A Cancer Diagnosis is not the end of Your Story

December 2, 2025  | Episode 52

Producer’s Note: The following is an AI-generated transcript of The Wellness Conversation, an OhioHealth Podcast

SPEAKERS: Lindsey Gordon, Marcus Thorpe, Heather Buck

Marcus Thorpe  0:00  
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the wellness conversation and OhioHealth Podcast. I'm Marcus Thorpe, before we start, we would appreciate if you would like favorite comment and subscribe to this podcast. It certainly helps us grow the conversation.

Lindsey Gordon  0:26  
And I'm Lindsay Gordon today, we're joined by Heather Buck, system, Vice President for OhioHealth patient experience, and a recent cancer survivor. You are on that cancer journey. Currently, your story is incredibly inspiring, and you are just such a motivation to really take perspective into your own control, because it really is within your own control. Thank you so much for being with us today.

Heather Buck  0:50  
Oh, thank you for having me. Anything for you guys. 

Dr Ben Bring and Obi Moneme  0:53  
Heather is one of my favorite people. We have known each other for a long time within the OhioHealth space. You've done a lot of interviews. Used to work in kind of the food space, and now you've moved to this new role, tell us a little bit about kind of your OhioHealth journey. It is certainly one that's fascinating, before we get into kind of your fight for your life with health. 

Heather Buck  1:12  
Yeah. So first, thank you for having me. This is a great opportunity to share some of the exciting things that have happened in my life, and I've been so fortunate. So I joined OhioHealth in 2019 previous to that, I came from wonderful organization, Cameron Mitchell restaurant. So a very big pivot for me. This is my first and only healthcare organization I've ever worked for. So I often find myself asking, Is this healthcare, or is this how we do things at OhioHealth? So proud to be from Cameron Mitchell and extraordinarily proud to be here at OhioHealth, joined in a food and nutrition role, which was very different for me. I used to tease people that, you know, we were in the butter and salt business and wanting you to have sweets and all the things, and then coming into healthcare food's a little different. Thinking about how we make patients feel better, how what they eat can really affect their patient outcomes, specific diet orders. So lots of learning and a really great and safe place to learn about healthcare as well. The goal of being a vice president of patient experience was always kind of the aspiration to be part of the journey for me, but joining in the way that I joined was really reflective of this is a great place to ask questions. This is a safe place to learn how we talk in acronyms and learning different things along the way, and just a privilege to see patient care firsthand in that role. And then left to have a timeout for cancer, as I like to call it, and then came back and pivoted into the role that I have today in August.

Dr Ben Bring and Obi Moneme  2:46  
I think about your journey, and I know you're such a visionary leader. I've seen you work in the food space and take, you, know not satisfactory results all the time, from patients and their experience with food, and completely turned that around and and Riverside saw such a dramatic increase in satisfaction. And I know a lot of that was your team, a lot of that was your vision and power. But then again, you had kind of that roadblock, that stop sign for for a while. Here it was multiple myeloma, and that's a type of blood cancer. How did you first notice that something was wrong and and maybe the need then to say, I got to figure out what's going on here. 

Heather Buck  3:31  
Yeah. And it is a strange question, right? Because you're like, didn't you look you know, everybody kind of has that Hindsight is 2020, you can look back and say, Yes, something was definitely kind of not right. I started to get tired, started to get more tired. And I'm pretty enthusiastic, pretty high energy person, and that was not normal for me. And I think we all kind of say it must just be something. Maybe I cut a bug, or maybe, I think we do a lot of I've just been working too much, or there's stuff that's not quite right, but I don't want to address it. I'll figure that out. I got time for that. I don't have, you know, I got to think about when I'm making an appointment with my doctor. And I finally thought, okay, maybe it's menopause, because I'm in my 50s. So it was easy. You can, you know, go to Dr Google, and they'll tell you all kinds of things. And I think that can be helpful in cases. And I also think it can be a mistake in cases, because, you know, seeking care would be the first thing I would look back and say, I wish I had sought care sooner and been an advocate for myself, which sounds really funny. Being a healthcare person and wanting to give health and care to others, really taking some time to think differently and say, to be an advocate for yourself. And say, Listen, I do need to take care of myself. So I did finally take got into my primary care doctor, got some labs, and then she called me in the first thing in the morning and said, Hey, we're going to redo your labs. But in the meantime, just be prepared. I may need to send you over to Riverside, and you're thinking, Riverside, I already was there today. I'm going to go back as a patient. Just kind. Of surreal. So it almost you can't process that it's happening to you. But, you know, was fortunate enough to be right here in town and have the wonderful hospital of Riverside and the team at the Ed welcome me and take great care of me and and even while it was happening, you're kind of like, well, I've got my laptop, and I have a meeting next week, and I'm trying to, you know, navigate things, and they're like, ma'am, you've been admitted. We're going to go ahead and put your laptop away, but that charge to continue working, because you feel that responsibility. You know, I would tell everyone, it's okay to take that time for yourself. It's not crazy at all. But, you know, you think back, it sounds crazy that I was in the ED with my laptop open, but I was so dedicated to work. It's also your workspace and workspace, and also you feel like that's something you can control, because you really don't have a lot of control in that moment about how your health is transpiring, and you're getting these in those so it wasn't for a couple days that I wasn't diagnosed. They were running all kinds of tests. So when they eventually told me you're kind of like multiple myeloma, that's something I haven't heard of. That sounds a little strange. You've heard of other cancers, other blood cancers. This is a little bit more unique. So lots of learning in a very short amount of time. And you know, I always tell people when you're in the hospital, you're not at your best, so how your brain is processing things, it's emotional. So the team did a really good job of explaining it to me and explaining it to the family that was there with me.

