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Marisa Harris
Written By: Julia Brabant, Updated February 2026Marisa Harris: A Nearly 28-Year Pancreatic Cancer Survivor Speaks on Second Opinions, Finding the Right Doctor & Following One’s Own Path to Wellbeing
When Marisa Harris received a Stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis, doctors told her that her condition was incurable and untreatable. They also said her disease would take her life within a matter of months – and that nothing could be done. She hasn’t seen those doctors since 1998.
Today, Marisa is approaching the 28-year survival mark — a milestone too few people with pancreatic cancer ever reach — and draws on her corporate leadership background and years as a cancer coach to help others navigate their own diagnoses. She often calls pancreatic cancer “her permission slip to live the life she always wanted to live,” a mindset she ties to Henry Ford’s words, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right!” For her, that transformation meant releasing the “people pleaser” in her and becoming, in her words, more of a “Marisa pleaser.”
Ahead of her 1998 diagnosis, Marisa experienced ongoing ulcers, gallbladder issues and digestive pain, but chose not to pursue further testing after her internist attributed the symptoms to lifelong stomach problems.
In retrospect, Marisa now traces that tendency to minimize her own needs back to her childhood. She had a difficult upbringing and a mother she describes as “unskillful” and hard on her children, which had a hand in shaping her self-esteem until therapy later reframed how she saw herself and her future.
My whole world fell apart. Even worse than that was being told that nothing could be done. I may have been breathing, but I felt I was no longer alive.
This instinct to put others first also surfaced again years later. While riding horseback during a trip to Tucson, Arizona, Marisa split her head open, dislocated her shoulder and tore her retina — injuries she now believes were avoidable had she listened to her instincts. Instead, not wanting to cut the ride short or “ruin” the good time of the others on the ride, she pushed past the feeling that the horse would throw her.
About a week later, Marisa noticed a swollen lymph node in her groin, which her internist attributed to the horseback riding accident and told her to come back in six months. Fortunately, when she had a routine gynecological visit about a week later, her gynecologist felt otherwise.
The gynecologist directed Marisa to a surgeon, who suspected cancer and recommended a biopsy. A week later, Marisa received a call confirming pancreatic adenocarcinoma and a referral to an oncologist, with the doctor telling Marisa and her husband, Bob, that Marisa was Stage 4 and that any treatments she might try would likely only hasten her death.
Marisa now sees that moment differently than she once did. Hearing that there was nothing the oncologist could do was an undeniable gut punch, but it also pushed her to step outside of that hospital system in search of an alternate path. She believes that this turning point set everything else in motion, ultimately leading her to the doctors, treatments and care that helped her heal. Had she accepted that first opinion, she likely would have stayed right where she was.
“My whole world fell apart,” she said. “Even worse than that was being told that nothing could be done. I may have been breathing, but I felt I was no longer alive.”
People need to know about survivors. That’s why sharing stories is so important – this survivor story saved my life. The power of these stories is that they change patients and caregivers perception of this disease. Instead of hopelessness, there’s hope, and with hope comes determination and positive action.
Even so, Marisa sought additional perspective. After two cancer centers confirmed her diagnosis, she attended a holistic workshop at Omega, where she heard a long-term survivor story that shifted her outlook and perspective.
“People need to know about survivors,” Marisa said. “That’s why sharing stories is so important – this survivor story saved my life. The power of these stories is that they change patients and caregivers perception of this disease. Instead of hopelessness, there’s hope, and with hope comes determination and positive action.”
Rather than focusing exclusively on pancreatic cancer statistics, Marisa began researching long-term Stage 4 survivors, noticing a common thread: They’d all worked with doctors who were not only skillful but hopeful.
“In my years in HR, I’d never have hired someone, or signed off on a hire, if they thought we were going to fail in our mission and goals,” Marisa said. “Why would I have a doctor who absolutely believed I was going to die in a matter of months?”
She sought out an oncologist who took a more holistic and integrative approach to healing, finding
Dr. Mitchell L. Gaynor at Cornell University’s Strang Cancer Prevention Institute
“He talked like no doctor I’d ever met,” Marisa said. “He said, ‘Doctors aren’t God. They don’t even know when they’re going to die — how do they know when you will?’”
He also uttered what Marisa thought were “magic words:” “Marisa, there is so much you can do to have more life and even get well again.”
