By: Brad Hamilton
In just five minutes of sitting with Marissa Coreno, she feels like a lifelong friend. And once you hear her story, you’ll understand why.
At 27 years old, Marissa was living life to the fullest.
“I moved to Westlake in my mid-20s, got a job at the Cleveland Clinic,” she said.
But it was at work that life suddenly shifted.
“I was actually at work at the time and I was cold, so I could put my arms like this and I felt something,” Marissa remembered.
She didn’t wait. She got checked and just days later, again while at work, Marissa got the diagnosis: Stage 2 breast cancer.
“I remember running into one of my radiologist’s offices and saying, ‘this is my diagnosis… am I going to die?’” she said. “It was terrifying.”
What followed was a grueling year of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and radiation. She lost her hair, her strength, her sense of control, but not her fire.
“Due to her strength, commitment, support system, she fought this cancer,” said Dr. Baidehi Maiti, her physician at the Cleveland Clinic.
It was during one of the lowest points of her journey, when she was just trying to get through treatment, that someone unexpected reached out.
His name was Anthony Coreno. He messaged Marissa, hoping to take her on a date. She didn’t hide her reality.
“I said it’s probably a lot of baggage,” she remembered. “And he said, ‘no, not at all. Let me take you out.’”
They’ve been together ever since.
After months of treatment, the news she was hoping for finally arrived.
“It was kind of a whirlwind,” Marissa said. “After all that treatment, it was kind of like, ‘well, here you go.’”
From chemotherapy to a wedding cake.
Marissa knows first hand, how fast life can change. Now, she’s is sharing her story to encourage others to listen to their bodies and speak up.
“If you feel like something is wrong, you need to advocate for yourself,” she said.
Because she did. Marissa found strength, love and a life she never saw coming.
Marissa is now one of more than 18 million cancer survivors in the U.S.
She believes early detection saved her life and hopes her journey inspires others to take that first step.
Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.