Marcus Thorpe  6:25  
Were you crushed? Were you devastated when you got that diagnosis?

Heather Buck  6:29  
I wasn't. I was relieved to know what is it. So you kind of like you're thinking, why am I sick? Why am I not feeling well? And although disappointing, nobody ever wants to hear cancer, you kind of go, okay, at least I'm not crazy. There's not something that's because you think maybe it's me. Maybe Am I really sick? You don't want to believe that you're having these feelings inside your body. So I think I was relieved at first to know what it was, and then, you know, I'm a problem solver. So how are we going to do this? So it was really more about learning what it was, learning what was next, and really kind of saying, Okay, now we know what it is, what are the steps that we're going to take to find out how to go through this process? 

Lindsey Gordon  7:12  
What was it like having the support of your work family every step of the way? There was a moment where you were told, put that laptop down right? That was like step one, right? And then there came a time where your team all stepped up, when you knew you were going to lose your hair. Talk, talk to us about that moment.

Heather Buck  7:28  
Yeah. So just the things that you think about, like, Okay, I'm in hospital bed, and these are people that know me. If you call and order food, it's my voice that people hear my name. So people know me in the hospital space, you're now, all of a sudden, front row seat to the care that we give right. And so what a privilege to have those people around me and working with my colleagues in a different space, in a different in action, in a different Right, exactly. And then the folks in you know the food and nutrition space, when I knew I was going to lose my hair. I was we had our holiday gathering, and we all show up, and I showed up early, and so I was like, where is everybody we doing this or not? And I had just had a tunneled catheter put in my chest, so I was a little tender, and I had this thing, and I was trying to wear a jacket so that it wasn't uncomfortable, and I'm wearing a mask. And they start coming into this restaurant one by one, and they had planned it. So I'm like, where is everybody? And then the first guy comes in, and I'm like, You're bald. What happened? You're what's going on? And then the second person comes in, also bald, and all of a sudden, it was so overwhelming that each and every person that walked in all bald. And I kept thinking, you couldn't have you didn't. And you, you guys did this for what? And so to to lose your hair as a woman's awful lose your hair anytime is, you know, everybody has those vanities or those things about them that kind of define them. And to see all these guys and think, you know, my first thought was, your wives are going to have this in their holiday pictures. Your your pictures are going to look weird with your family and and your kids probably had questions. And, you know, they said, you know, what a gift to give my kid, to show what you do, to show up for somebody that's amazing. So just, you know, you could just cry talking. I mean, every single person shave their heads, every single guy on my team shave their heads. And I know you probably have the pictures, but what a moment and a visual statement of solidarity for me and my team. Because you kind of maybe expect somebody close to you to do it or go through that process. And there's lots of wonderful people that do that for people, and it is such a moment. But to have people that you work with, your work family, as you said, show up for you in that way, was just incredible.

Lindsey Gordon  9:36  
I really, really want to know too. I'm so curious. You know, as someone who is now charged with creating an exceptional experience for all patients, and you've now been a patient yourself, you are currently a patient. What lessons did you learn that surprised you, that you now implement today?

