“Courage,” by definition, is “the mental, emotional or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear or difficulty.”

For Marianne Garfield, the description couldn’t be more appropriate.

Seven months after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) — an aggressive illness that attacks a person’s healthy red and white blood cells and platelets — the Summit Hill woman is in remission in her battle for life.

She is thankful for modern medicine, but also a model for cancer patients who believe in “never giving up.”

Since September, Garfield’s life has been a whirlwind of hospitalizations and doctors’ visits. Still, it has also been a period in which she persevered, and cancer treatments fortunately gave her the opportunity to move forward.

Her braveness, American Cancer Society telethon organizers say, quickly enabled them to select Garfield as one of the society’s Courage Award recipients at the annual telethon to be held this weekend at Penn’s Peak.

Humbled by her selection, Garfield — a retired teacher who in March was honored by the Panther Valley Irish-American Association on St. Patrick’s Day for her lifetime of helping others, especially young children and individuals with disabilities — underestimated the strength others have seen in her.

“I was really surprised to be asked to accept a Courage Award,” she said. “I don’t know about courage. You do what you have to do. I’m very blessed that it (her treatment) worked. Most people would put up a fight.”

On Sunday evening, Garfield will share her story, including how leukemia struck her by surprise, her challenging treatments, and her message to others to stay strong.

Shocking revelation

A former special education teacher for many years in the Lehighton Area School District, Garfield first learned about her diagnosis in September, only about three months after receiving a clean bill of health in a presurgery protocol.

“I was scheduled to get a knee replacement in June, but, before that, you go through the normal procedure of testing to be cleared for surgery, and everything was good then,” she explained. “So I had the surgery and things moved along.”

As her rehabilitation proceeded, Garfield said she began feeling unwell.

“In the summer, I didn’t feel too good, but I blamed it on the knee replacement surgery,” she said. “Then in September, I lost my appetite and became pretty weak.”

She went to her gastroenterologist, who became concerned.

“I went to my gastroenterologist and he didn’t like my blood work and my color,” Garfield said. “Upon testing, he discovered my hemoglobin was 6-something, which was dangerously bad, and my white cell count was ‘off the charts.’  ”

She was immediately admitted to St. Luke’s Miners Campus in Coaldale and later transferred to the health network’s Anderson Campus in Easton, where its oncology department is based.

There, doctors determined she had leukemia.

What followed was terrifying, as Garfield went through what she called “a very very rough period.”

“I was shocked (by the diagnosis), because I blamed everything on my knee surgery,” she said.

After beginning chemotherapy, doctors arranged for her to receive five infusions a month. She was also prescribed a chemotherapy pill daily.

Returning home, she said, “I couldn’t walk from the living room to the kitchen without the help of my husband (Michael). It was an effort.”

Her medical condition worsened when she “passed out” one day, resulting in her being admitted to the intensive care unit at St. Luke’s Hospital, Carbon Campus, Franklin Township. There, she had a high fever, her blood pressure soared, and she went into atrial fibrillation.

For two weeks while she was in the ICU, Garfield said she feared the worst.

“I didn’t think I’d be coming home,” she said, adding her emotional state was at risk.

“I was at the point where I was writing my obituary,” Garfield recalled. “I even gave jewelry away to my family members who I wanted to have it.”

Tremendous support

Through her tribulations, Garfield remained strong and determined to battle her affliction. She credits much of that strength to the support she received from her husband, a retired attorney.

“He (Michael) was awesome through it all, the whole thing,” she said. “In those days of my first round (of infusions), he had to help me get out of bed; I couldn’t sit up.”

Her husband said the leukemia diagnosis came as a shock after her difficult knee surgery.

“The trauma of her knee was incredibly bad, but then to be diagnosed (with leukemia), it was a shock,” he said. “But the best thing Marianne had going for her is she had no other medical issues, nothing else, no heart problems, lungs, diabetes.”

“Our daughter is a nurse and she repeatedly said, ‘Mom is so strong.’ ” As it turned out, it (her remission) is a miracle.”

Garfield said she leaned heavily on her family and friends.

“I didn’t feel like I was going home ever again,” she said. “But I have a lot of support from my husband, daughters (Amy Antonellis and Anita McArdle), son-in-law (Paul McArdle Jr.), grandchildren (Nick, Riley and Chase McArdle) and friends.”

Mike added, “and half of Summit Hill.”

“The support means the world to me and so I wasn’t ready to give up,” Garfield said.

Now recovering, Garfield is back home living her daily routine with her husband of 54 years.

“I have more energy and my appetite is back,” she said. “Sure, there are muscles and joint pains, but in the whole scale of things, it’s not too bad.”

Her husband praised her medical team.

“We cannot say enough about the doctors and nurses, having a patient so close to death, yet they had the strength from within to try to cure her, and then to get the job done,” he said.

The Garfields also credited the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for helping with soaring medication costs.

“That support has been outstanding,” Michael said.

Meanwhile, the ACS Courage Award recipient has a message for others who might one day face similar challenges.

“Keep your head up; keep going forward,” Garfield said. “Don’t get discouraged, even when treatments are so difficult.”

Garfield will receive her Courage award in the 8 p.m. hour on Sunday. Other Courage award honorees are Pete Smulligan of Tamaqua and Mary Storm of Palmerton. Bari Pollock will receive an award during the Lehigh Valley live remote from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Sleepy Cat Urban Winery.

A special tribute will air at 2 p.m. Sunday when the Panther Valley Blueprint Team is answering phones in honor of Summit Hill Councilman David Wargo.

The Telethon airs Saturday and Sunday live from Penn’s Peak outside Jim Thorpe from noon to midnight both days. The telethon can be seen in Tamaqua and Hazleton on Service Electric Cablevision’s channels 90 and 590; on Blue Ridge Cable on channel 13; in Pottsville on Comcast/Xfinity channel 15; and in the Lehigh Valley on Service Electric Cable’s channels 913 and 914. It will also be streaming live on YouTube.