Jackie Shares Cancer Treatment and Care at Flaget Memorial Hospital

Pictured: Wayne and Martha Spalding

When Jackie Spalding’s husband Wayne chose CHI Saint Joseph Health – Cancer Care Center at Flaget Memorial Hospital for his treatment, she knew that opened the door to high quality medicine and fast appointments.

She also knew that would give Wayne, who had late-stage gallbladder cancer, a sense of normalcy.

“When you’re a cancer patient, you want to live as normal as you can,” said Jackie, a nurse at Flaget Memorial Hospital, where she’s worked for 35 years. “That normalcy is hard to come by. Your life is so directed by treatments.”

The cancer center was just a quick drive from home, and Jackie was able to both work and be by her husband’s side during his appointments.

Being at Flaget Memorial Hospital also meant that if Wayne needed fluids, they wouldn’t have to face the downtown Louisville traffic and parking. “If you can get a bag of fluids in four hours as opposed to 12 hours, that’s a big deal,” Jackie said.

Choosing the cancer center also meant that Wayne could get treatment alongside his mother Martha, who was being treated for colon cancer.

“Chemo day was a party,” Jackie said. The family would gather around, laugh and tell stories.

The nurses and volunteers joined in, too, Jackie said. “They’d always get me to laugh, even on bad days.”  

After about nine months of battling the disease, Wayne passed away on August 3, 2018.

Jackie said she’ll always remember the warmth and love that they received at Flaget Memorial Hospital’s cancer care center.  

Being there “felt like going home,” she said.

Learn more about the CHI Saint Joseph Health – Cancer Care Center at Flaget Memorial Hospital. For more information on how you can help today, visit Flaget Memorial Hospital Foundation’s Project Hope.