Heather Buck  9:58  
Yeah, so a lot of it is, when you think about that patient, and we see patients in every kind of way, right in our emergency rooms, they're scheduled to have a baby. So happy moments, tough moments, you know, in our doctor's offices, when you're talking about your health, we're not the experts all the time, but we can be experts of self. And what I mean by that is, how are you feeling, and making sure that you're really sharing all that with your doctors, because you kind of want to say, I don't want to bring this up, or I don't want to trouble you with something. I don't want to ask these too many questions, because you're like, I know you're busy, I don't want to ask questions. So really saying I got to be here in this moment, and this is my time to advocate for myself. So I always tell people, you're not a bother. You're the reason that we're here. And so I think kind of culturally, you know, there's so much grace that we give when we're patients, to our nurses. We know you have other patients to our doctors. We know you're busy with other things, but really making sure that you can be intentional when we do show up for our patients. So one I would tell patients to advocate for themselves and ask all the questions. Prepare yourself with those questions, so that your time is meaningful and well spent and really challenging the caregivers, you know, this is their time, so making sure that you know when you leave that room, when you leave that experience, are we all on the same page? And did you get the questions answered? Because there are some things that you know while you're processing information. I you know, I'm a pretty smart person. When you're getting healthcare information. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. There's words that we don't understand, and it can be emotional, and you're processing things differently than you would be probably in your work life. So when you're showing up in those vulnerable moments, making sure that you do understand and have the confidence to say, Hey, I'm not quite sure about what you just said. Can you explain that to me again and asking our caregivers to make sure that you know, we all leave the conversation with the information that we need and feeling good about what's next.

Marcus Thorpe  11:47  
What year were you diagnosed? 

Heather Buck  11:48  
Last year, 2024.

Marcus Thorpe  11:51  
So, now that we're in 2025 and I want to talk about kind of your journey through the treatment process and and getting to where you are now. Look, cancer is hard, it is dark, it can feel lonely. We've heard that from so many people. What was it like for you? I know you in this phase of you and who you are and positive, and nothing's going to get me down, and I'm going to push through this, and I'm going to win, and I'm going to do all these things. But there has to be moments where you're, you're probably sitting there and and you don't feel that way all the time. Can you talk about that for people who are listening? 

Heather Buck  12:29  
Yeah, absolutely. And I got great to acknowledge there are some days that aren't great and really thinking, you know, I don't feel good today. This is a tough day to put it out or, you know, saying it's okay not to feel good today I don't feel good. That's okay. Instead of putting on a brave face for everyone else, because you do, you know people are like, how are you? And you want to say, I'm okay, but sometimes it's okay to be real and say, Today's been a tougher day for me, and that's you don't have to go into more you don't have to feel sorry if you have a tough day. That's real. I will say that there were times my toughest days were in the bone marrow transplant unit where they give you, they call it a lethal dose of chemo. So you literally don't feel great, because the medicine that they've given you makes you feel really yucky and really crummy. But if you can change your mindset and say, I feel yucky because the medicine is working. Oh, and how great is it that I get to be here, I get to be in this unit. There are people who have my diagnosis, or have other diagnosis that aren't well enough to get a bone marrow transplant, or don't have care outside of the hospital setting to be able to be cared for when they leave the hospital or don't have childcare, or can't afford to take time off of work. I mean the blessings when you think about how lucky I am to have an organization that supported me, a job that I could happily come back to, a team that stepped up for me when I wasn't able to work, and the community support, and then just this wonderful group of family and friends that were around me. I was the luckiest person to have cancer, and I tell people, the happiest person. So on your darkest days, you think today is a crummy day, I am so vulnerable I can't get the care. You know, you're kind of you don't want someone to help to help you to shower or help you to take care of your personal needs, but we're so lucky to have that care and to be in that environment and really feel sick because the medicine is working, to know and every day I was in there, this is what I'm going to do. So you can really spend time working on your bucket list. What am I going to do when I get out? Who am I going to thank? Who am I going to take care of? What are the things that I'm going to do? So I started really being intentional about writing gratitude letters to say, Hey, I'm having a tough day, but I'm thinking about you today and what you've done for me. And I just want to say thank you. So that was really important to me to have the gratitude. Because you know, when they when they tell you you're going to have a bone marrow transplant, you have to sign a document that says, hey, I'm going to show up for this thing. And I'm like, Why would I go through all this stuff and harvesting and, you know, all this journey to. Who would ever back out? And they said, You wouldn't believe the people that have to back out because they can't afford it, because they don't have the care at home, all the reasons we just talked about, and I just sat there like I'm so silly that I would ever ask that, because I never would have dreamed that somebody would back out at the last moment because they can't get this care. So what a privilege to have the care and think about it that way, and knowing you think your hair is going to fall out? Well, it fell out because the cancer medicine worked for me. 

