South Fayette woman hopes to motivate others after battle with cancer

Photo courtesy of Stacy Hurt
Photo courtesy of Stacy Hurt
Photo courtesy of Stacy Hurt
Stacy Hurt
When Stacy Hurt was recovering from surgery, she remembers lying on her couch seeing her parents, her husband and her two kids.
Hurt, a South Fayette resident, was diagnosed in September 2014 with Stage IV colon cancer, and she had surgery to remove the large tumor the following April.
Prior to her diagnosis, Hurt, now 47, was a successful professional, an athlete and a mother of two. She was also the caregiver for her son Emmett, who has a chromosome disorder that is so rare it doesn’t even have a name. Emmett cannot walk or talk; Hurt said caring for her 12-year-old boy is similar to caring for a six-month-old baby.
Hurt, who is now a motivational speaker and an advocate for colon cancer awareness, said the hardest part of battling Stage IV colon cancer wasn’t the diagnosis. It wasn’t the two surgeries. And it hasn’t been the 55 chemotherapy treatments.
It was not being able to care for Emmett.
“Being his caregiver and his mother is the biggest part of my life,” Hurt said. “I am his mom. That’s my job. That’s what I love most. That was so hard to see my life that I love going on around me when I should be living it. That was harder than any side effect.”
The sadness she felt in that moment wasn’t just about Emmett, though. It was about the thought of not being there for him in the future and about the less than 10 percent chance that Stage IV colon cancer patients have to live within five years of their diagnosis.
“I couldn’t picture my life without me in it,” Hurt said.
Looking back
Hurt moved to South Fayette for a job in 1996. She married a man named Drew, had two kids, got two master’s degrees and got a management job for a pharmaceutical company.
When Emmett, who now goes to school at The Watson Institute in South Fayette, was born, Hurt didn’t know how to handle it. As a Catholic, she struggled with her faith when he was diagnosed. She thought God was punishing her for something she did wrong.
“That really rocked my world. I definitely thought it wasn’t fair. I saw a lot of kids running around the neighborhood, and Emmett can’t walk or talk; he can’t do anything. … I learned that it wasn’t a punishment but a reward,” she said. “God entrusted me with this very special child. He knew I was the best woman for the job. I do feel like he definitely hired me for this job.”
After Hurt was diagnosed with cancer Sept. 17, 2014 – her 44th birthday – the outlook was “bleak.”
“The doctors weren’t very hopeful,” she said.

Photo courtesy of Stacy Hurt
Photo courtesy of Stacy Hurt
Stacy Hurt speaking at an event.
As a gastrointestinal cancer, the risk of spread is very high, since the organs are much closer together.
After six months of chemotherapy, the tumors had reduced to a size deemed operable. During surgery, though, the surgeon nicked a blood vessel. Hurt had internal bleeding and almost died.
“I lost half my blood volume,” she said. “I needed two transfusions, and I wasn’t expected to recover.”
Hurt, as she had up until her surgery, continued to survive, and as of March 2016, had no evidence of the disease. Doctors don’t say “cancer-free,” Hurt said, because of the high possibility of recurrence with colon cancer.
Hurt said her faith and experience caring for Emmett is what guided her through the last four years.
“Emmett’s diagnosis completely changed me as a person,” she said. “It changed my perspective about what was important in life. Some problems that people focus on aren’t really problems. They’re minuscule. And compare that to me fighting for my life and me fighting for my son’s life.”
Battling back
One thing Hurt wants all people to be cognizant of are “hidden illnesses,” the type of diseases or sickness that can’t be detected by just looking at someone.
Hurt is slim, with a fit build and a healthy lifestyle of diet and exercise. Looking at her, she looks like an extremely healthy 47-year-old. But people don’t see the pain she has as a result of her grueling chemotherapy. They also don’t see the permanent neuropathy in her feet as a result of one of her “chemo drugs.”
This, along with many other topics, is what Hurt talks about to anyone who will listen. She stopped working at her pharmaceutical company when she had her first surgery.
She now spends her time working part-time for the Colon Cancer Coalition to expand the nonprofit’s presence nationally while also speaking at events, fundraisers, schools and conferences.
“I told myself if I survived that I was going to dedicate my life to helping others with cancer, colon cancer and disabilities,” she said.
Hurt has spoken at places as small as the South Fayette Township commissioners meeting to venues as big as the American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer event at Heinz Field in 2016.
Hurt uses matter-of-fact language and humor to get her points across.
“To every adult in this room,” Hurt said at the commissioners meeting earlier this year, “if you don’t get your colonoscopy when you’re supposed to, we’re not friends anymore.”
“The best screening test is the one that gets done,” Hurt said.
Living with the past of having Stage IV colon cancer is scary.
Hurt knows the odds. She knows the possibility of the cancer coming back. She knows the chances that she dies from cancer.
But she said she won’t live in fear.
Are the nights before she has her quarterly scans “paralyzing?” Yes.
Is the thought of not being there for Emmett “terrifying?” Yes.
Is she scared to die? Yes.
But she knows something now that she didn’t know before she was diagnosed.
“Every day is truly a gift,” she said. “I’m alive, and that’s better than the alternative.”
To combat her fear, she does everything in her control to ensure the cancer doesn’t come back. She eats healthy. She takes vitamins. She exercises.
“The rest I pray about,” Hurt said.
“I don’t live in fear,” she added. “I have a lot of life yet to lead. I still feel like I have a lot of work left to do.”