Selectman Walsh Announces She is "Cancer Free"; Thanks Stoughton for Support

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 at the July 23 Stoughton Board of Selectmen's meeting that she had completed her last radiation treatment and tests showed she was "cancer free."

In late September 2012, Walsh announced that she had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. By January of 2013, she went from having stage 3 Hodgkin's Lymphoma to being in remission.

Her radiation treatments ended last Wednesday, she said.

Walsh admitted what she went through wasn't easy, but said "considering the alternative it is a road a lot of us would rather travel."

"I miss my hair," said Walsh, who often wore colorful head scarves during the radiation process, which caused her to lose her hair. "But they tell me it will come back."

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 received all of her treatment in Brockton, calling the neighboring community "truly a City of Champions."

She thanked her doctors and thanked her friends who drove her to treatments and doctors visits over the last several months.

But most of all, she thanked the Stoughton community for its support.

Walsh said she will have scars on her neck and chest as a result of this bout with cancer, but while those will forever be with her, so too will the impact Stoughton residents had during this process.

"I never felt so cared about," she said.

"If there is a good thing about cancer, it's made me aware that there is more good out there than bad," she said.

Walsh, a lifelong Stoughton resident, added, "this is home and the people here aren't citizens, they're family."

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.

"Your perseverance over this time has been amazing," noted Stoughton Board of Selectman chair John Anzivino. "It's been inspirational to see you go through it."

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 the April 2012 town election.