Lindsey Gordon  15:25  
I love that.

Marcus Thorpe  15:26  
That's amazing, the perspective that you're able to find sometimes in some of your darkest or lowest moments, and what a gift to be able to do that too.

Lindsey Gordon  15:33  
And like you said, it gives you a sense of control. I think we can't understate the power of gratitude from this conversation, right? I think we're coming off. It's, it's December now. We're thinking about our year in review, or making plans for 2026, all of us and and really just taking a moment to sit down and think, what are you grateful for? It's, it sounds cliche. It sounds like, you know, okay, but really, there's power in that. As you're saying.

Heather Buck  16:01  
So much power in it. I actually go back to the bone marrow transplant unit on six blue at Riverside every once in a while, just if I have a meeting at Riverside, or I'm working that there that day, just to pop up and say, Thank you, because they've seen me. And I would say it's me from 6122, and we laugh about that. And some people are new on the unit. Some people and they're like, oh my gosh, look at you now, because they saw me when I was frail and I was bald and I couldn't have dreamed walking to the nurse's station would have been a dream for me. I couldn't make it to my own bathroom. So to be able to show up for those people and say they don't always get to see patients on the other end of their health journey, and say, you guys got me here. I'm here because you guys helped me with all the things that I needed when I was here. And you know, even the EVS person. I brought cupcakes the other day, my diagnosis day, I brought cupcakes up, and she said, You know, I said, Hey, did you get a cupcake? And you know, for those that don't know what EVs is, it's our housekeeping team. And she said, she said, Yeah, is it okay if I have a cupcake? And I said, You're the first person. You're the first stop of infection control. And the fact that I didn't get an infection when I was there for a whole month, that's everybody working really, really hard to make sure, because it's so easy, you're the first part of that, how you clean my room, how you took care of me. You're part of that celebration. So really, knowing at all levels, everybody's part of that, and being gracious to say, Hey guys, I'm here because of what you've done, and your work does matter at every level for that work.

Marcus Thorpe  17:27  
Yeah, there's value, no matter where you are, in a hospital system, in a treatment journey, don't take anybody for granted because they are part of your team, and that's really important. There's going to be folks here who are on their own cancer journey, who are listening today, or maybe somebody who just got diagnosed and is in that very scary, uncertain stage, you were there. I mean, you felt that, and you're still there to a certain degree, right? I mean, you know that this is a cancer that you are going to have to fight for maybe the rest of your life. That's right until there's a full cure. So what advice, or what I don't know, pull back the curtain for somebody who's going through that initial diagnosis. What would you say to somebody who is, who is right in that first stage?

Heather Buck  18:13  
So the first thing I would tell somebody is, it's not the end, it's a piece of information, and there's so much more to come, because when you get that diagnosis, it's kind of like, now what? And it doesn't have to be the end of your story. It is the beginning of your new story. So thinking about your life differently, and saying, let me learn about this diagnosis. So knowledge is power, when you can ask great questions and you can understand things, and really asking somebody to say, how does that make sense for me? Can you explain that further for me? Because we again, tend to talk in clinical terms. There was a lot that I did not understand. So I said, Hey, this is how I understand information. Can you explain it to me like this? Can we look at pictures and drawings so that I can understand what's happening inside my body? Because you can look at an Excel spreadsheet or whatever, whatever, how data processes for you. I needed them to circle things. I needed them to draw things on a flip chart to so I could take it home and explain it to other people.

Marcus Thorpe  19:11  
And we're so programmed not to ask that question and just be like, okay, figure this out. But you said I need to advocate for myself, because when I go home. I'm the one that has to make these decisions 