Dr. Gaynor pushed hard for chemotherapy, which was something Marisa’s original oncologist had advised against. Marisa hesitated initially but eventually agreed, adopting several key lifestyle changes in addition to starting chemo. Dr. Gaynor had encouraged her to focus more on nutrition, and Marisa also participated in journaling, medication, acupuncture and stress reduction techniques under his guidance. The doctor also welcomed her to his biweekly support group, where Tibetan and quartz crystal bowls brought her such calm that she purchased her own.
A startling realization came before Marisa saw medical improvement.
At one of Dr. Gaynor’s support groups, she realized that she was happier than she’d ever been, leading her to acknowledge that she was healing despite scans not showing notable improvement. At one point, Dr. Gaynor suggested Marisa launch a support group for others facing cancer, planting the seeds for a new professional path. In addition to her personal experience as someone living with pancreatic cancer, Marisa also understood the role of the caregiver, having served as one for her own sister, mother and father during their own cancer experiences.
As her health stabilized, Marisa expanded her counseling work, combining her training in holistic practices, corporate leadership experience and graduate studies at Columbia University to support others facing serious diagnoses.
When she reflects on her own diagnosis, Marisa credits her personal and professional experiences with helping her navigate uncertainty and exceed expectations.
“Without that perception, I never would have gotten well,” Marisa said.
She also knew she might die from the disease but chose to make whatever time remained the most meaningful and joyful yet.
While Marisa acknowledges that everyone she works with is different, she does have some advice that applies on a broad scale. For starters, she urges people not to “wait and see” when something seems amiss, estimating that about 90% of the people she counsels professionally have symptoms for months before getting diagnosed.
Marisa also works with clients to help them identify what they need to get well – and what reasons they have for doing so. In her own case, she wanted to see her three daughters get married, and she hoped to one day become a grandmother. Most of all, she wants to help people recognize the gifts this disease can bring.
Marisa also hopes to see nutrition play an increasingly important role in both cancer care and health care, in general, in the coming years.
“Chemo can destroy muscles, so it’s critical to eat the foods that help build them,” Marisa said. “This is such a neglected area, but it’s beginning to change.”
Beyond nutrition, she encourages patients to seek treatment for nausea and pain and to consider acupuncture to help alleviate symptoms.
“There are so many things that can be helpful, not only in terms of getting well again, but in dealing with the side effects of the treatment.”
Marisa also keeps a close eye on emerging developments in pancreatic cancer care and feels encouraged by advancements related to KRAS mutations. She is also seeing gradual improvements with regard to clinical trials, finding that there are more coming out, many of which deal with specific mutations.
She also continues to work on two books about cancer journeys, both of which are works in progress, with Marisa’s professional responsibilities and personal changes, including the recent loss of her husband, Bob, in September 2025, affecting their pace and direction.
“I’m so grateful for each day, even though they’re not always great days,” Marisa said, noting that the recent loss of Bob has been especially devastating. “It’s all about growing and learning how to ‘be’ with the challenges and difficulties life will bring. But pancreatic cancer can be the greatest teacher in how to live and be grateful, even when things are not going well.”
After Bob’s passing, Marisa also took on new professional responsibilities. She temporarily assumed his role as president of an agency that represents playwrights and screenwriters, making a point to serve
clients with the same degree of caring, mentorship, respect and optimism that he did.
She also continues to face the future with the same perspective that’s guided her since her 1998 diagnosis, recognizing how much goodness exists in her life.
“I, like people from the beginning of time to today, live with uncertainty,” Marisa said. “Eric Elnes wrote in a favorite book of mine, “Gifts of the Dark Wood,” that the opposite of uncertainty is not certainty, but trust. I’m going to do everything that might help me live longer – but I’m also going to live knowing my life may be shorter – much shorter, and make the time remaining the most authentic and happy it can be. Whatever time I have left, I’m going to live it as fully as possible.”
Accepting her mortality also reshaped how Marisa sees time, prompting her to stop postponing what matters most.
“It really motivates us to take action and do what reflects our most important priorities,” Marisa said. “There’s a gift in coming to grips with the fact that you might die – it can be a great motivator to start living the way you want to, and to learn to say ‘yes’ to the things that matter to you.”
Marisa welcomes questions and comments from patients facing pancreatic and other cancers. To get in touch, email marisaharris@aol.com.
