One in a million.
Those were the words Birmingham Realtor Terry Marlowe received March 4, 2020, the day after her birthday. Dr. Edward Levine, a nationally recognized surgical oncologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, told her she had Stage 4 LAMN (Low-Grade Appendiceal Mucinous Neoplasm), a rare appendix cancer.
A few months earlier in January, Marlowe was admitted to Grandview Medical Center with an enlarged appendix. After having it removed in February, it was discovered that cancer had spread throughout her abdominal cavity.
Dr. Heather Waldrup had only seen one other case like Terry’s and referred her to Dr. Levine. Her surgery lasted over nine hours, and Terry had her right colon removed, plus the abdominal cavity along the ovaries and omentum. She then received heated intravenous chemotherapy at 104 degrees for more than two hours. This procedure, known as CRS-HIPEC, can only be performed in certain hospitals.
“The recovery was horrendous to say the least,” Terry said. “But during these months I was able to continue to do some real estate business.”
Even though Terry wasn’t able to get out of the house during the recovery period, she was able to work from home. She only missed about nine weeks of work, from the time of her surgery to the first of July. The timeline for a full surgery recovery is around a year.
“As soon as I started feeling a little bit better, the phone started ringing,” she said. “Past clients began calling wanting to list and buy. Within a six-week period, I had almost $11 million in sales.”
Terry runs her business on her own without the help of an assistant. She inputs everything, does all her paperwork and manages all the real estate duties. She said her work was a blessing while going through this journey. Focusing on her clients helped her to not think about herself and her situation. She wasn’t sure how much more she would work, but she said she felt it must be what God wanted her to do.
“I prayed if He didn't want me to do any more real estate, I wouldn’t do it,” she said. “This cancer has a five-year survival rate, and I had it almost three years … The surgery was a success and has hopefully bought me many more years, although Dr. Levine says I don’t have an expiration date and I am truly a cancer survivor. How was I going to use this God-given time, and what was I going to do now? I’ve helped a lot of people over the years, and now this career was somehow helping me. Real estate was my saving grace.”
Terry set up a Facebook page chronicling her journey through appendix cancer and invited past clients, family and friends to follow along. She was put on prayer lists at many different churches and received an outpouring of support of gifts, thoughtful cards, flowers and dinners each day for several weeks, of which her husband was very appreciative.
This month marks one year since her diagnosis and also the first of the CT scans she will have to have every six months.
Now 58, Terry has been working in real estate for almost 20 years. Her career began in Birmingham in 2003. She moved after two years to Georgia where she became a broker and owned a real estate firm. Then about six years ago, Terry moved back to Birmingham to begin where she said she planned to retire in the business one day. She wrapped up 2020 with three big closings, putting her in the top 10 of the company.
Although it's been a difficult year, Terry said she has been really blessed. She has passed many of the top hitters in her office this year, saying that “blows her away.”
She said it’s God blessing her through a terrible time, helping her to persevere “through the most difficult time I have ever had to endure with determination to see things through.”
Terry also recently became a part of the council for the Appendix Cancer Pseudomyxoma Peritoneum Research Foundation (acpmp.org), a nonprofit that was started in 2008 by appendix cancer survivors. The organization raises awareness and funds for cancer research and clinical trial, and it is a source of information for new patients.
“I will be one of 28 council members for this patient advisory council, and we will have our first meeting in January and then quarterly. We will come up with ideas to raise awareness. Actress Audrey Hepburn and ESPN anchor Stuart Scott both died from the disease.”
She describes her experience as “having to go through hell to get to heaven” but feels like God has carried her through the entire way.
She's also looking forward to having a new grandchild born in January. She’s gotten one every three years for the last 12 years and says they are the light of her world.
Terry will continue to use her platform to raise awareness about appendix cancer and plans to continue her real estate business as long as God sends her business.
“If I can help somebody else, that’s all that matters,” she said. “As long as people need and request me, I’ll keep working.”
She is strictly working referrals now and said she has no plans to advertise or fight for business; however, she will fight for her clients.
“I will do the very best I can do,” she said. “I have a lot of knowledge and experience. If I sell five houses or 35 houses, that's more than enough for me. I just want to do what God sends my way.”
Find out more about Terry’s business at terrymarlowe.arcrealtyco.com.