Heather Buck  19:22  
Correct, so knowing and not being afraid to look at those resources. So, you know, there's so many people in the organization for the patient. So there's people in wellness, there's social workers, there's people who are cancer advocates. We have people that we call navigators. How are we going to make all of these next appointments for you. Where do I go? How do I do that? What does that look like for me? Is this a day, you know? And they work really hard to say, hey, we'll put all of your appointments on one day. So if you're coming from outside of the organization, you know, you're not really in central Ohio, but you're coming from a different place. How can we make that journey easy for you? So there's so many ways that it's going. Be made, okay, if you can be aware of some of those resources. So the second thing I would say is, knowledge is power. Second thing I would say is ask about the resources, because we have a tremendous amount. There would have been, you know, as we look at how we think about cancer in this organization, we talk about keep making plans and to know that there's a future ahead of you and letting us do what we do to take care of you and resourcing your concerns. Hey, you know, this is really hard for the people in my life. What's available for them? How can we give them some support? It's not just yours. Because anybody that's had a cancer journey, it's a we journey, right? There's a lot of people in your life that are affected by it. How does this show up for the people in my life, and what resources can I give to them? So I would say, don't be afraid to say what else can be offered to me, because I want to make sure I'm taking advantage of all these things. Because people are like, Oh, I never knew that we had that. So if that means talking to a dietitian about how you're feeding yourself and what kind of nutrition changes you might need to make, if that is talking to a wellness or a physical fitness advocate, or how does cancer show up for you, with how your medications might be different? You know, there's lots of touch points along the way that I think really helped me feel grounded, that I was getting the best possible care.

Lindsey Gordon  21:14  
Wow. What a message. I mean, I could talk to you all day, because you're very funny, you're very quick. And I remember when I met you, I thought, wow, she is just such a bright light. And then it was like, seven days later, you were diagnosed, and I still see your face when my editing software pops up every time I see that clip of you I just showed you before we started recording. So you're my reminder every day to control your perspective and be thankful, because there really is power in that any last message that you want to say before we wrap up, just to send this home. And for those listening who were probably hanging on every word you know, you are an inspiration for so many who are in the middle of their own journey.

Heather Buck  21:54  
It's very kind. I feel a responsibility because I've been okay. You know, every day, I think the silly things that used to bother me, that bother a lot of us, really is a different way to think about things. I got stuck in Baltimore overnight, unexpectedly, and it was a kind of a Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and left my cell phone in the cab, and didn't get a room, and, you know, all the things, and I, you know, taking a step back and saying, I'm well enough to travel. So, you know, it we've, we often talk about getting to go to work the things that you know, you might roll your eyes, I have to go to work today. Your perspective is, I get to go to work and be around the people that help care for me. What a privilege. So really, if you can get your mind around some of the things that you still have. You know, did I did? I miss my hair, for sure, I did. But guess what? This hair says, this hair says, I'm back. You know, this hair, it came back, and that's okay. And people will say, you know, it's a conversation starter. They're like, Hey, you look different. Oh yeah, I had the privilege of having my hair go away because now I had cancer, and now I have this hair, and I'm happy to you about it. So I think being okay with sharing things, and those people who reach out to you, you know, make sure that you know it feels good and you don't know what to say. I tell people say, I don't know what to say because you don't know what to say. Oftentimes, you know whether it's something big, a diagnosis, say, Hey, I don't know what to say, but I just want to let you know I'm thinking about you. Sometimes, just a simple message can mean a lot to those people that are out there and connect yourself to people that are kind of in that journey with you, where you don't really have to say, kind of that, I'm sorry I don't feel good today. You can kind of just say, I'm having one of those days, and you get an acknowledgement that, hey, I'm in that boat with you. So the community of people around you and really just continue to advocate for yourself, because you do have some control in that journey to say, Hey, these are the things that I want to make sure that are important to me, and these are things I want to get out of this process in this journey. So other than that, just so much gratitude to talk to you guys today and and share my story again as many times as I can, to let people know there is such a life ahead that cancer diagnosis isn't the end again. It's the start of something new.

Marcus Thorpe  24:03  
Yeah, Lindsay and I both said, when we saw you come back, that it's like we locked on and said, Oh, we know we're gonna have Heather on because we want to. We want to hear your story. We've seen your courage and your strength and your smile around the Blum administrative campus. It is awesome to see, and we're so glad you're back, and we wish you nothing but the best in health for 2026. 

Heather Buck  24:26  
Thank you. 

Marcus Thorpe  24:27  
And of course, we thank you for listening. Our listeners are so important to us. On the wellness conversation at OhioHealth podcast, we do have other episodes we want you to check out past episodes, including cancer navigators. We were talking about it on this we did an entire episode on what that means, what it looks like, other episodes on cancer journey. So make sure you check out any of those older episodes wherever you get your podcast. Before we wrap up, we do invite you to follow us on all major social channels, making sure you stay up to date on our new episodes, as well as health and wellness topics if you're looking for more. Information on OhioHealth Services and locations, including the cancer space you can find that@ohiohealth.com

Lindsey Gordon  25:05  
And the information in this episode will be available in written form on the OhioHealth newsroom. Thank you so much for joining us. Be sure to subscribe as we continue to explore important health and wellness topics with our OhioHealth experts.