Celebrates Home Run for Life
“Did he say two to seven months?” Those were the first words out of Charley Maynard’s mouth when he first heard the prognosis for his stage four pancreatic cancer at the age of 46. “It didn’t register with me… I lost it. When I left [the doctor’s] office, I was bawling like a baby.”
Any such diagnosis is difficult to swallow, but Maynard’s case was especially surprising. Those life-altering words came from what seemed like a simple case of food poisoning. “Me and a buddy of mine went and had lunch one day at work and I got sick and kept getting sick, so I called my doctor at home,” Maynard said.
Believing the trouble was due to salmonella, the doctor sent Maynard to the emergency room. “They [did] a CAT scan on me and that’s where they found it.”
Pancreatic cancer is known for its poor prognosis, though it can be potentially curable if caught early enough. The problem is pancreatic cancer usually shows little or no symptoms until it has advanced and spread. In these cases, the average pancreatic cancer survival time is three to three-and-a-half years. Against the odds, Maynard has been living with the disease for 19 years now!
Maynard will be honored July 11 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and have the opportunity to run to home plate as the third INTEGRIS Health “Home Run for Life” honoree of the 2025 season during the Oklahoma City Comets’ game against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. “Home Run for Life” recognizes individuals in the Oklahoma City community who have overcome a significant medical event with the help of their families, physicians and health care professionals. To symbolize their battle against adversity, honorees take a home run “lap” around the bases during an in-game ceremony. Maynard’s story will be shared on the video board for fans to see and be celebrated by both teams.
“After I got the diagnosis, I went home and had a two- or three-week pity party, you know, [thinking] I’m gonna die,” Maynard said. “Well, time went on and when that seventh month got here, I kinda was freaking out a little bit. I said, ‘it ought to be any time now.’” But thanks to the chemotherapy treatments from INTEGRIS Health Cancer Institute at INTEGRIS Health Southwest Medical Center and a willingness to fight, the months kept arriving for Maynard. “I would leave work, I’d go get chemo, then [I’d] go back to work and work all week. I wasn’t going to lay down to it; if it wanted me, it had to come get me,” he said.
That mentality was what both INTEGRIS Health physicians and Maynard himself credit for his ability to survive and live fully. “There are certainly patients who far outlive their prognosis or even become disease-free,” says Bashar Alasad, M.D., a medical oncologist at the INTEGRIS Health Cancer Institute at INTEGRIS Health Southwest Medical Center. “Overall pancreatic cancer survival rates, while still much lower than other cancers, have gradually improved over the years. I absolutely believe that Charley’s positive attitude has played a huge role in his longevity.”
Maynard adds, “I really believe that’s why I’m still here today. I told Dr. Alasad thank you for keeping me alive this long, and he said, ‘I didn’t do it. You did that,’ and that really made me feel good.”
