LIFE

Houston flood victim finds refuge and critical cancer care in Indy

Ruth Carrell and her daughter, Debi Heck, share a toast in Carrell's home the night before her cancer diagnosis.

Ruth Carrell faced a dilemma: Leave her Houston home and all of her friends, or stay and risk being caught up in the ravages of Hurricane Harvey.

But there was a complicating factor. Carrell had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

As Harvey bore down on the Gulf Coast last month, Carrell was reeling from the knowledge that her recent weight loss, lethargy and blackouts could be traced to an ominous mass in her abdomen. It was inoperable. Doctors gave her a year to live.

It couldn't be, she thought. She had just celebrated her 70th birthday with a cruise in May. She had a large circle of friends and an active lifestyle in Houston, her home for 19 years.

"That was kind of a kick in the gut," she said.

Within hours of hearing the news, more than a dozen friends from her church were at her home, singing and praying, bringing with them a "blanket of calm," Carrell said.

But there was little time to absorb the news. The storm was nearly upon them. The rain had begun. As the wind picked up, Carrell's daughter, who was visiting from Indiana, started moving antiques and important papers upstairs at her mom's home.

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Together with her mom, Debi Heck made the decision to move the ill woman out of harm's way even though that meant forgoing treatment at the world-class MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

But as luck would have it, Community Health Network in Indiana is an MD Anderson affiliate, meaning Carrell could get world-class care here while staying at her daughter's home in Westfield. Carrell called it one of many "God moments" during this ordeal.

They made the 1,100-mile trip by car, escaping the worst of the flooding that devastated the nation's fourth-largest city.

"I was pretty miserable," Carrell said. The trip took two days. They arrived in Westfield on a Friday night, then got back in the car the next day to attend a family reunion in Michigan, where Carrell was able to see 25 family members from around the country, including two others who are fighting cancer.

"It was wonderful to hug on them," she said.

But chemo called.

As she puts it, MD Anderson via Community hooked her up with the "top docs in the world," giving her substantially higher odds for survival.

"People need to know what world-class facilities are available to them here," Carrell said.

Through October, she will receive chemo every other week at Community Hospital North, then doctors will re-evaluate her treatment plan. 

Dr. Sumeet Bhatia is the oncologist treating Carrell. With her permission, he spoke to IndyStar about the arrangement with the Houston hospital to assume responsibility for her care.

Acknowledging that pancreatic cancer is "scary," he said the calamity in Houston could have posed a bigger problem if not for the Community affiliation.

"We were seamlessly able to accept her care and get her therapy started. The care she'll get here is going to be no different that what she would get in Houston."

And that gives Carrell much-needed hope. Today, she is counting her blessings and giving some of her own. Her home, just south of Houston, weathered Harvey OK, but a friend's home was completely flooded.

Carrell invited that friend to move into her Texas home so she could be "safe and dry," while Carrell stays here, facing a more private storm, but with faith that God will provide.

Noteworthy

Young philanthropists: A class of kindergartners learned a lesson in giving this past week as they collected water for hurricane victims. Students in Shanisha Bond's class at the Early Learning Center at Brook Park in Lawrence Township collected thousands of bottles of water. The 24 children completed a project on giving that included lessons on writing, math and social studies. The water will be donated to Midwest Food Bank in Indianapolis, which already has shipped truckloads of relief supplies to hurricane-stricken areas.

Freetown honorees: Freetown Village presents its annual Making a Difference awards dinner Tuesday at Hine Hall Ballroom on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Honorees include Elizabeth Gore, community activist and member of the IPS board; City-County Councillor Vop Osili, who made history as the first African-American nominee for Indiana Secretary of State; Dr. Karen Dace, IUPUI’s vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion and author of "Unlikely Allies in the Academy"; and Rodney Reid, owner of RLR Associates and co-founder of Nexgeneracers Youth Motorsports. Freetown Village presents African-American history through theater, storytelling, workshops and special events.

Saints in the Streets: Neighborhood groups and community organizations will be out in force Oct. 7 for the annual Saints in the Streets cleanup on the city's west side, near the old Central State Hospital. What originally began as a partnership between a large suburban Catholic church — St. Barnabas — and an inner-city Catholic church — St. Anthony — has grown to encompass many more volunteers, but help is always needed. The morning begins at 8 a.m. with an opening prayer, "may we sweep away that which separates us so we may live in unity,"  and concludes at noon with lunch for all of the volunteers. Register at bit.ly/2uZSCbH.

Call IndyStar reporter Maureen Gilmer at (317) 444-6879. Email: maureen.gilmer@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.