “I couldn’t have been in a better place. Once I started treatment at Roswell Park, I never thought again of dying. I knew I would get better.”

Today, Marcia and Will are still inseparable, facing life’s challenges together with enthusiasm and humor, working several days a week at Antiques World in Clarence.

Marcia’s message of hope for the holidays: “Rely on your family and friends to help you through the tough times, enjoy life and never give up hope.”