Benefit for Stacie Metcalf to be held in Mineral City
Stacey Rees, left, and Tabitha Spaar are supporting their longtime friend Stacie Metcalf as she experiences stage four metastatic breast cancer.
Stacie Metcalf of Mineral City has a killer smile and seemingly boundless energy. That’s on her good days. Metcalf has stage four metastatic breast cancer, and the only thing higher than the toll cancer takes on one’s body is the cost of treatment.
A benefit will be held Feb. 26 from noon to 8 p.m. at the TV Tavern in Mineral City. Funds raised will help offset the thousands of dollars in medical bills that have mounted up for Metcalf over the past year.
Tickets are $10 each for the rigatoni dinner, and they are going fast. Those who cannot get a dinner ticket can still contribute by attending the event and participating in the raffles and silent auction.
Metcalf is the owner of the TV Tavern and the Drunken Uncle in Mineral City. The cost of running two bars throughout the pandemic shutdown and the medical costs would be hard for anyone to handle.
Metcalf is candid with anyone who will listen. She’ll tell you about her poor prognosis, her feelings and her journey, hoping to help educate people about cancer and get them to talk about it.
Her friends will tell you Metcalf is tough. She’ll tell you if it weren’t for them — particularly Stacey Rees and Tabitha Spaar — she would not be here today.
“When I first heard it was cancer, I wasn’t going to take any treatment. My whole family has died of cancer, horribly. And when they fought, they didn’t live. It was very ugly, very hurtful, very painful, and I didn’t want to do that. But they talked me into at least trying it. I made it through both sets of chemo because of them. Otherwise, I was just going to call it a day,” Metcalf said.
Since receiving her diagnosis on Feb. 7, 2022, her sister’s birthday, Metcalf and those who love her have been riding a roller coaster of emotions. At first, Metcalf said, the outlook was good. Doctors were positive about the outcome she would have with chemo and surgery. All seemed under control.
Metcalf endured 12 rounds of doxorubicin, a chemo drug nicknamed “The Red Devil” because of its color and the devastating effects it has on the body. Following chemo, she underwent a double mastectomy.
“During the surgery they took out 11 lymph nodes, and they were all cancerous,” Metcalf said. Still, doctors were positive, and the surgeon thought he had removed all of the cancer.
Doctors performed a bone scan, though, in response to an MRI that showed possible spots in her bones, liver and kidneys. They called her into the office to give her the all clear.
“That was in December,” she said. “Two weeks later they called me back in and said, ‘It’s in your bones.’”
Last month Metcalf was given anywhere from three months to a year to live. Rees and Spaar have been part of Metcalf’s support system since day one. It upsets them to hear people criticize their friend, perhaps not understanding what having cancer is like.
“So many people see her when she is up and running the business and say, ‘Oh, she looks great,’” Rees said. “But they see her on that one day a week when she feels good enough to get out of bed and take a shower.”
Spaar has noticed the same thing. “They see her on her good days. They don’t see her on her bad days where she’s wanting to give up.”
“I had two or three days in a row where I was just done,” Metcalf said. “I said to Stacey, ‘I’m sitting here dying with cancer. How do you think I feel?’ But she said, ‘No, you’re living with cancer.’ And she’s right.”
Metcalf hopes to take part in a cancer treatment trial at the Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center at Ohio State University later this month, where she will receive autoimmune therapy and pain management.
As she talks about her son Zac, Metcalf fights back the tears because that’s what she does. She fights. She has a warrior’s spirit and a wicked sense of humor that keeps her and those around her going.
Tickets for the benefit are available at the TV Tavern or by calling Rees at 330-432-4960 or Spaar at 330-432-9267. The event will feature a 50/50 raffle, silent auction, and raffling of merchandise donated by friends and local businesses. Eric Brooke and other local musicians will provide live entertainment. All proceeds will go toward offsetting medical and other expenses.
The TV Tavern is located at 8390 S. High Extension, Mineral City.