About Two Months After Cancer Diagnosis, Selectman Walsh Given "Clean Bill of Health"

As part of an emotional, heartfelt thank-you to the community for all of its support as she underwent treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Selectman Cynthia Walsh announced she had been given a "clean bill of health" at the Jan. 29 Stoughton Board of Selectmen's meeting.

Walsh said and was given the good news on Jan. 2, 2013, going from stage 3 Hodgkin's Lymphoma to being in remission over a period of two months and nine days, she noted.

Walsh said she still has to undergo two more sessions of chemotherapy and has to be in remission for at least five years before she would technically be cancer free.

According to the Mayo Clinic's website, "in Hodgkin's Lymphoma, cells in the lymphatic system grow abnormally and may spread beyond the lymphatic system. As Hodgkin's lymphoma progresses, it compromises your body's ability to fight infection."

Walsh thanked her doctors for this "miracle," but also said her good news is "because of all the people in Stoughton who have contacted me to let me know I was on their prayer list."

"I'm extremely fortunate," she said.

Walsh was still active during her bout with cancer, taking part in selectmen's meetings and attending various public events and forums. She also was one of the stars of the "Murder at the Library" production, a mystery theater fundraiser for the Support Our Library Association.

She did experience extreme fatigue over the last couple of months, but said "compared to other people I've had an easy time of it and I think it's because people were pulling for me."

"I don't know how to thank people for all of this...this kind of affection, care and concern is beyond anything I could have expected," Walsh said, tearing up.

Walsh, a retired Stoughton Public Schools teacher, and current Town Meeting Representative and Cedar Hill Golf Course Committee Member, was reelected to another three-year term on the Board of Selectmen in last April's town election.